Encore of the Avenging Muse (Sylvia and Rupert)

Sylvia never expected Fiona to suddenly lunge at her, causing her to lose her balance and crash onto the floor.

Her hands instinctively reached out to break her fall, landing right on the shards of a coffee mug that Tristan had shattered earlier.

Pain shot through her body, rendering her defenseless as Fiona yanked her around.noveldrama

Naomi quickly snapped out of her shock and rushed to pull Fiona away.

"Let go of my daughter!"

But Fiona, consumed by her obsession to defend Warren, had a grip like an iron vice.

She clung to Sylvia's scarf with a shrill cry, "Dad, look! I have proof! I'll show you she's been flirting with Rupert all along!"

The scarf tightened around Sylvia's neck, cutting off her breath until she felt it might snap. Just in time, Edwin managed to wrestle the frenzied Fiona away.

The scarf was wrenched from Sylvia in the process.

Naomi immediately shielded Sylvia, her voice fraught with concern, "Sylvia, are you alright?"

Sylvia wanted to answer, but the effort made her throat sting, and she coughed painfully.

"Ugh, I'm-cough-fine."

Naomi shot a furious look at Fiona, "Mrs. Fiona, have you lost your mind?"

Fiona sneered, "Before you lecture me, maybe you should ask your precious daughter how she plans to explain this to Tristan! If she's really cut ties with Rupert, why does she have something of his?"

She triumphantly brandished Sylvia's scarf.

Sylvia's heart skipped a beat, and she reached out for the scarf, "No! Give it back!"

But with her head still spinning from the near suffocation, she couldn't muster the strength to fight.

Fiona scoffed, "If it's nothing, why are you so scared?"

Even Tristan's face had darkened with anger at this point.

Then, a figure strolled in with a casual grace.

A coat draped over his arm, his eyes as cold as a winter's night swept across the

room.

His gaze paused on the marks around Sylvia's neck, but his expression remained calm as a still lake.

He bypassed the crowd and settled into a chair beside Tristan.

With a light tap on the table, a servant promptly handed him a steaming cup of coffee.

He took a sip, his voice level, "What's all the commotion about?"

Tristan adjusted his rumpled sleeve, his

1 neutral, "Your sister-in-law is

spouting nonsense again, claiming you and Sylvia are still in

an

Rupert set his coffee down with air of indifference, "She's got quite the imagination. Maybe she should

more on the Carmen family

of my personal life.

Fiona's lips trembled at the jab, but she thrust the scarf towards Tristan.

"Dad, this scarf is the evidence! It was Mom's last gift to Rupert, with his name stitched on it! One of a kind!"

Sylvia, unfamiliar with Rupert's late mother both in this life and the previous, was taken aback. The Garcia family rarely spoke of her.

All she knew was that Rupert's mother had gone to great lengths to have him at nearly fifty and had

passed away a few years later due to complications.

Rupert seldom mentioned his mother, but he treasured her possessions.

The mention of the scarf being unique caught Sylvia off guard.

It felt familiar, like a distant memory she couldn't quite grasp.

She glanced up at Rupert, and when their eyes met, his gaze was like an ink-

black abyss, impossible to read.

Yet, recalling how he had used her, Sylvia clenched her bleeding hand and quickly looked away.

Rupert, however, didn't break eye contact, his presence formidable and dangerous, as if he could devour her whole at any moment.