Married a Secret Billionaire novel Chapter 1020

In the past few days, Violet had been like a mouse crossing the street—wherever she went, people mocked her. She shamelessly went to the university but had to cover herself up, completely unrecognizable from head to toe.

Despite that, the mocking voices constantly reached her ears. People in the class now understand that Lina had set her up. She wanted them to testify—"It was Lina who copied Xyla Irwin's artwork first, not me!"

"Violet, save your breath!" Keira was the first to refute her. "If it weren't for your malicious intentions, thinking of plagiarizing Lina's work, this wouldn't have happened!"

"Exactly..." Someone else chimed in. "Besides, the painting that was submitted for review was yours, not Lina's! Maybe Lina just copied along for fun?"

"We've all seen how Ms. Grist usually bullies Lina. Hah... it's karma!"

"You!" Violet shouted angrily, isolated and unsupported, and turned around to run out of the classroom.

Normally, she was the one who bullied Lina, but she was not unkind to this group of lackeys! Why had they all turned their backs on her as soon as she was ridiculed online!?

...

Zuko recently paid attention to the news on the Internet and occasionally criticized Violet, adopting the tone of a keyboard warrior. Although he had always considered cyberbullying to be shameful, it was a different story when it came to Violet.

After reading the posts, he called Toph again. "You've worked hard during this period."

Toph had not woken up yet, but he was startled by these words and jumped up from the bed. Did he hear it correctly? His brother actually... thanked him?

"Uh... It's nothing, just a small favor!" Toph's eyes were filled with hot tears—who knew what he had been through these days? His big brother had asked him to expose Violet's plagiarism and constantly monitor the comments, ensuring no hint of Lina was mentioned. Zuko did not want Lina's life to be disrupted.

Therefore, Toph had to seek dozens of major media outlets to monitor it together, and it was not until then that he realized that his brother's sweet bond in Jangasas was called Lina.

"Toph, you did a good job!" Zuko, who rarely complimented people, smiled. "I heard that the Irwins want to retain the right to press charges. How did you manage to get our grandmother involved?"

"That's simple. I told our grandmother that her granddaughter-in-law was being bullied and asked her to step forward!"

"You..." Zuko had just taken a bite of a peach, and a piece of the flesh got stuck in his throat. He coughed violently a few times.

"Bro, it's okay!" Toph comforted him in a low voice, "Anyway, our grandmother doesn't know which granddaughter-in-law it is..." said Toph.

"Alright, stop talking!"

"Didn't I do a good job with this?"

"Hmm, not bad," Zuko said in a deep voice. "But don't do it again in the future!"

Toph was still puzzled, but he heard a beep from the phone, and the call was disconnected.

Zuko leaned against the porch railing and scratched his head vigorously.

There was a car honking in the alley.

Lina came downstairs while Zuko looked over at the source's sound. They saw a car stop at the alley, and a man in a suit and leather shoes walked to them a while later.

The man wore a polite smile. "Are you Ms. Lina Jenner?"

However, the more harmless his appearance, the less she could let her guard down. Lina bit her lip, her inner determination making her fearless.

Inadvertently, Zuko caught sight of the expression on the girl's face. Her lips were tightened into a line, her expression serious, her gaze alert, as if she was a little hedgehog who had raised all her spikes to protect herself.

He smiled. In fact, he did not really care whether this lunch was a trap or not. After all, he had attended such occasions countless times with his father since he was a child.

Fred alone could not do anything to him. Zuko had heard that Fred was the illegitimate child of the Grists. Although he was Violet's uncle and was exceptionally capable, he was not well-regarded in the Grists.

It was really hard to tell if Fred was an enemy or a friend.

Zuko was about to pick up some food when a small foot kicked him hard under the table! He froze and turned to look at Lina, meeting her urgent and annoyed bright eyes. He remembered that she had repeatedly reminded him not to eat any of the dishes on their way there, just in case Fred had poisoned them!

Zuko hesitated, but Lina desperately signaled him to put his cutlery down with her eyes.

"Ms. Jenner, is there something wrong?" Fred spoke with a smile that was not really a smile. "Are you worried... that I've poisoned the dishes?"

"Ah, well..." Lina awkwardly chuckled. "That's not it, Mr. Grist."

She quickly came up with an excuse. "It's because... my husband has diabetes, so he has to control what he eats!"

"What?!" Zuko's hand trembled, and his spoon fell on the table with a clatter.

Lina quickly held onto his arm and leaned her head against his shoulder, smiling at him widely.