Chapter 169 Did Daniel really cheat?
Scarlett frowned, her good mood instantly vanishing.
Although it was from an unknown number, she knew it must be from Alice.
Scarlett furrowed her brows, about to block the number.
Then another photo came through from the same number.
Scarlett couldn't be bothered to look. She tried to exit the message, but her finger slipped and the photo got enlarged instead.
Seeing who was in the photo, Scarlett felt uneasy.
The photo was clearly taken secretly, on a plane. Daniel's face was only half visible from the side.
He sat there with a sleeping woman leaning on his right shoulder.
Due to the angle, Scarlett couldn't see her face, only her thick, curly long hair, suggesting she was a young beautiful woman.
She leaned against him sleeping, while he gazed at her tenderly.
The scene looked beautiful, full of atmosphere.
If the Daniel in the photo wasn't the husband who said he'd come home to have dinner with Scarlett, she would have praised how full of love it looked.
Scarlett's fingers turned cold, her fingertips trembling as she swiped the photo away.
[You should recognize this - it's Daniel's private jet. Idiot, this woman is the one he really brought back to protect. I'm just a cover for her.]
[Scarlett, you're so pathetic. I even gave you the address, but you don't even dare to go look? Coward!]
Alice's taunting messages came one after another.
Scarlett's breathing became labored. Her hands shaking, she finally blocked the number.
The phone finally went quiet.
But Scarlett's world seemed to be hit by a storm, churning in her heart, roaring in her ears.
Her face turned pale. She stood there frozen for a long time before dialing Daniel's number.
Daniel answered quickly. Scarlett's voice was tense.
"Daniel, lunch is almost ready. Where are you?"
Scarlett held her breath, praying Daniel would tell her he was almost home.
But what came from the phone was Daniel's apologetic voice.
"Something came up. I can't make it back. You eat with Grandma first."
"But..." Scarlett's voice trembled slightly, trying to salvage something, to prove something.
"Scarlett, be good." With those words, Daniel hung up the next second.
Scarlett gripped her phone, her five fingers going weak and powerless, nearly dropping it.
When Tyne came out of the villa with a utility knife, she happened to see Scarlett driving away.
Tyne chased after her for a couple of steps, calling out in confusion, "Mrs. Wilson, it's almost time to eat! Where are you going?"
Scarlett acted as if she hadn't heard. The car sped out the gate and quickly disappeared.
Scarlett's heart was anxious and afraid, worried and disbelieving.
Multiple emotions intertwined - her mind was in chaos.
Alice had succeeded.
Scarlett didn't know what awaited her ahead, but she didn't want to be kept in the dark anymore.
Right now, she just wanted to see for herself. She gripped the steering wheel tightly, still holding onto a thread of hope and trust in her heart.
Daniel - he surely wouldn't disappoint her.
However, when Scarlett parked her car outside Phoenix Hill Villa, she happened to see two people walking out from the villa in the distance.
The tall, upright Daniel - Scarlett thought how familiar he looked.
The woman beside him had chestnut-colored wavy hair, a petite figure, wearing a gray fuzzy coat - she appeared to be the woman from the photo.
The two were talking, walking side by side out of the villa toward a car.
Daniel stepped forward and personally opened the back door for her, even thoughtfully raising his hand to shield the car roof.
She bent down to get in, her figure seeming to pause, looking up to say something to Daniel.
Daniel looked down at her, nodding, a gentle smile like a soft breeze on his lips.
In that instant, they were extremely close.
If either of them moved just a bit closer, it seemed they could kiss.
After she got in, Daniel followed right after, also getting into the back seat. Daniel rarely got this close to anyone.
Their car soon drove away, disappearing from Scarlett's view.
But Scarlett remained in the same position, hands gripping the steering wheel, staring ahead, motionless.
Her body seemed frozen, cold from the inside out, as if the slightest disturbance could shatter her into pieces.
Scarlett had seen it. Daniel was actually hiding a woman from her, in the house she had decorated with her own hands!
How could he be so cruel!
It wasn't until someone knocked on her car window twice that Scarlett suddenly snapped back to reality, breathing heavily.
After a while, she slowly looked toward the car window.
Alice stood outside, bending down and peering through the window, gesturing for Scarlett to roll it down.
Scarlett slowly lowered the window. Alice looked at her with a mocking smile.
"Scarlett, the expression on your face right now is really something! It looks worse than crying. Your face is so pale you look like you're about to die."
Scarlett knew how pathetic and ridiculous she looked right now.
Her face was cold, her eyes equally mocking.
"Anyone can laugh at me, but you, Alice, don't have that right. After all, those shameless tricks you pulled before got you nothing in the end."
"Scarlett!"
Alice was hit where it hurt, her features twisting with anger.
But Alice quickly calmed down again, a smile returning to her lips as she continued.
"Scarlett, don't you want to know who that woman was just now? I can tell you. This time, it's up to you whether you come or not."
Alice gave Scarlett a meaningful smile, then turned and walked toward another car in a hidden spot.
Alice got in and drove away.
Scarlett closed her eyes, but still slowly started her car and followed.
Half an hour later, in a café, the two sat facing each other.
Alice stirred her coffee, admiring Scarlett's pale face.
"Scarlett, you really shouldn't have come back. Going abroad would have been so much better. But no, you had to come back and dream your little dream. Knowing you're just a pathetic substitute, even I feel sorry for you. Daniel just now..."
"I don't look anything like that woman just now." Scarlett interrupted Alice.
They were too far away earlier - Scarlett hadn't seen the woman's face clearly.
But their silhouettes and builds were completely different.
"Who says you have to look alike to be a substitute?" Alice took a sip of coffee, then continued slowly.
"Scarlett, think about it. Daniel has such a cold nature, so ruthless. He's the type who would kick someone dying in front of him for being in his way.
Someone like him - why would he take you into the Wilson family when James knelt at the Wilson Mansion door begging Daniel to take you in? And why was he so good to you from the start?
You think you're special? Scarlett, you can't still be naive enough to believe that someone in this world would be good to another person for no reason, right?"
Alice slammed her coffee cup down on the table and sneered, "He was good to you because of that woman just now. He just treats you as her substitute!
Scarlett, oh Scarlett, think about it - what's so special about you that would make him treat you so specially! If you hadn't coincidentally become a substitute, you'd just be a bug from the slums, deserving to die at the hands of your biological father John!"