He Does Not Deserve My Devotion-Chapter 48: Engaged to Declan Grant

"Heh." Nina let out a scornful laugh and stood up.

She pointed to her flat stomach. "You threatened me once. Do you think I’m stupid enough to let you keep threatening me?"

Wendy Sherman’s eyes widened as she stared at Nina’s stomach. Her waist was as slender as a willow branch; she even looked thinner than last month. There was no sign of a pregnancy at all.

"You got rid of the baby? Even a vicious tiger won’t eat its cubs. You actually... Nina, you’re ruthless!"

"Are you finished? If you’re finished, get out! The next time I see you, I won’t be so polite!" Nina ordered her to leave.

"Don’t think you can marry into the Grant family just because Declan likes you. The Grants look down on you completely. Declan has already cut ties with his family just to get engaged to you."

Filled with anger and resentment, Wendy Sherman left Nina’s office. She went to the roadside to hail a cab. A taxi pulled over, but just as she was about to get in, someone shoved her aside.

"I’m in a hurry. You can take the next one," the woman who had just arrived said rudely as she slid into the back seat of the taxi first.

"Who do you think you are?" Wendy Sherman snapped, trying to pull the woman out.

The woman in the car took out a fifty-yuan bill and threw it at her. "Take the next one."

The door slammed shut, and the taxi’s wheels grazed past Wendy Sherman’s feet. She jumped up and down on the spot, cursing endlessly.

Just then, a million-dollar luxury car pulled up and stopped in front of her. The driver got out, walked around to the back, opened the door, and made a gentlemanly "please" gesture.

Puzzled, Wendy Sherman bent down to peer inside the car. Clara Jacobs, who was sitting inside, beckoned to her.

...

Declan Grant rushed to Maelie as fast as he could.

Yesterday, he had gone home and announced he wanted to go abroad for a year, a proposal Mrs. Sinclair vehemently opposed. Mrs. Sinclair had repeatedly pressed him, asking if he was planning to ’elope’ with Nina. Goaded by one thing after another, Declan decided to go all in and make the engagement a reality.

The entire night, the Grant household had been in chaos.

As Declan drove in, he happened to see the back of Wendy Sherman as she was leaving.

"Nina, did Wendy Sherman come to bother you again?" Declan asked worriedly the moment he saw her.

"No." Nina anxiously changed the subject. "Second Brother Grant, why did you announce our engagement? You know my situation..."

As she spoke, Nina lowered her head in shame.

Declan found Nina’s subservient posture jarring.

"Nina, I’m sorry. I announced the engagement without discussing it with you, but I’m serious. I don’t want to hold back anymore. I can’t stand to see you get hurt by Aiden Sinclair again. I just want to show him that even without him, someone will still cherish you like a precious treasure." 𝘧𝘳𝘦ℯ𝓌𝘦𝒷𝘯𝑜𝑣𝘦𝓁.𝒸𝘰𝓂

Declan’s confession was passionate and direct, but Nina reacted as if facing a great enemy. "No, I can’t. Brother Declan, you have a bright future. You’re going to be one of the best doctors. I’m nothing. I don’t deserve you."

Nina turned away, avoiding Declan’s searing gaze. He persisted, "I want you to be happy. Your heart has always been with someone else, so I forced myself to be magnanimous and let you pursue your happiness. But after seeing that man hurt you time and time again, I regret it now. I should have taken you away from him the first moment we met again."

"Fortunately, it’s not too late. Nina, come with me. We still have so much time ahead of us. I can make you happy."

Declan held out his hand to her, his eyes full of expectation.

"Just like when we were kids. Give me your hand. Second Brother will take you home."

Nina was moved, but panic flared in her heart. She respected him and was close to him because she truly saw Declan as a brother, a family member. It had nothing to do with romantic love.

Wendy Sherman’s parting words echoed in her ears. Declan had already turned against his family for her sake. ’I’m to blame.’

