Chapter 9: Chapter 9: An Attack from a Fan

Yvonne Sutton was actually pacing herself and hadn’t gotten too drunk.

But by the time she left the bar, it was already past midnight, and there were fewer cars and people on the street.

It was still a ways from the bar to her villa, but it was hard to hail a cab on this part of the road.

She held the railing as she descended the steps, and just as she was about to steel herself for the walk home, a black Bentley pulled up in front of her.

Yvonne Sutton’s heart sank, and she quickly took two steps back toward the bar.

Just then, a man in his fifties with salt-and-pepper hair got out of the car.

"You must be Miss Yvonne Sutton?" he asked, keeping a slight distance.

Yvonne Sutton pursed her lips. "I am."

The man immediately smiled. "Miss Sutton, I’m Mr. Shaw’s driver. My name is Webb. Mr. Shaw sent me to pick you up and take you home."

’Mr. Shaw? Wyatt Shaw?’

Yvonne Sutton quickly pulled out her phone. Sure enough, Wyatt Shaw had sent her a message.

"I sent Mr. Webb to come get you. Get home and rest."

Only after seeing the message did she finally relax.

"Thank you, then. I appreciate it."

Mr. Webb was chubby and had a kind, friendly face. "No trouble, no trouble at all."

As she settled into the car, Yvonne Sutton’s mind was filled with questions.

’Isn’t Wyatt Shaw just an employee? A high-level one, at best. How could he afford the most expensive villa in the city and have a private driver? It was all rather surprising.’

"Mr. Shaw also mentioned that you can call on me to drive you anytime, Miss Sutton. And that if you need help with anything at all, you should be sure to ask."

"Alright."

Although she had questions, Yvonne Sutton wasn’t curious enough to pry.

Back at the villa, the first thing Yvonne Sutton did was text Wyatt Shaw to let him know she was home safe.

She didn’t expect a reply, but he sent back a "Good night."

Yvonne Sutton replied: Good morning.

When Yvonne Sutton came out of the shower, she saw her bedroom was lit up by lights from outside. She could also faintly hear voices.

She walked out onto the terrace connected to her bedroom and saw a car parked across the way.

Leo Flynn and Vincent Reed were standing in front of the villa’s gate, trying to figure something out.

"Seriously, Vincent, isn’t this your place? How can you not even know the code to get in?" Leo Flynn asked, looking at Vincent Reed in utter disbelief.

Vincent Reed ran a hand through his hair in frustration. "I usually only come over when I know she’s home, so I just knock and she lets me in."

"What about the fingerprint scanner?"

"Never registered my print."

Leo Flynn heaved a sigh. "We’ll have to call Yvonne. You do it." 𝗳𝗿𝐞𝕖𝘄𝗲𝕓𝗻𝚘𝚟𝕖𝐥.𝚌𝕠𝕞

Vincent Reed kicked the door. "She blocked me!"

"Well, then we’re out of options."

"You call her."

"Me?" Leo Flynn scoffed. "Yvonne told me if I ever called her about you again, she’d cut me off completely."

Vincent Reed gritted his teeth. "Then let her."

"No way! You and Yvonne can break up, but she and I are not breaking up our friendship!"

"Leo Flynn, are you asking for a punch in the face?"

Leo Flynn chuckled. "But think about it. Is the code one of your birthdays? Or some other important anniversary?"

Vincent Reed scowled and thought for a moment, and then something actually clicked.

"I think it’s the date we started officially dating."

Leo Flynn snapped his fingers. "See? There you go. Hurry up and open it."

Vincent Reed grunted. "Who remembers what day that was?"

"You don’t know?"

"What’s so strange about that? There are too many important dates. No one can remember them all."

"But this one is different."

"There’s nothing special about it."

"Sigh. 160805."

Vincent Reed frowned. "How do you know that?"

"Because it’s also Yvonne’s birthday. You confessed to her on her birthday, she accepted, and you got together. Joshua and I were there, and we were actually damn moved by it."

"Her birthday?"

"Yeah. But in all the years you’ve been together, you’ve never once celebrated Yvonne’s birthday, have you?"

"What’s the big deal about a birthday?"

"But every year you personally throw a lavish birthday party for Wendy."

Vincent Reed shot Leo Flynn a glare, looked down to enter the code, and just as predicted, the door opened.

