From His Invisible Wife to the World's Icon novel Chapter 175

Unsure of what he was staring at, Lydia frowned, catching the faint scent of gardenias in the air.

"Lydia, where did you run off to?"

"Everyone's been waiting for you."

"How could you do this at such a critical moment?"

Sierra's scolding voice drifted over.

Lydia turned a deaf ear, remaining as calm as an outsider. She stared directly at Frederick. "Did you do it?"

The man didn't look surprised at all. His eyes were devoid of ripples, and he offered no response.

After two seconds of tense silence, Sierra shrieked in her ear.

"Are you crazy?"

"You don't actually think Frederick tried to assault someone, do you?"

"How could he ever do something like that?"

"How could you not believe him?"

"Answer me!" Lydia snapped, cutting off Sierra's irritating squawking, keeping her eyes locked on him.

He remained entirely unbothered. "Believe whatever you want."

A flippant, dismissive sentence.

He walked over and sat down on the sofa.

The living room was packed. Legal teams, interview hosts, and photography equipment were all centered around the two single-seat sofas.

The man sat in one, his cold, dark eyes fixed on her. "Come here," he commanded.

Lydia's hands clenched tightly at her sides, and she turned toward the stairs.

She would not help a violent criminal.

As her foot hit the first step...

Sierra gasped behind her. "Lydia, what are you doing? He needs you right now!"

"Leave her alone."

Frederick's chilling voice pierced the air.

Lydia hurried upstairs, walked into the bedroom, unzipped her suitcase, grabbed an armful of clothes from the closet, and threw them in. A dark cloud of despair settled in her eyes. It felt like a massive boulder was crushing her chest, suffocating her.

But she didn't want to stop. She didn't want to think about the consequences.

Just as she zipped the suitcase shut...

"Lydia, you can't leave!" Charles' voice came from behind.

She froze.

"Frederick is innocent."

"Don't listen to the media rumors out there."

"I saw the evidence and the police report." Lydia looked up, meeting Charles' gaze. "The evidence is conclusive."

She saw his expression stiffen.

He knew all along that Frederick had done it!

Lydia grabbed the handle of her suitcase.

In an instant, he slammed a hand over it.

"Don't you want your divorce certificate anymore?"

"Since we're already divorced in every way that matters, what difference does a piece of paper make?"

She stared at Charles, then down at the phone in his hand.

On the screen, a severely beaten reporter was groaning in pain. "Someone paid me to follow Mr. Foster recently and film a scandal to expose him."

"They wanted to force Mr. Foster and his wife to divorce."

"Who?" the person behind the camera demanded.

Lydia's heart leaped into her throat.

Sierra's face immediately flashed in her mind.

"I don't know who it was. We only ever spoke on the phone. I got a million dollars per leak," the reporter confessed.

"You hear that, Lydia?"

"Even though I don't know why the police claim they have conclusive evidence, there has to be a reason."

"You absolutely cannot fall for someone else's trap."

"Frederick was framed."

"You have to trust him."

Lydia looked toward the center of the living room. She met Frederick's cold gaze. He still looked breathtakingly handsome and aristocratic, answering the host's questions with calm composure. He radiated a magnetic charm, looking like an entirely different person from the monster in the photos. Confident, arrogant, completely in control.

He was no longer the illegitimate child bullied by the other kids.

And she was no longer the four-year-old girl who would foolishly throw herself in front of him to protect him.

They were divorced.

He had nothing to do with her anymore.

Whether he was guilty or not, she simply didn't care.

Lydia tightened her grip on the suitcase handle, stepped around Charles, and pulled open the villa's front door. Outside, parked directly across the street, was the black van.