Cecilia's mother was still crying, holding onto her hand as she asked, "My dear, are you okay? What are you looking for? Just look at me…."
"Ace… Where is he?" Cecilia's voice was hoarse and weak.
After experiencing such a deadly situation, she decided that she had to stop hiding her true feelings. She loved Ace Moran, and she couldn't possibly move on from him.
The only person she wanted to see now… was Ace Moran.
"M… Mr. Moran?"
The atmosphere felt tense and awkward, as everyone had the same thought in their heads.
'The first thing this bride did, despite having just survived drowning, was to look for another man… Poor Mr. Christopher…'
Christopher's handsome face turned stiff, then spoke softly to the woman in his embrace. "Ace risked his life to save you, you know? You have to give him a proper thanks later."
"He did?" Cecilia's pale face finally livened up, bursting into tears. "I knew it … He does care about me! Oh, Ace… Where is he? I have to see him!"
At that moment, there was a crowd of guests surrounding the bride, with Ace and Joanna in the outermost area.
After confirming that Cecilia was safe, Ace grabbed Joanna by the wrist and intended to leave.
Joanna, however, stood still and teased the man. "Hey, Mr. Nice Guy, this won't do! How could you just leave without taking credit for your good deeds?"
The man rolled his eyes at her, growling. "Stop talking like that. I'll throw you into the sea if you keep this up."
Joanna smiled awkwardly. "Fine, fine. I'll stop. I can't afford to provoke Mr. Nice Guy after all!"
Just then, the crowd automatically parted, which allowed Cecilia to finally see the man of her dreams.
"Ace…"
However, her gleeful smile froze abruptly as she noticed Ace holding Joanna's hand tightly.
The man who risked his life to save me… wasn't waiting for me to regain consciousness, but is holding another woman's hand instead?!'
The last ounce of hope in her heart was rekindled and distinguished, time and time again throughout the entire day.
The seed of jealousy had already been planted in her heart, sprouting uncontrollably as if it were weeds.
She then did her best to suppress these emotions, putting up a pitiful act as she gazed upon Ace, who was standing in the distance.
"Ace, I heard you just risked your life to save me… You've already saved me so many times… How could I ever repay you?"
Ace stood still; his expression was distant and hostile. "I did it out of natural instinct. You don't have to thank me."
Those words acted as a knife, once again carving into Cecilia's broken heart, leaving her to bleed out.
'This man… He was willing to give up on everything for me before! He was even willing to give up his life!'
'But now… he wouldn't even bother admitting that we used to date… I… just can't…'
Ruby was watching the show the entire time, observing Cecilia and Ace closely. As an experienced actress, she was familiar with romance and relationships.
Anyone could tell that Cecilia was still in love with the man, but Ace had moved on. In fact, he seemed to care more about his ex-wife now.
Before this, the actress was actually still frustrated, wondering how she should take down Joanna, considering that she was a very strong rival. Yet seeing Cecilia gave her an idea…
She approached the supposed bride and pretended to act out of concern." Oh my god, Miss Cecelia, how are you feeling right now? Everyone was worried sick!" "How did you fall into the ocean? You were fine just a while ago! Could it be that… someone pushed you in?"
"I…"
Cecilia was still feeling a little weak. She looked at the crowd with cloudy, bleary eyes, as if she had something she could not say out loud.
'I bumped into you and Ms. Pierce earlier,' Ruby Chisholm pointed out suggestively, continuing to fan the flame. 'And you looked a little upset then. Was Ms. Pierce the last person you were with?'
She felt that her implication was obvious enough, even if she did not spell it all out-Joanna Pierce pushed Cecilia into the sea!
Having climbed through the ranks in the entertainment industry for long enough, she had armed herself with weapons that helped her get ahead. Among all the weapons in her arsenal, borrowing the hand of another to eliminate a rival was her favorite, as it was the most convenient.
Without lifting a finger, she could just stand back and let someone else eliminate the most threatening enemy on the battlefield-the perfect strategy!
'That's right!' Cecilia's mother agitatedly held her shoulders and urged," Don't be afraid, darling! Tell us the truth! Did that wicked woman push you into the sea? If she really did, your dad and I will definitely avenge you!"
"Mom…" Cecilia bit her lips and meekly said, 'Since I'm fine now, I think we should stop pursuing the matter. Ms. Pierce and I are friends, after all, and I believe it was all an accident.'
She actually wanted to say that no one pushed her into the sea at all. It was all because she had been hurt by Ace so badly, and she was so distressed at that time that she decided to jump to her death-to end it all.
But when she saw how Ace and Joanna held hands the entire time, her seething jealousy drove her blindingly mad, which then made her decide to pin it on Joanna.
No matter how much Ace loved Joanna, there was no way that he would ever want to be with a vicious murderer!
As expected, Ace quickly released Joanna's hand.
He glared at her chillingly, and with an icy cold voice laced with suspicion, he demanded, "What's going on?"
Everyone else covered their mouths in disbelief.
"I can't believe it… So she really was the one who did it! Is her heart so stained with ink that she'd do such an unspeakable thing?! It's horrible!"
Joanna was speechless. Once again, she had become the prime target of spite.
"Hey," she pointed at Cecilia. 'Say it clearly. Don't just leave things hanging! What do you mean you don't want to pursue the matter? What do you mean it was an accident? What did I ever do to you? Why insinuate something like that about me?'
Cecilia was so shocked that she stepped back to dodge Joanna. The fact that she had just returned from the brink of death made her seem that much more pitiful. With tears streaming, she begged Joanna, "Please don't get so mad, Ms. Pierce. We both know what you did, but I really don't want to pursue this. Just… just pretend I slipped and fell into the water myself, and we'll leave it at that."
But this only made Joanna angrier than before. Like an uninhibited beast, she charged at Cecilia, grabbing her arm so violently she almost ripped it off. 'Speak clearly, won't you?" she demanded. "What did you mean 'just pretend that you slipped?' If you want to accuse me of pushing you into the sea, just
say it, won't you? That way, I can sue you for defamation. Stop acting all pure and innocent! You've already launched your attack! There's no point trying to look like the poor innocent victim!"
Joanna realized how wrong she had been about Cecilia. Back then, when she received the necklace from her, Joanna had assumed that Cecilia was a smart woman with a big heart, wise enough not to lose her mind for a douchebag.
But now it was clear that she didn't only lose her mind-she even lost her conscience!
' Please, Ms. Pierce! I beg you to not make it any harder for me. I told you that I don't want to pursue the matter… Fine. I'll say it! Nothing that happened to me has anything to do with you… so, everyone, please just drop the matter!'
With teary eyes, Cecilia clutched her mother's hand. "Mom, I feel so dizzy. I feel really unwell. I really need to lie down!' "You've been immersed for so long that you almost drowned, darling! Of course, you'd feel unwell! I'm taking you to the hospital right away!"