Chapter 3

I took the flash drive from him. Sienna’s face instantly lost all of its color.

That was all the confirmation I needed.

I plugged the drive into the podium, and the security footage played on the big screen. Sure enough, it showed Sienna sneaking into the control room earlier and swapping the opening presentation drive.

The crowd gasped.

I turned to Sienna, my gaze icy.

"So, you're the one who filmed the video?"

"Then let me ask you: when exactly did you film it? Give us a date and time. Let's compare our schedules."

"And what exactly were you doing wandering around the deep woods in the middle of the night?"

Faced with my sharp questions, Sienna’s eyes welled with tears.

She shrank back behind Julian, her voice trembling.

"Julian, I... I just didn't want her to keep lying to you."

"No matter what I said, you wouldn't believe me. I had no choice but to do this to show you her true colors."

"Please don't be mad at me..."

Her acting was incredibly fake, but Julian had always fallen for her damsel-in-distress routine.

Otherwise, he wouldn't have let her cling to him for all these years.

"So what if she exposed it?" Julian said, stepping forward.

"You're the one who did those shameful things. What right do you have to interrogate her? At least she was just trying to show me the truth. She didn't do anything disgusting in the woods."

Julian shielded Sienna behind his back.

The slight hesitation in his eyes quickly vanished, replaced by a cold, stubborn resolve.

"She only did this because she cares about me. It’s still better than being a lying, unfaithful snake like you."

Behind Julian's back, Sienna shot me a smug, triumphant smirk.

I pressed my lips together, any lingering affection for this man completely dying inside me.

"If that's the case, why don't you let her tell us when this video was filmed?"

"Based on the background, this was filmed behind the lake pavilion. No one goes there at night. Why was Sienna lurking there with a camera in the middle of the night?"

"Julian, I don't care about arguing with you. I just want my name cleared."

I stared straight into his eyes—the eyes of the man I had known for half my life.

[Ugh, I'm so done. What is the female lead doing? What's the point of arguing? Just let the plot play out!]

[Exactly. Why is she making all these people wait just to hear her talk? It's so annoying.]

[Why is she being so stubborn? Even if she proves her innocence, what does she gain? The male lead still won't love her.]

[She needs to suffer and look pitiful so the male lead will feel more guilty later! What is she doing?!]

[Wait... is it wrong for a girl to clear her name when she's framed? What is wrong with you guys in the chat?]

[We came here for a tragic romance, not to see the female lead act like a boss babe!]

The chat bubbles kept flashing, almost entirely filled with complaints about my defiance.

I narrowed my eyes and refused to back down.

Ever since Julian and I started dating, Sienna had been playing these dirty little tricks.

Julian would occasionally scold her, but he never actually did anything about it.

Every single time, he would just tell me, "She’s just like a younger sister to me, she doesn't know any better. Don't take it to heart."

But now, I was being publicly humiliated, and Sienna had literally projected a fake pornographic video of me to ruin my life.

Yet, Julian still thought she "didn't mean any harm." He was always so willfully blind.

Even if, as the spoilers said, he would eventually avenge me after I died... what was the point?

I would be dead! What good would his regret do me then?

Right now, the only thing in front of me was Julian's blatant favoritism.

If that was the case, why the hell should I accept being his tragic female lead?

Just as I was about to present the next piece of evidence, my phone suddenly rang.

A furious, booming voice echoed from the speaker.

"Chloe Sterling! Do you have any corporate PR team trying to clean up your mess right now?!"

"Why are you bringing shame to our family?!"

"I told you not to use cheap tricks to get close to Julian! Why couldn't you just obediently agree to the marriage alliance with the Kingsley family?!"

"You enjoy all the wealth of the Sterling family, but you refuse to do your duty?!"

Because my phone was close to the microphone, my father's furious shouting echoed loudly through the entire auditorium. The room fell dead silent.