Chapter 5 Designing a Frame-Up

A cold wind slipped through the gap of the poorly closed window, making Giselle shiver all over.

She stood in the middle of the empty living room, still clutching that cold phone in her hand, the last bit of warmth in her heart completely gone.

A dense wave of bitterness and anger surged through her. Giselle dialed Stella's number—this time, she wanted answers.

Meanwhile, at the villa.

Valentin stared at the location on his phone screen, his brows knitted together.

That moving red dot had finally stopped at an address he didn't recognize.

He thought she was rushing off to see that Ethan guy who'd been smiling so warmly this afternoon, but she just went home?

The irritation in Valentin's chest grew heavier. He tugged at his tie and tossed his phone onto the console table in the entryway. Looking up, he met a pair of shy, timid eyes.

Stella wore a silk slip nightgown with a sheer robe loosely draped over it. Her long curled hair, deliberately styled, cascaded over her shoulders. Her face was made up with careful precision, and the air was thick with a heavy, almost sickeningly sweet perfume.

"Valentin, you're back." She spoke softly, taking small steps toward him, trying to nestle into his arms.

Valentin instinctively stepped back, his frown deepening.

The strong scent made him extremely uncomfortable, as if it wanted to wrap around and suffocate him. It made him think of that girl from last night.

What did she smell like again?

It was a light soapy scent, mixed with a hint of clean, subtle fragrance—like a meadow after rain. It was calming, even made him lose control and fall into it.

Definitely not this deliberate, cheap sweetness in front of him.

"What are you doing here?" he asked, his voice cold and emotionless.

The smile on Stella's face froze. She bit her lower lip, looking hurt. "I... I missed you, so I had the butler bring me over. Don't you like it?"

As she spoke, she tried to reach for his hand again.

Valentin turned to avoid her, the disgust in his eyes unconcealed. "I don't like strong perfume."

He dropped that line and walked straight past her toward the study, not even bothering to spare her another glance.

Stella's outstretched hand hung in mid-air, her face turning pale.

Everything she'd carefully prepared only earned her a comment of disgust?

Overwhelming jealousy churned in her chest. She clenched her fists so tight her nails nearly dug into her flesh.

It must be Giselle! Valentin saw her today, that's why he's being so cold to me!

Just then, her phone rang at the worst possible moment.

Seeing "Giselle" on the caller ID, the venom in Stella's eyes nearly overflowed.

Stella took a deep breath. The moment she answered, her voice already carried a sob.

On the other end, Giselle demanded through suppressed anger, "Stella, where are you? Didn't you say your stomach hurt?"

"Giselle, I'm sorry..." Stella immediately started crying, her voice sounding both wronged and helpless. "I didn't mean to lie to you. It's just... seeing you today made me feel so terrible."

Giselle paused. "Terrible about what?"

"Seeing you work so hard, I felt guilty." Stella's acting was perfect. She choked up, every word dripping with regret. "Giselle, can we meet? I want to apologize to you in person and give everything back to you."

Hearing her tearful confession, the anger in Giselle's heart somehow dissipated by half.

Even though she knew Stella had always been willful, she was still her sister.

Maybe Stella really just made a mistake?

"Where are you?" Giselle's voice softened.

"I'm waiting for you at that coffee shop we used to go to. Will you come? Giselle, you have to come, or I won't be able to rest easy." Stella's tone was full of earnestness.

Giselle hesitated for a moment, but eventually agreed. "Okay, I'll come right away."

After hanging up, the vulnerability and regret on Stella's face vanished instantly.

Give everything back to you?

Dream on!

Since I could steal it once, I can make sure Giselle never gets back on her feet!

Giselle's existence is like a thorn stuck in my heart. As long as Giselle stays around Valentin one more day, my lies are at greater risk of being exposed.

I absolutely won't let that happen.

Stella's eyes turned sinister. She quickly pulled up another number and dialed. As soon as the call connected, she lowered her voice, her tone vicious and malicious.

"Hello, it's me."

"I need you to do something. My sister, Giselle, will be going to Midnight Coffee soon."

"Find a few reliable men to 'keep her company.' Let her experience what it's like to be a woman."

"Remember, do it clean. Best to get some photos so she'll never dare show her face in front of Valentin again!"

After finishing this, she hung up satisfied and left the villa.

In the study, Valentin had sent Stella away, but the irritation in his chest hadn't lessened one bit with her departure.

That sickeningly sweet perfume seemed to still linger in his nose, making him miss even more that light fragrance from last night that made him lose control.

As if possessed, he picked up his phone and opened the tracking app.

On the screen, the red dot representing Giselle had briefly stopped at the unfamiliar residential location, then started moving again, finally stopping at Midnight Coffee in the city center.

Midnight Coffee?

Valentin's brows knitted together.

Didn't Giselle say her sister wasn't feeling well and she had to go home? Why did she go to a coffee shop? Was Ethan waiting for her there?

Just thinking about Giselle smiling at Ethan made an inexplicable fire rage through Valentin's chest.

He dialed the work phone he'd personally given her. What came through the receiver was a cold, mechanical female voice: "The number you have dialed is switched off."

Switched off?

Valentin's expression turned completely dark.

I gave her that phone so I could reach her anytime, and she dares to turn it off to go on a date with Ethan?

Fine. Very good.

He dialed again. Same result.

Once, twice, three times. When the fourth attempt still gave him that cold "switched off" message, the anger born from jealousy in Valentin's chest somehow quietly mixed with a trace of panic he himself hadn't even noticed.

She's not the kind of person who doesn't know better.

No matter how eager she was for a date, she wouldn't just turn off her phone and make herself unreachable to her boss.

Unless something happened to her.

Once this thought emerged, it grew like wild vines, wrapping around his heart and making it suddenly tighten.

He couldn't sit still anymore. Grabbing his car keys, he strode out with long steps, the pressure around him frighteningly low.