"You should change the code later. Make it Wendy’s birthday or your wedding anniversary. That way you’ll be sure not to forget it."

"Get lost!"

The fact that Leo Flynn hadn’t called her made Yvonne Sutton feel that even though she’d broken up with Vincent Reed, she hadn’t lost Leo as a friend.

That night, Yvonne Sutton slept exceptionally well.

’I still have to buy back my parents’ house,’ she thought. ’But now isn’t the right time. Vincent Reed will definitely make things difficult for me.’

’I’ll wait. Once he and Wendy Winters are married, maybe he won’t have the energy to torment me anymore.’

The next morning, Yvonne Sutton was at the clinic as usual.

In a lull between patients, Mina Adler showed her a trending topic online.

"Wendy Winters’s team responded to the recent controversy. They’re saying she has no connection to Stanley Lynch and that they’re going to sue everyone who spread rumors. This statement also claims she and Mr. Reed started dating as soon as they got to college, that they’ve been faithful to each other all these years, and that all the cheating rumors are false."

Yvonne Sutton scoffed at that.

’They started dating a long time ago? Faithful to each other?’

"But they didn’t deny the news about Wendy Winters’s suicide attempt. They just said she’s been troubled by some recent events, but still chooses to trust her fiancé."

’Something about that doesn’t sound right...’

"Of course it’s not right! They cleared up the rumors about Wendy Winters and Stanley Lynch, but they did nothing to clear your name. They even implied you’re the one who seduced Mr. Reed, ruined their relationship, and drove Wendy to attempt suicide."

Sure enough, as she scrolled down, the comments were all trashing her.

"It’s all crystal clear now. This Sutton woman, as Wendy’s attending physician, used her position to get close to Mr. Reed. She tried to seduce him, and when he rejected her, she wouldn’t stop pestering him, to the point that Wendy couldn’t take it and tried to kill herself!"

"People like her are disgusting! She doesn’t deserve to be a doctor!"

"A doctor’s salary is pennies compared to what you can make with a sugar daddy. Plus, you don’t have to work hard—just lie back and moan a little."

Mina Adler read a few more comments before she couldn’t take it anymore, shutting off her phone with a string of muttered curses.

"See, Yvonne? Just because you’re willing to let it go doesn’t mean they’ll leave you alone."

Yvonne Sutton frowned.

’I’m not a celebrity. I really don’t want to be dragged into this scandal.’

’But just as Mina said, if these rumors keep spreading, my life and my job will both be affected.’

Just as she was wondering how to handle the situation, a young woman wearing sunglasses entered the room.

"Hello, please have a seat." She composed herself, deciding to deal with the online drama after work. She nudged the mouse to wake her computer screen, then looked at the young woman. "What seems to be the problem?"

The young woman didn’t sit, nor did she speak.

"Miss...?"

Before Yvonne could finish her sentence, the young woman suddenly produced a bottle of ink, its cap already unscrewed, and flung its contents at her.

It all happened so fast that Yvonne didn’t have time to dodge.

The foul-smelling, cheap black ink splattered across her face and body, staining her white doctor’s coat with dark blotches.

Mina Adler was the first to react. "What are you doing?! Security! Security, get over here, quick!"

The young woman laughed triumphantly. "Lady, how desperate for a man are you that you have to seduce someone else’s fiancé! If you’re that hard up, just go out on the street, grab a random guy, and take him to a cheap motel. As long as he’s not grossed out by you, you can go screw your brains out! And another thing, you should take a good look in the mirror. With a horrifying face like that, did you really think you could compete with my Wendy?!"

Having finished her tirade, the young woman turned and fled.

Yvonne, covered in ink, was too stunned to even think of a response.

A crowd of gawkers had gathered outside the door, many of them already recording the scene with their phones.

"Shoo, shoo! This is none of your business! Go on, get back to your appointments!"

Mina Adler quickly shut the door. Seeing Yvonne’s wretched, ink-stained state, she stomped her foot in fury.

Mina Adler quickly wet a towel and helped Yvonne wipe her face. It took several passes to get the ink off, but her clothes were a total loss.

"Yvonne, are you okay?"

She had been sitting there in silence ever since it happened.

"Do you have any ink?"

"Huh?"

Yvonne Sutton took a deep breath. "Mina, go find me a bottle of ink."