Chapter 5

"Victoria, I'm just worried about you. Why are you treating me like this? It's all my fault. If only you hadn't been adopted by those vulgar people back then..."

Before she could finish, a clear handprint appeared on her face.

The crisp sound of the slap left Bianca stunned for a long moment.

She never expected Victoria would dare to slap her right in front of William.

"William, my face hurts so much. Please check if it's ruined. I have a performance tomorrow! Victoria, do you really hate me that much?" Big tears rolled down Bianca's cheeks, making her look pitiful.

William turned around, his eyes dark as he looked at Victoria. "Victoria, do you have to make such a scene?"

Victoria had used all her strength in that slap, and even now half her palm was still tingling slightly.

"So what if I did?"

In William's eyes, she wasn't a good person anyway.

Hearing her firm admission, William was stunned for half a second.

But soon his attention was drawn away by Bianca's sobbing voice.

"It's all my fault, William. Don't blame her."

Always using these words to disgust her.

Victoria sneered, "If you feel so guilty, then pack your things and get out of the Ashford family. Give me back my mom and dad."

William really disliked Victoria's aggressive attitude.

"Victoria, she's your sister."

"She's not."

Victoria had just been in a car accident and was still weak. With her emotions running high, her head felt dizzy and she swayed unsteadily. Luckily Edward was quick to catch her, barely managing to steady her.

Even though there was nothing inappropriate between Victoria and Edward, it still made William's pupils contract.

"Victoria."

"Please sign the divorce papers as soon as possible." Victoria's tone was flat. Her disappointment had long been overflowing. All she wanted now was a divorce.

"Divorce? Not a chance."

William grabbed Victoria's arm and pulled her away from Edward.

This woman Victoria actually wanted him to admit he had problems in that area.

This involved a man's dignity. He would absolutely never compromise with Victoria on this.

Victoria stared at his handsome face and directly slapped him.

William's head turned to the side, his face full of disbelief.

"You dare hit me?"

Victoria stared at him stubbornly, her voice trembling. "You deserve it."

He was so shameless, one slap was getting off easy.

Edward originally didn't want to get involved in these matters, because William might very well take it out on Victoria even more.

But when he heard Victoria say she wanted a divorce, his mind suddenly became active.

"Mr. Sinclair, Victoria is still your wife after all. What you're doing is too much!"

William snorted coldly. "How I do things isn't for you to criticize. Mind your own business."

With those words, he bent down, picked up Bianca, and left the hospital room.

That faint scent of mint gradually faded away, and Victoria seemed to have her spine pulled out.

She didn't want Edward to see her in such a mess, but the emotions she'd been suppressing for so long could no longer be controlled.

Victoria's sobbing was like a pair of hands tightly squeezing Edward's heart.

He restrained himself, clenching his fists, before patting Victoria's back.

"Victoria, don't be sad. It's William's fault for not seeing how good you are."

Victoria shook her head.

She wasn't sad about William's coldness.

She just felt that all the genuine feelings she'd given before were in vain.

She hated herself for being a poor judge of character and wasting her best years.

No one noticed that in the corner by the doorway, a camera lens was flashing.

Victoria cried herself to sleep.

Edward tucked in her blanket, asked the director for leave, and specially stayed in the hospital room to take care of her.

Victoria slept for a long time. Edward was afraid she wouldn't be able to sleep at night, so he went out to buy some things and came back before waking her up.

Victoria felt a bit embarrassed.

"Edward, you're so busy, yet you came to take care of me. I've troubled you too much."

"Even though we're in the same hospital, we rarely see each other. Plus I'm so busy my feet barely touch the ground. It's nice to finally get some rest thanks to you. What trouble is there?"

Victoria was amused by him.

Just then, the young nurse who was supposed to change Victoria's dressing arrived.

As soon as she entered the room, she looked at Victoria strangely, and her movements while changing the dressing were quite rough.

Edward frowned. "What are you doing? Is this how the hospital trained you?"

The young nurse sneered. "Someone like Dr. Ashford who's even jealous of her own sister, would she even know what pain is? Besides, I heard Dr. Ashford is already married but still has something going on with you. She doesn't look like a good person at all."

With that, the nurse left with her tray.

Victoria instinctively picked up her phone to check what was going on.

Edward wanted to stop her, but Victoria was faster.

She had already seen today's trending topics.

Victoria's reputation, which she had worked so hard to restore, was damaged again because of a blurry video.

Under the trending topic, Bianca's fans were all calling for the hospital to suspend Victoria.

She tried to smile at Edward, but found she couldn't.

"If you don't want to smile, don't force it. You've worked at the hospital for so many years. They can't suspend you that easily."

"You don't need to comfort me. I can pretty much guess what they'll arrange."

Not long after she spoke, the director came in person.

Victoria usually worked hard, so the director hesitated for quite a while before slowly speaking in a gentle tone. "Victoria, you're usually too busy, and you've been in a car accident. I'm worried about you continuing to work at the hospital. How about you go home and rest for a while?"

"Okay, thank you, Director."

The director had always been good to her. Victoria understood the hidden meaning in his words and didn't want to make things difficult for him, so she packed up and went home that evening.

Victoria rested at home for two days and her body had basically recovered.

Just then, Edward came to visit her and discuss opening a private clinic.

"Victoria, you're a very professional doctor. I believe in your abilities."

"But..." Victoria hesitated. Buying that pocket watch had used up almost all her savings. She didn't have extra money to invest right now.

And she still had to pay back her friend and William.

"Don't worry about the money. Victoria, I need you. With you there, our clinic can grow bigger and bigger. Want to come with me later to look at potential locations for the clinic? You can clear your head at the same time."