Adeline narrowed her eyes at Sally. "You were gossiping about me behind my back, and I caught you red-handed. Have you no shame? Did you really think that I wouldn't dare fight back, Sally? I just wasn't paying attention to you in the past because I didn't want to waste my time arguing with you. Sally joined the company earlier than Adeline. But now, Adeline was more popular in the company than she was. She had been jealous of Adeline since Adeline stole the limelight from her. Sally witnessed it when Adeline went into Rodger's office. She thought she had found some shreds of evidence, so she sneered and said, "What? Did I say anything untrue? Didn't you seduce Mr. Stevenson?". "Clearly, your parents didn't raise you well, so how about I teach you some lessons on good manners right now?". "What did you just say to me?". Sally didn't know what Adeline meant. Before she could react, Adeline raised her hand and slapped her across the face. The impact left a red mark on her cheek. "How dare you hit me, Adeline Dawson?". Sally put her hand to her face in shock and felt a bit dizzy because of the pain. Adeline flashed her an icy stare and then looked at the woman behind her. She said, "Yes. That I just did. So what? You only have yourself to blame. You deserve it!". In the past, Adeline had been obedient to Brendan because she and her family needed the help of the Clemons family. More importantly, she wanted to win his heart. But it didn't mean that she was really a pushover and anyone could bully her. Sally rubbed her face with her hand, and her blood started to boil with rage. How dared Adeline hit her? Who did she think she was? . She rolled up her sleeves and snarled, "Well, Adeline, you have to pay for what you just did. I won't let you go easily!". After saying that, she pounced on Adeline, grabbed her by the collar, and shoved her hard. Adeline was thinner than Sally. What was worse, she had been beaten by Arthur recently and hadn't recovered yet. Obviously, she was no match for Sally in terms of physical strength. Sally pushed her so forcefully that her head hit the wall and then she fell to the floor. The impact made Adeline's head spin. But Sally wasn't done. While Adeline was down, she went and started slapping her across the face over and over. "Today, you will learn to respect your senior, you insolent little bitch!". Adeline felt sore all over, and she'd began tasting blood in her mouth. The next moment, Sally's attacks suddenly ceased. Then, Adeline heard Sally scream as someone yanked and then tossed her away. Adeline's vision had started turning blurry. She felt like she was in a trance. Then, she found herself in a warm embrace. A familiar scent hit her nostrils, and she struggled to keep her eyelids up. The person holding her was Brendan. "What are you doing here, Brendan?" Adeline muttered. She thought she was imagining things, but she was in enough pain to be convinced that everything she was perceiving was real. So, it really was Brendan who saved her. Brendan looked down at Adeline's pale face. His eyes turned gloomy and cold. He slowly raised his head and looked at Sally who wasn't far away. She was on the floor, curled up, and whimpering like an injured animal. Brendan's sudden appearance surprised her. She was so terrified that all color had drained from her face. Panic took hold of her, and she couldn't move. But after some time, she was able to regain her composure. Sally pretended to be aggrieved. She began to cry and whined to Brendan, "Don't be cheated by this little bitch, Mr. Clemons. She's a shameless tramp who seduces every man she meets. I couldn't stand her brazenness anymore, so I decided to teach her a lesson. "You decided to teach her a lesson?". Scoffing and then putting on a mocking smile, Brendan stood up and scooped up Adeline in his arms. He walked straight to Sally, lifted his leg, and kicked her hard. His move was accurate and ruthless. His strength was incredible. "Ah!" Sally cried out

Brendan frowned with disgust and hissed, "It's not up to you to teach my woman a lesson, do you understand?". What a stupid woman! . At this moment, more and more people gathered around. Many of them had been made curious by the noise. Looking around, Brendan announced to the crowd, "Let this be an example to each and every one of you. You hurt my wife, you get hurt even worse. How could this wom an say that Adelin e seduced Rodger? . Adeline was his wif e. She had nothing to do with Rodger! . He didn't want t o hear such a stu pid rumor again! . Adeline was so weak th at she could only let Brendan take her away. With their mouths hanging open, everyone aro und exchanged shocked glances. It turned out that. Adeline was Brendan Clemons' wife! . They didn't expect Adeline to have such an eminent status. Many of them had gossipe d about her. At this moment, they couldn't help feeling very regretful. When they looked at Sally, they got nervous. Fortunately, none of them had offended Adeline. Otherwise, t hey would be writhing in pain on the floor right now beside Sally after receiving a swift kick in the gut from Brendan. * * * . Brendan carried Adeli ne all the way out of the company building. They were surro unded by a crow d of onlookers. Adeline tried to cover up her face with her ha nd, but it didn't work. She looked up at Br endan and said anxio usly, "Put me down. Brendan glanced at her coldl y and ignored her. Then, he put her directly in his car. Adeline was so surprised. In the past, Brendan had wanted to stay as far away from her as pos sible. But lately, he kept coming back to her. He had been showing up more a nd more often that it was begi nning to border on badgering. Holding back her anger, Adeline asked, "What were you doing in my office?" . Brendan didn't answer her immediately. He just squinted his eyes. He didn't sleep well last night because he had been worried about her and her injuries. He wanted to come over . and see her, but he