CHAPTER 40: CHAPTER 40: SUICIDE SCENE, INTERNET EXPLOSION

On the screen was Corinne Kensington’s tear-streaked face, with what seemed to be a rooftop in the background as the wind howled.

Next to her was a transparent tank, with water slowly pouring in from a faucet, the water level rising bit by bit.

The number of viewers online had already reached a hundred thousand, and the number was still skyrocketing.

Aiden Fordham’s face immediately darkened.

He almost instantly turned and strode out, his quick movement stirring up a gust of wind.

There was not a single moment of hesitation!

In just fifteen minutes, Corinne Kensington’s stream had already surpassed a million viewers, and the numbers were still soaring.

Corinne was dressed in a white long shirt and pants, sitting on the edge of the villa rooftop, her legs swinging gently.

Behind her was a massive, transparent pool, the water gushing in noisily.

The streaming camera focused on her pale face, her long hair whipped into disarray by the night wind!

She said nothing, just silently wept, her eyes hollow as she stared into the distance.

The chatroom exploded in chaos.

[What kind of act is Corinne pulling now?]

[Is this a suicide attempt? There are better ways to get attention, aren’t there?]

[Eliana, don’t do anything reckless! Isn’t there anything you can just talk out?]

[Publicity stunt! Total publicity stunt! The Fordham Group is going under thanks to her, and she still has the nerve to show up!]

Insults and pleas flooded in like a tidal wave, but Corinne was deaf to them, just sitting on the edge of the terrace railing, her long legs—

The water had now risen past half of the pool’s depth.

She stood up slowly, walked in front of the camera, her voice choked with sobs, filled with bottomless despair.

"Aiden, I’m sorry, I just can’t hold on anymore."

"If I hadn’t left Meritopia three years ago... would things have turned out differently for us today?"

"I’m sorry, I dragged the Fordham Group down with me today."

"I hope... that in the next life, you’ll never meet me again."

"If we hadn’t met in the ocean that day, maybe we could’ve had our own wonderful lives."

"I’m really exhausted!"

"Thank you for taking care of me all these years, no matter what I did you always forgave me... right?"

She glanced at her phone screen, a new message popped up. She quickly wiped her tears away, as if she’d finally made up her mind.

Once she finished, she turned around and walked step by step into the icy pool.

The water quickly rose above her waist, her chest, and finally her head.

The white dress she wore bloomed in the water like a lily silently blossoming and withering in the darkness.

The stream chat went insane.

[Holy shit! She actually jumped!]

[Somebody call the cops! Where is this place?]

[Maniac! This woman is crazy!]

[Ugh, even though she’s got a bad reputation, this is actually pitiful...]

[Enough with the drama! This is someone’s life!]

On the surface of the water, the bubbles she let out became fewer and fewer, and eventually disappeared.

She slowly closed her eyes, her body floating helplessly.

Just then, a figure suddenly burst into view.

It was Aiden Fordham!

His face twisted in unprecedented panic and fury, and without the slightest hesitation, he jumped into the water, scooped up the unconscious Corinne, and quickly carried her out to the pool’s edge.

He checked her breathing, his face ashen, then bent down and started first aid with no hesitation at all—even giving her... mouth-to-mouth resuscitation.

After a few compressions and breaths, Corinne suddenly coughed up a mouthful of water and weakly opened her eyes.

When she saw Aiden’s face so close to hers, all the grievance and despair she’d been holding in erupted in an instant—she threw her arms around him and wailed her heart out.

"Aiden! Why wouldn’t you let me die! I don’t want to drag you down anymore!"

"Was our meeting back then... a mistake?"

Aiden gripped her trembling body tightly, his voice deep and resolute, "Don’t say that."

"I will not let anything happen to you."

Corinne sobbed even harder: "I don’t want to ruin your marriage... you know I never tried to sleep with you... I respect you, I never wanted to make things difficult for you... but still, I dragged the Fordham Group into this..."

