Adrian stared at Julian.

—Your sister?

Julian ignored him and walked directly toward me.

The moment he saw how I was holding my shoulder, his face hardened.

—Can you walk?

—Yes.

—Did you hit your head?

I nodded.

He immediately called the hospital.

Behind him, Margaret looked confused.

—Claire never told us she had a brother.

Julian finally turned toward her.

—Did anyone in this family ever bother asking about her?

Nobody answered.

Adrian stepped forward.

—Claire, we need to talk.

—No. I need a doctor.

His expression tightened.

—I told you I’d take you tomorrow.

Julian looked at him as if he’d heard something unbelievable.

—She fell down eleven stairs, hit her head, and you wanted her to wait until tomorrow?

—This is between my wife and me.

—Not anymore.

At the hospital, the scans confirmed a fractured collarbone and a concussion.

Julian stayed beside me until morning.

When the doctor left, he sat down.

—Come home with me.

This time, I didn’t refuse.

Three years earlier, I had walked away from the Foster family because I wanted to know whether someone could love me without knowing what my surname represented.

I met Adrian shortly afterward.

He thought I came from an ordinary family.

I let him believe it.

When we married, I refused money from my parents and lived entirely as Claire Lawson.

I managed his properties.

Helped his company entertain clients.

Cared for his mother.

I wanted our marriage to be real.

Apparently, only I had been real.

The next morning, a car took us to a private terminal.

A white medical jet was already waiting.

As Julian helped me out, three black cars stopped behind us.

Adrian emerged from the first.

—Claire!

I didn’t stop.

He caught up near the boarding stairs.

—Where are you going?

—Home.

—The Lawson house is your home.

I looked at him.

—Not after last night.

His gaze moved to the aircraft.

Then he saw the emblem.

FOSTER AVIATION.

His face changed.

—Why is a Foster jet taking you?

Julian gave a humorless laugh.

—Because she is Claire Foster.

Adrian froze.

—Foster?

His phone rang.

He ignored it.

Then another call came.

His assistant.

Adrian answered impatiently.

Within seconds, his expression changed.

—What do you mean they withdrew?

A pause.

—All three contracts?

Another pause.

He slowly looked at Julian.

—Foster Holdings canceled our financing meeting?

Julian adjusted his cuff.

—My father learned what happened last night.

Adrian lowered the phone.

—Your father?

I answered this time.

—Daniel Foster.

Silence.

Adrian knew that name.

Everyone in his industry did.

His eyes returned to me.

For three years, he had believed he’d married a woman with no powerful family behind her.

Suddenly, the private jet made sense.

So did the hospital director personally checking my scans.

So did Julian arriving in the middle of the night without asking permission from anyone.

—Why didn’t you tell me? —Adrian asked.

I almost smiled.

—Would it have changed how you treated me?

He didn’t answer.

—Then I’m glad I didn’t.

I took out my phone.

In front of him, I returned the 300,000 yuan.

His phone vibrated.

He looked at the notification.

—Claire—

—Keep it.

I glanced at my injured shoulder.

—Apparently, that’s what you think three years of marriage and eleven stairs are worth.

His face went pale.

Just then, another car arrived.

Vanessa jumped out.

—Adrian!

She rushed toward him.

—My father says Foster Pharmaceuticals suspended our contract. What’s happening?

She noticed Julian.

Then the jet.

Then me.

Her expression changed.

Julian looked at her.

—Vanessa Shaw.

She swallowed.

—Do I know you?

—No. But I know quite a lot about you.

Adrian frowned.

—What does that mean?

Julian took out his phone.

—Before leaving the Lawson house, my security team requested copies of last night’s surveillance recordings.

Vanessa immediately stiffened.

—There aren’t cameras near the staircase.

Silence.

Adrian slowly turned toward her.

—How do you know that?

Her face lost all color.

—I… Margaret mentioned it once.

—No, I didn’t —Margaret’s voice suddenly came from behind.

She had arrived in another car.

Vanessa stepped backward.

Julian unlocked his phone.

—Fortunately, Mrs. Lawson was wrong about one thing. There is a camera.

He showed Adrian the screen.

The footage began fifteen minutes before I fell.

Vanessa appeared alone at the top of the staircase.

She looked left.

Then right.

Then she took something from her handbag and placed it near the railing.

Adrian stared at the video.

—What is she doing?

Julian enlarged the frame.

Vanessa’s hands were shaking now.

—Turn it off.

Nobody listened.

The next clip showed Vanessa speaking to me.

Then Adrian entering.

Then the argument.

And finally—

Adrian’s own hand pushing me.

His face became completely white.

For several seconds, he simply stared at himself on the screen.

Perhaps seeing it from another angle finally made it impossible to call what happened an accident.

Then Julian played the audio recorded before Adrian entered.

Vanessa’s voice came through clearly.

“If Adrian sees you angry enough, he’ll choose me himself.”

Adrian slowly looked at her.

Vanessa began crying.

—She provoked me first!

But Julian wasn’t finished.

—There’s another recording.

He opened a second file.

This one wasn’t from the staircase.

It was from outside Adrian’s study.

Vanessa was speaking on the phone.

And the moment Adrian heard her next sentence, his entire expression changed.

“Don’t worry. Once Claire is gone, Adrian will sign the Shaw investment agreement.”

A man’s voice answered from the phone.

“And if Claire refuses to leave?”

Vanessa laughed softly.

“Then I’ll make Adrian remove her for us.”

Adrian looked at Vanessa as if he were seeing her for the first time.

But Julian suddenly paused the recording.

—That’s not the interesting part.

He turned the screen toward me.

—Claire, look at the timestamp.

I did.

My stomach tightened.

The call had taken place three weeks earlier.

Long before our argument.

Long before the staircase.

This hadn’t started last night.

Vanessa had been planning my removal for weeks.

Then Julian said quietly:

—And we traced the number she was calling.

Adrian immediately asked:

—Who was it?

Julian didn’t look at him.

He looked at me.

—Someone inside the Lawson family.

The boarding announcement sounded behind us.

But nobody moved.

Because suddenly Adrian wasn’t looking at Vanessa anymore.

He was looking at his own mother.