Chapter 1226:

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“Brinley, you actually came,” Leonie greeted her with a smile that didn’t quite reach her eyes.

Brinley met her gaze with a cool, hard stare. “What do you want?”

Leonie’s smile didn’t waver. “Do I really need to spell it out for you word for word?” She paused deliberately, then began, her tone measured yet heavy with meaning. “Corbin Shaw — the man you know as Allen — isn’t just anyone. He is the lost heir of the Shaw family, a family every bit as powerful as the Carters. Do you know why Corbin refuses to go back? Because the current head of the Shaw family is the very man who murdered Corbin’s parents. Corbin barely escaped that massacre as a child. Later, when the family patriarch discovered he was still alive, he sent assassins to finish the job. By all accounts, Corbin should have died in that so-called accident — but my brother saved him.”

Brinley’s breath caught as Leonie’s words sank in, her chest rising and falling with growing tension. “What are you really trying to say?”

Leonie’s gaze bore into her, a sneer tugging at her lips. “My brother died because of Corbin.” Her voice trembled slightly, though her words remained cutting. “Everyone believed Corbin had angered some powerful company while working a case back then. But only a handful of people know the truth — it was the Shaw family’s assassins who went after him.”

Leonie leaned closer, her voice dropping to a bitter whisper. “Do you want to know why I fought you over him? It’s because of him that my brother is dead. If it weren’t for him, my brother would still be here, and I wouldn’t have been left completely alone. Do you have any idea what my life has been like since then? My so-called family has been trying to exploit me. If my brother were still alive, none of them would dare treat me this way.”

Brinley clenched her fists, her nails digging into her palms as she forced herself to remain calm. “The real murderer is the head of the Shaw family, Leonie. You can’t place the blame for your brother’s death on Allen.”

“I don’t blame him,” Leonie said, her lips curving into a strange smile. “I love him. I love him more than anything. If he’d just marry me, I could finally stop living in fear.”

Brinley exhaled slowly. When she spoke again, her voice had turned unexpectedly gentle. “Then let him marry you. He cares about you.”

𝖱e𝘢𝘥 𝗳𝗋𝘦𝘦 𝘯о𝘃e𝗅ѕ 𝗼ո gа𝘭𝗇𝘰vel𝗌.𝖼𝗼𝘮

“That’s not true!” Leonie’s voice cracked, her composure shattering as her eyes glistened with unshed tears. Her hands shot out, gripping Brinley’s shoulders so tightly it hurt. “He doesn’t love me at all! He loves you, Brinley! He just won’t admit it because he’s trying to protect you from the Shaw family’s wrath!”

Brinley winced but refused to show the pain. Her voice was steady. “I’ve already broken up with him. It’s over.”

Leonie stared at her as though searching for any trace of a lie. Then her expression shifted into something darker — a slow, chilling smile that made Brinley’s blood run cold.

“Is that so?” Leonie whispered. “Then why are you pregnant with his child?”

Anxiety gnawed at Jenessa as she watched the minutes tick by with no sign of Brinley’s return.

Her phone rang suddenly, piercing the quiet. A quick glance revealed Ryan’s name on the screen.

“Jenessa, you’ve misunderstood me!” Ryan’s voice burst through before she could even speak. “I never mentioned Brinley’s pregnancy to anyone.”

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