Aiden interrupted, his tone full of pain and guilt, "You idiot."

"You’re not dragging me down!"

"It’s my fault, for not getting to you fast enough."

Looking straight into her eyes, word by word, clear as anything, "Be good, don’t talk, I’m taking you to the hospital!"

Corinne froze for a second, then clung to him even tighter, her tears falling like rain.

Aiden said no more, carefully lifted her in his arms, and turned to leave the rooftop.

The stream continued without interruption.

This scene once again set the internet ablaze.

Corinne’s broadcast instantly shot past ten million viewers.

There’s no such thing as bad publicity for her.

She was, hands down, the true queen of popularity.

Even after the people left the camera, the onlookers were reluctant to exit the stream.

The subtitles on the barrage were flying so fast, they might as well have hit fifty messages per second.

[Oh my god! President Fordham showed up! A hero saving the damsel in distress!]

[So President Fordham and Corinne are truly in love? Just now Corinne said she never slept with President Fordham!]

[Then what is President Fordham’s marriage to Stella Grant? A business alliance? Or is Stella actually the other woman?]

[So much info, my brain’s overheating!]

[This is getting crazier and crazier, what is Mrs. Fordham going to do now?]

[Drama of the year! This plot twist is wild!]

The internet was boiling again, wild speculation and debates raging everywhere.

Meanwhile, Vivi Sterling and Stella Grant, having watched this entire spectacle, saw the online tide shift in an instant.

"She’s just like a Lotus Spirit!"

"Only that idiot Aiden Fordham would believe her."

"She timed that jump so perfectly—if she’d gone in a minute early, she would’ve met The Grim Reaper!"

Vivi cursed bitterly, flinging her phone aside.

Stella didn’t seem to care much; maybe she was used to it.

"Vivi, help me with the discharge paperwork. I want to go home."

Vivi reached out to check her temperature, making sure she wasn’t feverish anymore.

"Fine, better not to bump into enemies in the hallway!"

Just then, Keegan Lindsey came in, carrying a takeout bag. "Ma’am, here’s your dinner. The boss sent you your favorite crab roe buns and white fruit porridge."

It was from The Gilded Palate—the last time, was it him who brought food, too?

He even got her hospital room upgraded—did that mean he knew her situation?

Did he know about the child?

Stella fell quiet in an instant, her brows furrowing slightly.

"Did Aiden send you to order this?" Vivi narrowed her eyes at him.

"Of course, the boss is always thinking about Ma’am." Keegan smiled, carefully unpacking dish after dish.

"Throw it out. Stella doesn’t like this anymore! And you... just get lost!"

Vivi glared, jerking her thumb toward the door.

Keegan’s smile stiffened mid-air, looking a bit awkward.

What’s going on? The missus catches a fever and her taste changes?

Vivi saw his dumbfounded look and was even more annoyed. "Dude, haven’t you checked the livestream?"

"Livestream? What livestream?"

Keegan opened his phone for a scroll—Aiden Fordham rescuing Corinne’s highlight reel was already blowing up into memes.

His face went green!

This boss of his was trouble incarnate—how could he... how could he...

He felt a lump in his chest stuck halfway up his throat.

Suffocating!

"Get out of here. Don’t be an eyesore. We’re being discharged."

Vivi didn’t bother to be polite as she shooed him out!

Keegan quickly tried to be helpful, "I’ll go take care of Ma’am’s discharge paperwork."

"No need. You just wait downstairs. In a bit, your boss will probably ask you to check Corinne into the hospital."

Vivi deliberately gave him a hard shove as she strode for the door.

Keegan stepped forward, wanting to say a word for his boss.

Suddenly, his phone rang. It was the boss himself.

Stella said coolly, "Just go take care of it."

Keegan nodded and left in a hurry.

Stella and Vivi exited through the underground parking garage, carefully dodging the reporters.

After all, Corinne’s latest move had shoved her right back into the eye of the storm.