Chapter 9 Please Believe Me

Lila didn't even glance at Katherine, her focus entirely on comforting Zara.

"You come back and immediately start picking on Zara! What's wrong with spending some money on her?" Lila scolded, then turned to Zara with concern. "Zara, does it hurt? Let me rub it for you."

What a touching scene!

Katherine staggered to her feet, looking at Lila with a mix of resentment and despair.

"Mom! She used my money to invest in Eliot! She's the one in the wrong! Why are you siding with her? Do you know how difficult this makes things for me?"

"Shut up! If you hadn't been so in love with Eliot back then, would Zara have softened and helped him? Zara did it for you to avoid putting you in a tough spot! Instead of being grateful, you come back and hit her! How did I raise such an ungrateful daughter?"

Lila refused to listen to Katherine's explanation, her eyes only for Zara.

Seeing the clear handprint on Zara's pale face, Lila's heart ached even more, and she berated Katherine again.

"She's your sister! How could you be so cruel? If she ends up with a scar on her face, I'll make sure you regret it!"

Katherine staggered again, unable to hold back a bitter laugh. "I only slapped her once, there's no wound, how could there be a scar?"

Lila didn't even look at her, her voice cold. "I've never seen a sister like you!"

Then she turned to Zara with a gentle expression, full of concern. "Come on, let's put some ointment on it."

Zara nodded pitifully, but her eyes were full of resentment as she looked at Katherine. "Katherine, if you hadn't been so deeply in love with Eliot, I wouldn't have helped you by funding him through this crisis. You should be thanking me."

Seeing her smug face and Lila's cold disdain, Katherine sighed heavily and said quietly, "Zara, you just want to ruin me, to make Alexander divorce me, don't you?"

At this, Elowen finally put down his phone and looked over seriously.

Zara covered her face, her eyes filled with intense hatred, but she still pretended to be pitiful, pouting at Lila. "Mom, I didn't! Eliot came to me, begging for help because of his past relationship with Katherine."

Lila turned to Katherine, her voice full of anger. "Katherine! Zara was just trying to help! Why can't you let it go?"

At that moment, Elowen walked over with a dark expression, but instead of showing concern for Katherine, he pointed at Zara and scolded her. "What were you thinking? Who told you to use Katherine's money to help Eliot?"

Seeing Zara's eyes redden from the scolding, Lila frowned and spoke softly. "Don't be so harsh, Zara did it for Katherine's sake."

"Shut up!" Elowen snapped at Lila, too. "If Alexander finds out, do you want to ruin the White family?"

Lila pretended to scold Zara lightly. "Your dad's right. If Alexander finds out, we'll be in big trouble. You can't do this again, understand?"

Zara wanted to say something, but seeing Elowen's stern gaze, she obediently nodded. "I understand."

Seeing Zara's grievance, Lila turned to Katherine with cold sarcasm. "You couldn't keep your man, and you blame Zara? If you behaved yourself, would Alexander be suspicious? It's your own fault for being unclear with Eliot!"

Lila only cared about Zara, and Elowen only cared about his own interests.

Katherine wondered if she was really their biological child.

She didn't argue with them anymore. Instead, she opened her camera and took pictures of the records on Zara's phone.

Zara, worried that this might implicate her, tried to snatch the phone.

Luckily, Katherine managed to capture the evidence.

With a disappointed glance at the three of them, Katherine turned and quickly uploaded the photos to the cloud.

Sure enough, before she could leave the villa, Zara's shrill voice called out to Elowen.

"Dad, if Alexander finds out I transferred money to Eliot, the White family will be doomed!"

Zara's words reminded Elowen, who quickly grabbed Katherine's phone and permanently deleted the photos.

Katherine pretended to try to snatch it back, but seeing the photos deleted, her eyes filled with endless sorrow.

"Dad! You know this isn't my fault! Deleting the evidence will make Alexander think I'm involved with Eliot! You're hurting me!"

Elowen handed the phone back to her, his tone falsely concerned. "Just explain to Alexander, he won't misunderstand. Besides, haven't I been telling you to hurry up and give Alexander a child? It's been four years, and you have not conceived! If Alexander really cares, it's your own fault."

His words, though seemingly caring, cut her like knives.

Katherine looked at the three of them, then laughed bitterly and turned to leave.

"A woman unable to conceive will soon be kicked out! Katherine! If you get thrown out, don't think you can come back home!"

Elowen's angry shouts followed her, and Katherine quickened her pace, her eyes red.

In the past four years, her family had taken so much from her, yet they couldn't give her a shred of care.

But at least she had the evidence.

Soon, Katherine stood outside Alexander's office, clutching her phone.

She took a deep breath and knocked gently on the door.

"Come in."

Alexander's deep voice came through the door, and Katherine entered, seeing him standing by his desk.

He looked up, his eyes cold, making Katherine's breath catch.

"Alexander, I have evidence to show you." She quickly approached, showing him the transfer records and recordings on her phone. "Zara used my account to fund Eliot without my knowledge. Please believe me."

Alexander glanced at the screen, his gaze lingering on the numbers, his expression unreadable.

Katherine's eyelashes trembled. "And three days ago, I'm really sorry, I met with Eliot without telling you. But I went to cut ties with him." She gathered her courage and looked into his deep eyes.

"Cut ties?" Alexander chuckled, his thumb brushing her reddened eyelid. "When he sold you to me for a million dollars four years ago, the ties were already cut."

He suddenly grabbed her chin. "Or do you think I don't have the right to ask?"

"Of course not!" Katherine grabbed his wrist, feeling the pulse of his anger. "You're my husband, who else has the right?"

The office door suddenly opened, and Sebastian stood there with a stack of files, looking through them.

"Uh," He quickly backed out. "I'll come back later!"

Alexander suddenly grabbed her wrist and strode towards the elevator.

In the enclosed space, she smelled the faint scent of cedar mixed with his lingering anger.

"I promise I won't meet Eliot privately again." She gently hooked his finger. "I won't hide anything from you anymore."

Finally, Alexander looked at her with a stern expression, his voice cold. "You'd better remember what you said!"

But how could it be? Didn't they just publicly show their love on Twitter yesterday?