I had replied with a long explanation, but Andreas never responded to me again. From that moment on, he became convinced that Samuel and I were having an affair.
Samuel laughed bitterly with anger and said sarcastically, “Do you have any idea how much pressure Isadora was under in the lab? Do you know anything about her health?
“During that time, she had hormonal imbalances, and her face
as covered in acne, yet she still stayed up for days, preparing a handmade birthday gift for you. And what did you do? You suspected her of cheating–Isadora’s love was truly wasted on you!”
That year, the lab was incredibly busy. To prepare Andreas‘ birthday gift, I only slept two hours over three days, all to assemble his favorite model tank. But in the end, Andreas didn’t even glance at it. Before leaving, I saw him give the gift to the butler’s child.
Andreas finally remembered everything. He looked like someone who’d received a devastating blow, and he gripped the table edge to barely keep himself from collapsing.
Samuel sneered and handed him a ring. “Before Isadora left, she asked me to give this to you.”
The ring was the one we’d exchanged during our engagement.
Andreas gripped the ring tightly, his fingers digging into his palm, his bloodshot eyes filled with pain. However, he said I had to give him the ring, or he wouldn’t accept it.
Samuel chuckled softly and accompanied Andreas back to the Wilde residence, finally agreeing to let him see me. Then, he opened his laptop, and the screen indeed showed me, specifically, the footage of my left hand being corroded.
In the surveillance video, Elaine had snuck past everyone and secretly switched out my experimental materials. For this, I paid the price of lifelong disability,
1/2
caine was innocent.
Quentin saw my hand corroded by sulfuric acid on the screen, he slapped Elaine across the face.”
How could you set up Isadora like that? She’s your sister!”
Back then, after being rushed to the hospital, I hadn’t just called Andreas for help. I had called everyone in the Wilde family, one by one.
Quentin had said, “Isadora, Elaine is so innocent! Why are you trying to frame her?”
My parents hadn’t even answered my calls.
Now, seeing the video, everyone was shedding tears of heartbreak.
Elaine covered her face and screamed, “I didn’t mean to hurt her! I just wanted to destroy that ring on her hand. Who knew she’d be so stupid and try to protect the ring first?”
་
Only then did everyone see clearly what happened when the acid spilled. My first instinct had been to throw the ring onto the table.
!
Andreas held up my ring and finally noticed it looked impossibly pristine. He had never given me any gifts. This was the only one he’d personally given me. I had guarded it with my life, never letting it so much as collect a speck of dust.
Meanwhile, the ring on Andreas‘ hand had been worn so smooth that the engraving was barely visible. Those were my initials–I.W.
He carefully traced the cracks on the ring, and for the first time, this man, who had never shown emotion, broke down and wept.
