Chapter 339
"Okay, okay, I get it." Martina took a deep breath, forcing a strained smile.
At that moment, Brandon asked to speak with Katrina alone.
"Mr. Fontaine, why can't you say whatever it is right here?" Katrina's question was direct.
"Thank you for coming today." Brandon's expression was filled with relief. "Lena will be so happy when she wakes up and hears you were here."
What an act. What a performance.
It was a real shame these brothers weren't in show business.
"Mr. Fontaine, you don't seem all that worried about Helena. Aren't you afraid something serious might happen to her?" Katrina's tone was mocking.
"I was here when they brought her in. I checked on her condition, and the doctor said none of her vital organs were damaged—she'll be fine." As Brandon spoke, a flash of cunning crossed his eyes.
As if to say: See? Everything's under our control. Not a single thing will go wrong.
That fleeting look sent chills down Katrina's spine.
She was now certain Brandon was involved in this incident.
Maybe even Lancelot didn't know, but Brandon had done it—executed it flawlessly. Even if people suspected him, no one could produce evidence.
Suddenly, Katrina realized how terrifying Brandon truly was.
Perhaps she couldn't let this continue unchecked. Time to end the 'raise the wolf' plan.
She needed to consider settling their grudge quickly, before things spiraled out of control and she'd live to regret it.
After a while, the emergency room light finally went out. The attending physician emerged, his expression grave as he explained that Helena had barely survived—she was incredibly lucky.
"Her constitution isn't very strong, which affected our assessment. Plus, one wound missed her heart by only a few millimeters. The slightest mistake and she would've died..."
The doctor went on and on, but his message was clear: Helena had suffered greatly.
Martina's face turned deathly pale, her eyes filled with both distress and guilt.
"Let's have someone take Mrs. Quinn to rest. The two of us can keep watch here." Brandon maintained his gentlemanly demeanor as he gave the order.
A nurse led Martina to a rest room. With no reason to stay, Katrina left directly.
The moment she was gone, Lancelot turned to Brandon. "Brandon, what happened today—is it what I think it is? Are you and Lena hiding something from me?"
Lancelot had been observing for a long time.
In situations like this, Brandon would usually show at least some genuine concern for Helena.
But today, those emotions were only surface-deep, disappearing almost instantly. That could only mean he'd known everything in advance.
"What are you talking about?" Brandon's expression suddenly turned cold, his gaze vicious and venomous.
Lancelot flinched, swallowing the rest of his words.
"Lena suffered so much this time. As her brothers, we need to take good care of her." Brandon patted Lancelot's shoulder, his expression returning to normal as if that moment of savagery had been imaginary.
Lancelot's body trembled. He couldn't get a word out.
He suddenly felt like he'd never really known Brandon at all.
Downstairs, Katrina walked uneasily toward where Noah was waiting.
She thought Brandon might have really gone all-in this time, determined to pull off something big—to force his way into the Quinn family no matter what.
The scariest thing about a person is when they stop caring about anything—when they have nothing left to lose.
That's basically an invincible state.
"What's wrong?" A familiar voice came from above. Katrina jumped, then looked up to see Noah.
Their eyes met. Noah's gaze was deep and warm, tinged with concern.
The chill surrounding Katrina instantly dissipated. She couldn't help but embrace him, her voice muffled as she said, "I'm so glad you're here."
"What happened? Did someone hurt you?" Noah was immediately on alert, gripping her shoulders.
Katrina told him everything she'd just witnessed.
"Trust your instincts." Noah helped her into the car. "I'll have people investigate in the direction you suspect."
The two returned to their hotel.
Helena's incident had stirred up a storm online, directly causing the show to suspend filming.
Director Kyle personally posted a message in the group chat, asking everyone to wait two or three days while they explained the situation.
In other words, whether the show could continue depended on decisions from above.
Katrina was happy for the break—a perfect time to rest and recover.
Messages about Helena kept flooding the group chat, one notification after another.
Annoyed by the constant pinging, Katrina picked up her phone to mute it, only to notice a message from Helena herself.
[I'm okay. Just wanted to let everyone know I'm safe.]
That single sentence made the group chat explode.
Everyone bombarded her with questions about her condition, asking when they could visit her at the hospital. But she didn't respond again.
Essentially leaving them with a cliffhanger.
Katrina stared at her phone, deep in thought.
[Is it possible Helena was framed before, and she nearly died trying to save someone? Who could do something like that?]
[My idol has always been amazing. My heart breaks for her.]
[Helena is so good. This world is so unfair to her.]
...
Before any official hospital statement was released, opinions were already flying all over the internet. More than half praised Helena. Truly surreal.
At that moment, someone released behind-the-scenes footage from the early days of filming.
Photos of Helena gritting her teeth while carrying logs through mud and doing squats. Photos of her hauling a massive backpack, sweat covering her forehead.
These photos conveyed one message: Helena worked incredibly hard for the show.
"Noah, have Murphy find out who released this footage. The timing is suspiciously perfect." Katrina handed Noah her phone.
Noah glanced at it and laughed. "To clear her name, they really are 'pulling out all the stops.' Very much the Fontaine family's style."
Soon, Noah discovered the footage had been released by Helena's management company.
Apparently, they weren't trying to hide it from anyone.
[OMG, Helena has such a resilient side! Love her!]
[Why aren't there any photos of Katrina? What was she doing while everyone else was training?]
[Who's really getting special treatment here? If you're on this kind of show, shouldn't you suffer alongside everyone else?]
...
By the next day, public opinion online had been redirected. Many people began attacking Katrina, calling her fake, saying she was a hypocritical bitch.
"I'll have someone handle this." Noah's expression darkened like the bottom of a pot.
But Katrina stopped him.
"Stay calm." Katrina seemed unbothered. "Haters only have one playbook: build one person up while tearing another down, get everyone attacking, then switch targets later."
She'd been attacked enough to know the pattern.
"Besides, I think they might have more moves planned." Katrina looked at Noah. "Brandon really is impressive. When he doesn't act, he doesn't act—but when he does, he makes it impossible to counter."
She had a vague sense of foreboding. This current calm might only be the calm before the storm.