Mina regarded Alicia with a smug, challenging glint in her eyesâshe always acted as if she were above Alicia, never bothering to hide her condescension.
"Alicia, we need to talk," Vincent said, his brow furrowing. He wanted a private conversation, away from prying eyes and ears.
He hated forcing her into a corner like this... but Mira was his little sister, and she carried the reputation of the entire Lawson family. He couldn't let her go to jail.
"Mr. Lawson, I was willing to show you some respect, but it seems you don't even see me as a person," Alicia replied, her voice trembling with a mixture of disbelief and barely suppressed anger. She'd considered Vincent's reputation, but all he wanted was to grind her into the ground.
She turned to the reporter from earlier, her tone sharp. "Just now, during your interview, you asked if I was the other womanâwere you serious about that? Wasn't it your paper that covered Mina's lavish international wedding? And her groom wasn't Vincent, was he?"
The reporter hesitated, momentarily at a loss for words.
Alicia pressed on. "There's never been any sugar-daddy arrangement between Vincent and me. If you really want to call our four-year relationship that, well, I must've been the one footing the bill."
She clenched her fists, facing Vincent head-on. "Every single transaction between us in those four yearsâI remember them all. Every payment, every reason, every dollar. And that credit card I had in your nameâyou know exactly how much I spent, Vincent. It's all there in the records."
Vincent's Adam's apple bobbed as he swallowed, wanting to defend himself, but the words caught in his throat. The truth was, Alicia had hardly spent any of his money at all.
Compared to the mistresses pampered by other men in their circle, Alicia had been with him for four years and spent less than what others dropped on a single designer purse.
"But Mr. Lawson," Alicia continued, her tone cutting, "do you know how much I've spent on you?" She turned the question on him.
Vincent was stunned, his breath catching. He couldn't answer.
"For four years, you lived with me whenever you weren't working. Every meal was made with fresh ingredients, because you wouldn't touch anything cheap. To keep up, I worked three jobs every monthâapart from the money I sent back to the orphanage, every cent went to supporting you." She pulled a battered notebook from her bag, her personal ledger.
Thank God for her habit of keeping records.
Rich Radiant and Over Him (Alicia and Vincent)
ï¤Chapter 71 Transmigration: I Have Storage Space in the Apocalypse ï¤Chapter 760 - 756: Encountering a Man with Evil Intentions "Birthdays, Valentine's Day, every holidayâthose cupcakes, those bouquets, that bag of fruit you brought me? I could overlook those. But what about the gifts I gave you? You never lacked for anything, so every present I gave you was bought with money I'd scraped together, working late into the night shift after shift."
Every gift she'd given Vincent came from her heart, bought with exhaustion and sacrifice.
But Vincent had never given her anything with that kind of thoughtfulness. His answer was always the same: If you want something, buy it yourself.
"So, Mr. Lawson, exactly how did you âsupport' me?" Alicia demanded.
Vincent stood rooted to the spot, staring at her, panic flickering in his eyes. He knew she'd never been wasteful, never once asked him for money.
Calling it "keeping" her had been beyond unfair.
"Alicia, there's no need to deny it. You're just an orphan. Chasing after men for money is disgraceful enough," Mina interrupted, brows knitting in annoyance as Vincent remained silent.
The plan had been clear: destroy Alicia's reputation first, force the Lynch family's hand, and then Alicia would have no choice but to forgive Mira and Henry.
The reporters were already here; Mina had already tipped them off. But now, Vincent wasn't saying a word.
"For the money?" Alicia shot Vincent a look. "Then tell me, Mr. Lawsonâhow much did you ever spend on me?"
Vincent just stared at her, silent.
"Vin, say something!" Mina urged, anxiety creeping into her voice.
All Vincent had to do was name a numberâany numberâand everyone would believe him.