co uldn't think of a reas onable enough excuse. It was his grandfather who called him and offe red him a timely help. Thanks to Gerard, he now had a justified e xcuse to see Adeline. "Grandpa has been trying to reach you, but you haven't been answering his calls. He's worried about you, so he a sked me to check if you were okay. He also misses you and wants to see you. I happened to be in the area, so I d ecided to pay you a visit in your office. " He handed a bag to her and said, "Isn't it fortunate that I've come?" . If he hadn't seen it with his own eyes, he wouldn't have known that she had been suffering a lot even in her workplace. Adeline opened the bag and found some ointme nts and creams in it. "You bou ght these for me?" . "Don't flatter yourself. " Looking away, Brendan said in a stiff voice, "I just p assed by a pharmacy earlier, and an old lady who worked there dragged me in. She said they were doing a special promotion on some healing ointments and creams. The corners o f Adeline's mo uth twitched. That sounded just about rig ht. Why would Brendan bothe r to buy anything for her? . Why would he be kin d to her? . He kept telling her not to read too much into ev ery one of his gestures. Then she w ould do as he wished. "Thank you ," Adeline murmured. Then, she thr ew the bag bac k to Brendan. "But I don't need your promotional ointments. I can buy some for myself. Just tak e those home and save them in case Tiffany needs them in the future. And next tim e Grandpa calls you and asks about me, just let me know, and I'll come visit him. Adeline bit her lip and continued, "We will separate sooner or later, but I'm not a heartless p erson. I will remember your grandfather's kindness to me, and I will repay him. But I would real ly appreciate it if you could stop pestering me. I would really like to keep distance from you. Brendan had had a great influen ce on her life

It took her a long time to make up her mind to le ave him. She didn't want to let him influence her emotions and, by extension, her decisions again. She had suffered enough. She wanted to stand by her d ecision. She would stop lovi ng him and set herself free. As Adeline wa s speaking, he r phone rang. Rodger's name popped up on the screen. When she was about to answe r the call, Brendan suddenl y snatched her phone away. "Brendan! What t he hell? Give me back my phone!" . Adeline struggled to get h er phone back, but Brendan held it out of her reach. He held it up in the air, an d she would have to hug him if she wanted to get to it. What a cunnin g man! . Brendan flashed her a crafty smile and said, "No matter what you say, Ade line, you are still my wife. You are still legally bound to me, and that means you should stay away from other men. I don't like being cuckolded!" . Then, he gunned th e engine and floore d the accelerator. Adeline was totally unprep ared, and the sudden speed almost gave her whiplash. Looking at Brendan's somber face, she gritted her t eeth. She really thought that he had gone crazy. He looked like a psychopath now more than Helena did. Why was he th e one who was angry anyway? . And why was he allowed to be close to Tiffany while she was forbidde n to make friends with other men? . What a ridi culous doubl e standard! . The Clemons family's mansion was very clos e to the city center. The mansion was built and decorated in a sim ple but refined style. Gerard hated to be alone, so after Brendan and Adeline got married, he'd always as ked them to stay at the mansion and accompany him. He also thought that while they kept him company, they could also take the time to get to know each other better. Sitting in the car an d in a fit of pique, Adeline kept silent. When Brendan pulled over , she got out of the car without waiting for him. As soon as Adeline entered the house, the maid, Ella, greeted her and then we nt to tell Gerard about their arrival. Gerard was pushed out on a wheelchair by a servant. His legs were covered with a blanket, and his cloth es were thick, but he looked to be in good spirits. He was followed by se veral private doctors as well as Tiffany. Tiffany was also one of the regu lar guests here. When Lance was still alive, she se ldom visited, but recently, she ha d been coming to see Gerard often. As soon as Adeline stepp ed into the living room, Brendan held her hand. Surprised, Adeline turned to look at him. With a righteous look on his face, he said , "Don't forget what Grandpa wants to see. Oh, yes. She had to pr etend she and Brendan were happily married. She tried shaking Brendan's hand away but failed. She didn't want to argue with him here and especially in f ront of Gerard, so she let him do whatever he wanted. The most important thing was to make Gerard happy, so she de cided to put up with Brendan. When she saw Gerard, she walked up to him and greeted him, "Hi, Grandpa. How have you been?" . Gerard immediately noticed the wound on her forehead. "What happened to you, Addie? Who hurt you?" . Adeline explained hastily, "I 'm fine, Grandpa. I just hit m y head on a wall by accident. Gerard cared about her and felt bad for her. He tur ned to Brendan and said crossly, "Did this happen b ecause you didn't take good care of Addie, Brendan?" . Brendan did n't know wh at to say. So he jus t forced a smile. "I'm sorry, Grandpa. It wa s my fault. I should have taken better care of her. Actually, it was indeed his fault because he let her go home by herself. Seeing that Brendan had a good attitud e, Gerard snorted. "I know you are unreliable. You young people don't know how to take care of yourselves and one another. Look at Addie. She is too thin. Sh e can stay here for a few days and get some proper rest. I'll ask the cook to make some delicious and nutritious meals for her. Alas, I'm going to die in the near future. Before I die, I hope you can bring me some good news, like that of a great-grandchild of mine on the way. "Grandpa, ple ase don't say such things!"