My Admission Revoked, I Destroy His Reputation

Chapter 3

Annie's heart tightened. She pressed further instinctively.

"Who are you? How do you know..."

"We have been married for seven years. We are legally married. As for those photos," he interrupted her calmly, "the person in the photos is me. There is no so-called infidelity during marriage."

That voice... it was Sam.

The man she had met only once, seven years ago, on the day she and David had pretended to get their marriage certificate. David's uncle.

In her memory, his eyes had been cold as a blade, without a trace of the blessing an elder should give to a newlywed couple. The invisible pressure he exuded still made her shrink back just thinking about it.

What she couldn't understand was how he knew her situation so thoroughly.

Countless questions surged in her mind, but she didn't dare probe, didn't dare ask further.

At this moment, he was the only piece of driftwood thrown at her that could save her from drowning.

"Thank you... thank you, uncle."

"I have a condition," Sam's voice pulled her back to reality. "After you enroll, you need to accompany me to a private banquet as my wife."

Shouldn't he be eager to get rid of this "trouble"? Why would he instead bring her into his own social circle?

But regardless, she couldn't give up on her dream.

For now, seizing the opportunity to enroll was the most important thing.

"Alright," she agreed decisively.

"Ten days from now, Paris. I'll see you there."

He paused, then added, his voice seeming slightly gentler than before. "I will arrange everything."

The call ended. Annie held the still-warm phone, a strange feeling inexplicably passing through her heart.

Those words "I will arrange everything"... she must have misheard to think that in that cold, hard tone, there was a trace of barely perceptible... excitement?

Annie used the excuse that her studio was very busy and hadn't come home for several days.

In the past, David would have called every ten minutes and video-called every half hour, practically moving into the studio to be with her.

But now, besides sending a few indifferent greeting messages, he didn't even ask a single extra question.

During those days, Ada's social media updates were unusually frequent, full of sweet moments of her traveling with a "male friend."

Their tightly interlocked fingers, their silhouettes leaning against each other, even the corners of their lips rising in a kiss...

Annie could tell at a glance that it was David.

And in their ten years together, she couldn't find a single photo of them that could be shown openly.

Her assistant helped her pack up the studio and couldn't help asking curiously, "Annie, why are you suddenly closing the studio? Are you planning to get married and become a full-time housewife?"

"Whoever marries someone as beautiful, dignified, and capable as you must have cultivated good fortune in a past life!"

Annie's heart ached like needles pricking it.

Over the past seven years, whenever she heard such teasing, she had almost been unable to resist making that "secret" happiness public.

Now, she was only incredibly grateful that she had kept the "secret marriage" hidden.

The sudden sound of the doorbell interrupted their small talk.

Ada, in a tight red dress and high heels, stepped into the studio and gave an order:

"Make an outfit for my precious dog. I need it tonight."

Annie's eyes swept over the jade bracelet on Ada's wrist, and her expression darkened.

That was the only heirloom left by David's birth mother!

He had once told her with red-rimmed eyes that the bracelet had been buried with his mother's ashes, accompanying her forever.

And now, it was on Ada's wrist.

"I don't make clothes for dogs," Annie said, her voice cold. "And even if I did, I would never make them for you."

Ada rolled her eyes in fury. "Annie, you have to make them for me! Ever since I was little, everything I, Ada Green, wanted, I got."

In Annie's memory, when Ada wanted to monopolize their father's affection, she easily took away the little paternal love Annie had left.

When Ada wanted a man's heart, she effortlessly snatched away the man Annie had loved for ten years and entrusted her life to.

Why?

"I said no, I won't make it. And besides, my shop is closing starting today."

Soon, her refusal became a pitiful, pathetic post on Ada's social media:

[Boo hoo, I was rejected by 'Golden Scissors' sister for a tiny request. I'm so sad, I can't even eat...]

Their father, Henry Green, was the first to comment: [Don't be sad, good daughter. Daddy will find you a world-class designer!]

But all these years, every bit of grievance Annie had suffered, her father had never seen.

That night, a group of masked men stormed into the studio, smashing everything in sight.

Annie was held down on the table, her mouth covered, unable to move.

The leader picked up her specialized scissors and laid down the threat: "We're here to help you close the shop. And while we're at it, teach you the rules you need to know when you open for business again."

She struggled with all her might, but it was like a mayfly trying to topple a tree.

All she could do was watch helplessly as the scissors stabbed viciously into her open palm.

Thud.

Blood gushed out. Agony tore through her body. All her screams were stifled in her throat.

These hands could cut the most fitting garments, could stitch the most beautiful lines, stitch by stitch.

Now, they were just a bloody mess.

Her vision darkened. In the moment before she completely lost consciousness, with her last bit of strength, she saw a familiar figure slowly step out from the shadows of the corner.

"Annie! Annie!"

David picked her up, feigning anxiety.

The stinging smell of disinfectant choked Annie awake. The nightmare of the previous night left her drenched in cold sweat.

David lay beside her hospital bed, hair messy, stubble dark, looking as if he hadn't slept all night.

When he saw her wake up, he immediately opened his bloodshot eyes and asked softly, "Does the wound still hurt? If it hurts, don't hold it in. Tell me, and I'll have the doctor give you more anesthetic."

Just because Ada had tattled, he could be so heartless as to order such an attack.

Hatred filled her chest. She raised her hand and slapped the culprit in front of her hard across the face.

The sharp c***k echoed through the hospital room.

When she raised her hand again, he wrapped his palm around her wrist. Surprisingly, he didn't lose his temper. He just said heavily, "I know you're in pain. I know you're worried about this hand.

"Don't worry. I asked the doctor. The wound looks scary, but it didn't damage anything vital. As long as you recover well, it won't affect your function.

"But you need to calm down. Don't hurt yourself by moving too much."

It was a form of comfort, but also a warning.

Reminding her that whether her hand could recover completely was still firmly in his grip.

The anesthetic wore off gradually, and the wound began to throb with pain. She forced a bitter smile.

In the middle of the night, Annie endured the pain and quietly followed David out of the room. She heard him order his assistant in a low voice at the end of the hallway:

"Keep a close watch. Don't let Annie have a chance to call the police. It might affect Ada's birthday party for her dog tomorrow."

In David's eyes, her livelihood—her hands—and the violence and humiliation she had suffered, all meant less than Ada's dog's birthday.

His favoritism was so blatant. And... deadly.

Fortunately, the pinhole camera in her studio had recorded everything that happened that day.

He wanted to make sure she couldn't call the police?

Fine.

But she would let tens of thousands of eyes judge the real culprit.