Chapter 486: Chapter 486: Stolen Kiss
"But if you return to the Sheridan Family, how can I deal with you? So as long as Jane’s position in the Sheridan Family is stable, you won’t have the chance to go back. Therefore, Cian must choose Jane as his wife and cannot marry you—"
Splash.
A glass of icy water poured over Laura Quinn’s head, causing her entire body to tremble. Her muddled consciousness cleared, and she only then realized what she had said to Ann Vaughn.
Ann Vaughn wore a mocking smile at the corner of her lips, looking at Laura Quinn’s fearful expression coldly, "That’s really impressive, Mrs. Quinn. It turns out I overestimated you before."
"What have you done to me!?" Laura Quinn’s eyes reddened as she tried to rise and strangle Ann Vaughn, but the chains on her feet clanged, making it hard for her to step forward.
With this sound, Ann Vaughn finally saw what was beneath Laura Quinn’s skirt—chains.
She had originally thought Cyrus Hawthorne was letting Laura Quinn hide here to avoid trouble for a while, but now it seemed more like imprisonment.
Just as Ann Vaughn was dazed, Laura Quinn quickly hid the chains back under her skirt, seething with hatred at being discovered, "If it weren’t for you, how could I end up like this?"
If it weren’t for Ann Vaughn and the bastard in her belly, how could she, the dignified Lady of the Hawthorne House, be locked in this tower, losing her former splendor!
Ann Vaughn withdrew her gaze, finding it laughable as she heard that, "From the moment you conspired with Cynthia Sheridan to harm me, you should have anticipated the kind of outcome you’d face. If it were me, I wouldn’t let you off with just being locked here."
"What are you trying to say?"
Ann Vaughn didn’t answer her question but instead took out a stack of photos from her bag and threw them at Laura Quinn. "Mrs. Quinn, you are truly ruthless, killing your own sister with your own hands, driving your roommate to depression and jumping off a building, scheming for your good friend to be gang-raped and committing suicide on the spot..."
"Your skills are truly formidable; not getting involved in palace intrigue is a waste of your talent."
The words appeared to praise Laura Quinn but were laden with sarcasm.
Especially when Laura Quinn saw those photos that should have been dealt with long ago reappear before her eyes, she nearly choked, her fingers trembling incessantly.
If any of these photos were discovered by outsiders, everything she had painstakingly cultivated over the years would be utterly destroyed!
"You... you..." Laura Quinn pointed a finger at Ann Vaughn, choking with anger, unable to utter a complete sentence.
Ann Vaughn directly swatted away the hand pointing at her, smiling coldly, "Do you think if these photos get spread, not just The Imperial Capital, but the entire S Country, will know how filthy and ugly the face beneath Mrs. Quinn’s noble and elegant facade is... What would happen to you?"
"Let me tell you, you would lose all your reputation and never be able to face people again."
"Mrs. Quinn, do you want to try the taste of becoming famous nationwide overnight?"
Laura Quinn’s heart contracted violently, with each word Ann Vaughn uttered, the fear and apprehension in her heart grew stronger.
She wasn’t afraid of being imprisoned by chains because she was Cyrus Hawthorne’s mother; despite his anger now, there would come a day when he forgives her.
But none of that was as frightening as each threat Ann Vaughn posed!
If she lost the attention and admiration of being in the spotlight, lost all these glorious things... Laura Quinn couldn’t even imagine whether she would want to keep living!
This is probably the most painful and harsh punishment for someone who indulges in vanity.
Laura Quinn’s nightgown was soaked with cold sweat, and she looked at Ann Vaughn as if she were a demon, "What exactly do you want?"
"I don’t want anything." Ann Vaughn chuckled softly, lifting Laura Quinn’s chin and warning her word by word, "You remember this: If you dare have the slightest thought of scheming against me in the future, these photos will immediately appear in the public eye."
"If you don’t want to lose all your reputation, then tuck your tail and live humbly, and don’t appear before me to cause me displeasure again."
"I, Ann Vaughn, am not as easy to bully as you think."
With that, Ann Vaughn released her hold and turned to leave.
Laura Quinn’s gaze was filled with strong hatred, but no matter how much she tried, she could not conceal the fear within, choking down the bitterness.
She thought she had control over everyone, including exploiting Ann Vaughn’s feelings for Cyrus Hawthorne, with no guilt over the issue of the damned child in her belly.
But no matter what, she could never predict that in the past Ann Vaughn didn’t bother with certain things not because of a meek temperament.
But rather... because she hadn’t yet reached her limit.
A dragon has reverse scales; touch them and it will die.
A phoenix has a weak neck; offend it and it will perish!
...
Once inside the glass elevator, Ann Vaughn slowly exhaled, leaning against the transparent wall and patting her cheeks with her hand.
In the end... she still couldn’t bring herself to do it.
Indeed, her words earlier weren’t just to intimidate Laura Quinn. Before she came here, she had already arranged with the media companies.
Should anything happen to her here, the scheduled emails in her mailbox would be sent to those people.
Originally, she intended to follow through with the plan, but upon seeing the chains on Laura Quinn’s feet, her grievances eased somewhat, causing her to change her mind.
If... Laura Quinn didn’t have the identity of Cyrus Hawthorne’s mother, even if Ann Vaughn had to confront the entire Hawthorne Family, she wouldn’t back down even slightly.
"Such a lack of ambition, Ann Vaughn." Ann Vaughn murmured softly as she lowered her eyes, suddenly feeling a jolt in her body when the elevator suddenly stopped moving for some unknown reason.
In the next second, the light above her head went out, plunging the entire world into darkness, scaring Ann Vaughn into hurriedly reaching for her phone.
"Plop—"
In her panic, everything in Ann Vaughn’s bag fell to the ground, and she instantly felt very unwell.
The winter night had come early, the moonlight faintly sprinkled down, making no real difference.
Just as Ann Vaughn was feeling restless and uneasy, the elevator door suddenly opened. She was about to turn around when her wrist was suddenly tightened, and she was irresistibly pulled out of the elevator.
The corridor outside the elevator was pitch black, too dark to see anything.
Ann Vaughn was just about to shout for help when she was pressed against the wall by an unseen tall shadow, faintly scented with mint, crushing against her lips.
Taking advantage of her stunned moment, the person forced her tightly clenched teeth apart, invading swiftly.
Her crimson little tongue was fiercely entangled with by the person, sucked and ground upon, as if aiming to swallow her inch by inch, carrying an irresistible intensity.
Her back pressed against the cold wall and the heat on her lips formed a sharp contrast, a different kind of ice and fire coexistence.
Ann Vaughn was completely dazed on the spot, her eyes unmoving.