"That hundred thousand dollarsâCecilia, Henry, and Mira transferred it to me after they pushed me into the pool..."
"This fifty thousand... Mira wired it to me after she slapped me at the office..."
"And the ten thousand? He got drunk and called me to pick him up from the club. I missed my shift because of it, so he gave me that as compensation..."
Alicia could recall the reason behind every single payment.
She was not a kept woman.
Vincent had deceived her. When she was nineteen, he'd pretended it was love.
"He really did say it was love," Alicia tried to explain, though it was clear she wasn't talking to Tyroneâshe was trying to convince herself.
Vincent's words to the press... They'd become the final straw, the weight that broke her spirit.
"I was not some mistress..."
Alicia sobbed, repeating her explanation about her relationship with Vincent over and over.
But really, she was only talking to herself.
"Don't justify yourself. Don't fall into their trap." Tyrone tightened his hold on Alicia's arm. "Alicia, if you want to stand your ground, you can't let yourself be shaken by what others say or do. This is exactly what they want: to manipulate public opinion, to break you down, to make me give up on you."
Tyrone knew exactly why Vincent was doing this.
By smearing Alicia's name, he could get the Lynch family to abandon her completely.
Once that happened, Alicia would be isolated and powerlessâno longer a threat.
They wanted to pressure her into dropping the case, to give up on what happened four years ago, to let Mira, Henry, and Cecilia off without consequence. It would be all too easy.
"Anyone else can give up on you." Tyrone took Alicia's wrist and led her into the study. He opened the safe and took out their two marriage certificates. "But you can't give up on yourself, and I won't give up on you either. We're legally marriedânothing to do with a prenup. I'm your husband."
He wanted her to know he wasn't going anywhere.
Divorce would only make the Lynch family's lies seem true.
The reason Tyrone had always held his position at the top was because he never scrambled to defend himself when people tried to drag his name through the mud. He never showed desperation.
"Uncle! She tricked you! It's not too late to divorce her!" Melanie burst in, furious, hoping Tyrone would toss Alicia aside and rid himself of trouble.
"Melanie," Tyrone turned to her, "if your friends believed every rumor and gossip about you, called you promiscuous, accused you of living a wild life, what would you do?"
Melanie froze, stammering. She'd been bullied at dance school... and when Alicia confessed that Mira had hit her, for a moment, Melanie had felt a pang of regret.
But her mistrust of Alicia ran deep.
"Never judge someone by what others say about them," Tyrone warned, pointing at Melanie, "and never trust a man who badmouths his ex-girlfriend or ex-wife to everyone he meets. And by the way, I haven't even had time to ask about your little romance at school."
Melanie panicked at once, turning to bolt.
"Come back!" Tyrone's voice was low and commandingâhe was truly angry now.
"Apologize to your aunt," he demanded.
Melanie shivered, scared of Tyrone's temper. She lingered at the doorway, eyes red, refusing to look at Alicia. "I'm sorry..."
Alicia just stood there, dazed, her gaze never leaving Tyrone.
"I'll have the driver take you back to school," Tyrone texted the chauffeur.
Melanie, still holding back tears, hurried away.
"Tyrone... The things Vincent said to the reportersâMaddox must have misunderstood," Alicia said anxiously, looking up at him.
What if Maddox told him to get a divorce?
Rich Radiant and Over Him (Alicia and Vincent)
ï¤Chapter 66 Transmigration: I Have Storage Space in the Apocalypse ï¤Chapter 760 - 756: Encountering a Man with Evil Intentions