Laverne usually got wind of media news almost instantly, but today she hesitated to show Vanessa thetest report. Vanessa had been in a foul moodtely, her temper short.


    But thinking that Vanessa had already offendedn, it was probably necessary for her to stay updated on his recent activities.


    In the end, Laverne took the tablet and went upstairs to find her.


    "Vanessa, here''s today''s news. Take a look." With that, she ced the tablet with the prominent headline in front of Vanessa.


    Vanessa had been lounging on the sofa, carelessly flipping through thetest fashion magazine. But when her eyes fell on the ring headline, her fingers, holding the magazine page, tightened abruptly.


    Beside her, Laverne carefully observed her expression.


    Vanessa tossed the magazine aside and picked up the iPad. She sneered, "Rekindling an old me?"


    But her fingers scrolled through the photos, finally stopping on an image ofn gazing intently at Eleanor.


    In the picture, he was holding herptop bag with care, shielding her head gently as she got into the car. Each image burned like a needle, sharp in her eyes and sharper still in her heart.


    Laverne whispered, "Vanessa, you don''t thinkn and Eleanor are actually getting back together, do you?"


    A reconciliation would not be good for Vanessa at all.


    "How could they?" Vanessa retorted sharply, but her chest heaved, and her eyes shed with extreme jealousy. She was clearly deeply provoked.


    Despite her words, Vanessa knew that Eleanor was no longer the woman she once was the one who could be fooled by carefully crafted illusions of closeness, lost in the haze of her own marriage.


    The Eleanor of today saw through all the facades and truths. Stripped of emotional fog, she had be calm, powerful, and dazzling.


    Divorce had not only given her an independent career but also personal charisma. She was no longer the docile little wifen had hidden away and protected back in their home country.


    Rel


    Vanessa''s thoughts uncontrobly drifted back eight years. When she heard the news ofn''s marriage, she had nearly gone mad with rage. She had paid people to secretly take photos ofn and Eleanor''s daily life trying to find cracks in their marriage.


    However, the photos that arrived in her email showed an undeniably beautiful


    Eleanor, with a student-like air, her smile carrying a gentle innocence.


    Though married to a wealthy heir liken and holding the status of a high-society wife, she was someone who preferred to live her own quiet life behind closed doors, rarely attendingn''s events.


    Instead, there were many photos of her andn visiting art galleries and grocery shopping together, looking very much in love.


    Back then, Eleanor was like a carefully kept bird in a gilded cage, her eyes clear, filled with a simple and content look of someone well-protected.


    Her world then must have been very small, small enough to hold onlyn.


    At that time, Vanessa, standing on various award stages, clutching trophies and looking at the photos of Eleanor, had felt nothing but disdain and a sense of superiority.


    She had thought to herself, ''Look, this is the wifen chose—a clinging vine with nothing but beauty and no talent, who can only survive under his protective wing.''


    Back then, she had been confident that such an Eleanor was unworthy ofn and would eventually lose her position as Mrs. Goodwin. One day, she would break them apart.


    And she had indeed seeded.


    She sessfully led Eleanor to believen was cheating, sessfully marketed herself asn''s girlfriend abroad, and inserted


    herself into any event where met


    was


    present. Behind her morous facade, she had been a mess. She had once haggled with a shop assistant over a one of a kind dress bought fake bags and shoes to match her outfits, and spun a web of lies to a manager just to get into a high-end g.