Chapter 40: Bridesmaid

Chapter 40: Bridesmaid
Third Person POV
A servant knocked on Eva's bedroom door.
"Miss Eva, Mr. Adams has sent you an engagement gift."
Eva's face lit up with delight. She opened the door quickly.
"Really? Where's the gift?"
The servant handed her a gift box. "Mr. Adams said he hopes you'll like it."
Eva took the box and eagerly tore off the wrapping. Inside was the latest model camera.
She looked a bit confused but happily switched on the camera.
"Ahh!!!" Eva screamed, her entire body trembling.
In the video, a man was tied to a chair, covered in blood. His face was beaten beyond recognition.
She recognized that man.
She had found a hacker, sleeping with him to get him to post that strip club video online and ruin Mia's reputation.
The video continued playing.
The man had been tortured to within an inch of his life, letting out agonized screams.
Finally, the footage froze on the moment when his head was smashed by a baseball bat, blood splattering everywhere.
"Ahh!"
Eva screamed again and hurled the camera away. She cowered in the corner, shaking uncontrollably.
Gavin knew everything.
Would he retaliate against her?
Was their engagement over?
At that thought, Eva crawled up from the floor, trembling as she grabbed her phone.
She called her father, Henry.
The moment he answered, she cried out: "Dad! Save me! Gavin... he knows everything!"
After listening to Eva's sobbing account, Henry fell silent for a moment on the other end.
"Eva, I warned you. You didn't need to do anything except be a good fiancée. Why didn't you listen?"
"But..."
Henry's voice was full of anger.
"Do you have any idea that because of your stupidity, Gavin might cancel this union? The Bell family's hundred million investment would be completely wasted!"
Eva cried and begged, "Dad, I was wrong. Please help me. I don't want to cancel the engagement with Gavin."
Henry sighed. "Don't worry, I'll find a way."
Eva's phone dropped onto the carpet. After a moment of shock, she thought of Mia.
This was all that woman's fault!
If not for her, Gavin wouldn't have treated her this way.
She would never let this go. She would make Mia pay!

Mia's POV
Today is Susan's last day at the hospital for a follow-up appointment.
I pushed open the examination room door and saw Eva sitting in a chair.
There was a bouquet of flowers on the table in front of her.
Seeing Eva, Susan's eyes widened in terror. Her whole body shook, and she instinctively tried to back away.
Incoherent sounds came from her mouth.
The same fearful reaction she'd had at the Bell house whenever Camilla or Eva was about to punish her.
I immediately stepped in front of Susan, blocking Eva from her view, and demanded coldly.
"Eva, what are you doing here? Where's the doctor? Leave. Now."
Eva ignored my question. She stood up from the chair, picked up the bouquet, and walked toward us.
"Mia, don't be so tense." she said with a fake smile, deliberately holding the flowers out toward Susan.
"I just heard Susan was sick, so I came to visit. After all, she used to be a servant at the Bell house, didn't she?"
The strong fragrance made Susan even more distressed. She began to whimper softly.
I tried to take Susan out of there, but the doorknob wouldn't turn.
Damn it! The door had been locked from the outside.
"What the hell do you want?" I turned back, watching her warily.
Eva's smile vanished. She threw the flowers violently to the ground.
The petals scattered across the floor as she crushed them beneath her high heels.
"What do I want? You bitch! This is all because of you!"
She glared at me. "You seduced Gavin! Otherwise, why would he punish Ivan and treat me so cruelly?"
I frowned, confused.
She sneered, "Stop pretending! You think I don't know?"
Her voice grew more agitated and shrill.
"Mia, I'm going to tell Susan right now. Tell her that her precious daughter is sleeping with my fiancé! That she's a homewrecker!"
"Shut up!" I shouted, afraid she'd say something even more traumatic to Susan.
I turned to check on Susan.
She was so terrified she couldn't process anything. She just kept hiding behind me, muttering, "Don't hit me... don't hit me..."
Seeing Susan like this, my heart ached unbearably.
And this was all Eva's doing.
I turned back to look at Eva's furious expression, and suddenly everything clicked.
My instinct had been right.
Eva was behind that video.
And Gavin had known all along but kept it from me. He'd hidden the truth to protect Eva.
He chose to handle it his own way while keeping me in the dark.
Eva read my thoughts and suddenly laughed.
"What? Just figured it out now? Mia, you're so stupid."
She looked at me smugly.
"That's right! I had that video posted! I wanted everyone to despise you! To see how disgusting you really are!"
"And Gavin knew all along! But for the sake of our family alliance, he chose to hide the truth from you."
"Mia, it seems you're not that important to Gavin after all."
"Let me tell you, Gavin is in North America right now doing business with my father. So he won't cancel our engagement because of you."
"I'm his future wife!"
I clenched my fists and said coldly: "I don't care what he thinks. In fact, I've wanted to leave him for a long time. He's the one who insists I stay by his side."
Eva's face twisted with rage at my words.
"You bitch! You think I'll believe that? How could Gavin possibly like someone like you? You're just his pet dog!"
The truth was, neither Eva nor I could defy Gavin.
Even as his fiancée, she held no place in his heart.
What Gavin wanted, from beginning to end, was only the Bell family's money and power.
I looked at her calmly. "It doesn't matter whether you believe it. That's the truth. The engagement you're so proud of means nothing to me."
Eva said viciously, "I'll keep watching you. One day, I'll make Gavin abandon you completely. I'll make you lose everything."
I smiled. "I look forward to that day."
Eva stared at me with malice for a while, noticing my composure.
Then, as if struck by a brilliant idea, her face brightened with a smile.
"Mia, how about being my bridesmaid? I think Gavin would love to see you at the wedding."