"I’m sorry. I lied to you."

Nina’s expression hardened, and she tried to make her tone as cold as possible. "To be honest, I sold our engagement to Wendy Sherman a long time ago. I traded it for Maelie. Otherwise, with Brian Sherman’s ruthless nature, why do you think he would ever give Maelie to me?"

Declan froze.

Nina continued, "I promised Wendy Sherman that I would first finalize the engagement announcement with you. Then, when it was time for the actual wedding, I would set things up so that you and she would... end up in bed together..."

"I’m sorry, Brother Declan. During this time I’ve spent with you, there was another, bigger reason. You’re a doctor, and I desperately needed a doctor’s help..."

"And one more thing... I met Aiden Sinclair five years ago. In this lifetime... he’s the only one I will ever love."

"That’s enough! Don’t say any more. I understand."

Declan paused and glanced at her. Nina’s eyes were filled with cold indifference and heartlessness.

A chill ran through Declan’s heart. He turned and left Maelie.

The moment Declan turned to leave, Nina could no longer hold back her tears.

She crumpled to the floor, covering her face with her hands as tears streamed relentlessly through her fingers.

’Now I’ve even lost Second Brother Grant. I’m truly all alone.’

...

"Bad news! We have a huge problem!"

Leo Lloyd burst into Nina’s office, phone in hand, followed by several key company executives.

Nina pushed herself up from her desk, her eyes red and swollen.

Seeing her so fragile, Leo Lloyd asked, "Young Mr. Walsh, are you not feeling well?"

Nina shook her head. "I’m fine. What’s wrong? Is there a problem on the production line?"

"It’s not the production line. Mr. Walsh, look. Our company’s homepage... I don’t know what happened, but all the pages have been maliciously altered."

"It’s not just the homepage. Our company’s online stores, all our portals have been hacked."

The newcomers all started talking at once, explaining the situation. Nina opened her computer to check. As soon as she loaded the Maelie homepage, a photo of her kneeling at the hospital entrance popped up. Scrawled across the photo in red letters were the words "Mistress" and "Homewrecker."

Nina quickly scrolled her mouse, but every page related to Maelie was flooded with the same photo. No matter how many times she tried to delete it, it wouldn’t go away.

"Mr. Walsh, you’re trending."

Nina picked up her phone and opened Weibo. Sure enough, her name was on the trending list. She tapped on it and found it was full of all sorts of photos!

The photo of Nina kneeling at the hospital was being interpreted as her being caught and punished by the rightful fiancée after seducing the woman’s husband-to-be.

There were also photos of Brian Sherman being beaten at Maelie, which were spun into a story of a daughter getting revenge on her biological father. It claimed that not only did she frame him and drive him to bankruptcy, but she also hired people to brutally assault him.

[Genius Doctor Declan Grant’s Fiancée is a Mistress.]

[Dr. Grant, run! Don’t go digging for a girlfriend in a dumpster.]

[Boycott the Mistress, Boycott Maelie!]

Tens of thousands of comments, all of them slandering Nina and Maelie.

Someone was using the buzz from Declan and Nina’s engagement announcement to spread defamatory material about her all over the internet.

Nina was already overwhelmed by the online public opinion crisis when the office phone started ringing off the hook. It was all suppliers who had seen the news, afraid Maelie would go under again and be unable to pay, calling to demand their payments ahead of schedule.

"Let’s ignore the online drama for now. We need to make sure the contract with ALLBUY Mall proceeds as planned," Leo Lloyd said.

Nina nodded and took out her phone to call Mario, but after several attempts, it went straight to a "switched off" message every time.

"What do we do now??"

Helpless and isolated, Nina felt like crying but had no tears left. Why did fate always have to play these cruel jokes on her?

’Is life abandoning me again?’

"Hey everyone, look at this photo! Is this our Young Mr. Walsh?"

Someone in the office exclaimed, and everyone crowded around to look.