The Million-Dollar Heart (Percival and Vivienne)
Chapter 138

Hospital Waiting Room.

The wall-mounted TV in the room flicked on to the Havenwood News. Vivienne watched as Arabella's pitiful face appeared on the screen, surrounded by reporters.

Arabella was charged with defamation. A criminal case couldn't be pursued until Dorian was out of surgery, and making a false police report could be dismissed with a fine, especially for a first-time offender. Arabella had paid her fine and was released in less than a day.

Reporters were waiting for her as she stepped out of the police station.

On the news, Arabella, with tears streaming down her face, looked into the camera. "I framed my foster father because he really did molest me when I was a child. I wanted revenge, so I did what I did.

I was so young and defenseless, but I remember everything he did to me. I have nightmares every night... I can't let him go unpunished!"

Cordelia sprang to her feet in a rage. "How dare she?!" She exclaimed to Vivienne. "After what she did to Dorian, she still has the gall to slander him! Is she even human?"

Cordelia was shaking with anger. During the two days Dorian was in custody, she and Thaddeus had been the target of gossip and even an attempted acid attack.

Dorian was just released, but he had to be rushed into surgery. It seemed like Arabella just refused to let him be.

Vivienne squinted her eyes, staring at Arabella's face on the screen. She felt that merely bankrupting the Hawthorn family had been far too lenient.

"Cordelia, calm down." Percival tried to soothe her. "We won't let Dorian bear this slander."

Cordelia had barely sat down when a reporter on TV asked Arabella, "Miss Arabella, if what you're saying is true, why didn't you report it at the time?" "It's all my fault!"

Cordelia was shocked to see Beatrice appear on the screen. Her face was full of sorrow and shame as she stood by Arabella and addressed the reporters. "I was the one who asked Arabella not to report it for the sake of my third son's future.

After that, I kept her close to me to protect her. I thought if I, an old woman, treated her well enough, she could forget what happened. But I didn't expect her to still harbor resentment and do such a ridiculous thing now."

Beatrice turned to the camera with a pleading look. "I hope everyone can forgive Arabella for what she's done. Please consider that she's just a poor kid."

After she finished, she and Arabella hugged each other, both looking utterly dejected.

Cordelia was livid after watching the news. She was speechless with rage. She couldn't believe that her own family could be so cruel.

Did Beatrice not realize that her lies could ruin Dorian, Thaddeus, and even their entire family?

The tide of public opinion was turning again, with many saying that if Dorian really was a pedophile who molested Arabella when she was a child, then he deserved what was happening to him. Cordelia was scrolling through the derogatory comments about Dorian on Twitter as tears began streaming down her face.

Vivienne felt a burning rage when she saw her like this.

Arabella really loved pushing her luck.

Without any expression, Vivienne sent out the video Coral had given her earlier.

The video was taken in Coral's study. Coral's mother had installed a camera to monitor her daughter's studies. For many years, the stored videos were never deleted. When Coral heard that Dorian was in trouble, she decide to replace it.

In the video, Arabella was chatting with Coral in her study.

Coral asked Arabella, "Why do you live with your granny instead of your parents?"

Arabella, then only eleven or twelve and not adept at hiding her feelings, made a face of disgust.

"My dad and mom are so poor that even if they give me their best, it's not as good as what Granny can give me from her spare change. I want a better life, so of course, I have to suck up to Granny."

She lounged on Coral's couch, swinging her leg, and confidently continued, "You see, Michael and Joseph's children wear designer clothes worth thousands of dollars. But if I were with my parents, I could only wear clothes worth a few hundred dollars, which they could buy only by scrimping and saving. I don't know why they insisted on being so stubborn when they could have a better life by sucking up to Granny." Netizens were stunned by the video. Arabella was so young, but her values were already so skewed.

The video clearly showed that Arabella chose to live with Beatrice because she was materialistic, not because Dorian molested her and Beatrice was keeping her close to protect her, as they claimed. Vivienne quickly tapped on her phone, sending out another video. It was from the day Dorian took her and Cordelia to the Hawthorn Mansion to sever ties with Beatrice.

She had never removed the Hawthorn family's surveillance cameras.

Beatrice had tried to replace the cameras but failed. She assumed they had been removed.

As the video wrapped up, Dorian turned to Arabella and said, "Arabella, tell me truthfully, didn't my wife and I go without food and clothing for two years so that you could have enough? Thaddeus is my own son, and there were times when he went hungry, but didn't I always make sure you never had to?"

The social media community was left in utter disbelief. They started commenting, "Did Dorian adopt a daughter or a devil?"

The couple had scrimped and saved, even sacrificing their own son's needs, just to make sure Arabella was well fed and dressed. And what was their reward for all of this?

They got a daughter who chose wealth over kindness. A daughter who cosied up to Beatrice and left her adopted parents in the dirt.

Their reward was an adopted daughter who, after eight years, repeatedly smeared their names and even accused Dorian of a serious crime, leading to him being severely injured. Even when Dorian was still in surgery, she didn't forget to tarnish their name to clear her own.

This kind of daughter was nothing short of a demon.

And what about Beatrice? This old crone.

Arabella being adopted was bad enough, but Beatrice was Dorian's own mother! How could she help a foster granddaughter ruin her own son?

They had cut ties, so she could no longer get benefits from Dorian. For this simple reason, she decided to destroy him.

This kind of mother was even scarier than Arabella.

The live broadcast from Havenwood News was on the television screen. After Vivienne had released the videos, the journalists at the scene had naturally seen the content.

Those who had initially sympathized with Arabella and Beatrice quickly changed their tune. The seemingly pitiful girl and elderly woman in front of them now seemed like two demons in disguise. Unaware of the tide turning against her, Arabella continued to address the cameras. "I truly apologize for this wastage of police resources. But I have no regrets; I will never forgive that demon, Dorian! I..." Just as the word "demon" left her lips, a rotten egg was splattered on her face.

Arabella was momentarily stunned. Before she could react, another egg hit her, followed by a voice shouting, "You have the audacity to talk about forgiveness?! Why don't you ask your adopted father if he forgives his lying daughter?!"

Immediately after, a barrage of rotten eggs and spoiled vegetables rained down on Arabella and Beatrice. Some even threw stones.