Before Yvonne could get close to Josephine, Sean grabbed her arm.
With a slight push backward, he said, "Get lost."
His expression was ice-cold, his actions rough. Even though he held back his strength, Yvonne still stumbled backward several steps.
She nearly fell, but Stella hurried forward and steadied her. "Are you okay, Yvonne?"
Furious, Yvonne glared at Sean. "Who are you? Why are you protecting that bitch?"
"Yvonne, watch your language. I know you’re upset because Josie scolded you, but you shouldn’t call her that." Stella feigned displeasure, then turned to Sean. "I’m sorry, sir. My friend didn’t mean anything by it. She just didn’t expect Josie to... I assume you’re with her?"
Stella cast an odd glance in Josephine’s direction. "She ran away from home and might not be very safe lately. I hope you can protect her well."
With that, she pulled Yvonne away.
Sean looked bewildered. He wondered if this woman had something wrong with her head. Miss Sterling was his employer, so of course he would protect her. Did he really need a stranger telling him that?
Being dragged away, Yvonne was rather unhappy. "That bitch Josephine called me a dog, and I haven’t even settled the score with her yet! Why were you in such a hurry to pull me away?"
"She had a man protecting her. You couldn’t even get close to her, so how were you going to settle anything?" Stella sighed. "I never heard about her having a boyfriend before. It’s only been a few days since she left the Sterling family, and yet..."
"What boyfriend? If you ask me, he’s just some random wild man she picked up somewhere." Thinking of the comments made by Josephine’s parents online, Yvonne’s insults grew even nastier. "She’s a shameless slut. Who knows how many men she’s messed around with? But then again, with her looks, this is the only standard she can find.
"A man who isn’t even willing to buy her a nice car couldn’t possibly be sincere. He’ll probably just toss her aside once the novelty wears off in a couple of days.
"But since Josephine is so shameless, she probably already has her next target lined up. What do you say we ’help’ her out?"
Stella chuckled inwardly. Yvonne, this idiot, truly became the handiest weapon with just a little bit of guidance. She just didn’t know if this weapon could actually carve a piece of flesh off Josephine.
"What are you talking about? I’m warning you, Josie is pitiful enough after leaving the Sterlings. If you keep this up, she might never have a peaceful day again," Stella said.
She wanted to solidify Josephine’s reputation as a woman with a chaotic private life, reducing her to a cheap tramp whom anyone could have. When that happened, any random man would be able to humiliate her.
Stella thought that once Josephine was thoroughly ruined by others, she would step in with the Sterling boys to "save" her and bring her back to the Sterling family. By then, there would be no fear of Josephine being disobedient ever again!
How could Yvonne possibly let Josephine off the hook? The more disgraceful Josephine became, the better Stella’s reputation would be, and the more the Sterlings would dote on Stella.
But Stella was simply too kindhearted. Josephine fought with her over everything, yet Stella still insisted on protecting her. Since that was the case, Yvonne would gladly play the villain.
Taking advantage of the moment Stella went to the restroom, Yvonne slipped back to the nearby car dealership and secretly snapped numerous photos of Josephine and Sean together.
The final shot captured the two of them getting into the same car and leaving!
She attached a caption: "I was a bit skeptical about the online reports at first, but after seeing it with my own eyes, it’s hard to describe. The man looks to be nearly forty. He’s highly likely married and has a family!!"
Standing around the corner, Stella took in Yvonne’s every move and smiled in satisfaction.
This weapon seemed quite handy indeed!
Meanwhile, after Josephine reported the incident to the police, the reversal of public opinion online coupled with the police intervention left the Sterlings feeling somewhat uneasy.
Grace was particularly anxious. "Josephine has always been well-behaved and obedient. How could she suddenly change her nature? If you ask me, she was definitely corrupted by that little bitch, Clara.
"Honey, we can’t let the online rumors ferment like this. Otherwise, maybe I should just delete my post. If the police investigate, we’ll just say it was a misunderstanding."
"If you delete it now, wouldn’t that just prove we were lying? Josephine will only get more arrogant," Caleb said, unwilling to concede. "I’ll hire someone to investigate. I don’t believe Josephine hasn’t had a boyfriend all these years. As long as we bribe him to testify that she’s that kind of person, she won’t be able to defend herself."
Hearing this, Grace found it reasonable. "Yes, yes, exactly! I’ll have your oldest brother arrange for someone to investigate right away. I refuse to believe we’ll actually let this bitch get her way."
They seemed to have forgotten that the police had already begun investigating. The more they did, the heavier the price they would ultimately pay.
Just as Grace was about to make the call, Caleb spotted Yvonne’s post on the internet. It had been forwarded to him by Stella, accompanied by a message: "Caleb, is this Josie? You guys need to think of a way to help quickly. I’m really afraid that if this continues, her reputation will be completely ruined."
Seeing the figure of Josephine with a man in the photos, Caleb beamed with delight.
"I told you this woman was indecent! Look at her—she just left the Sterling family, and she’s already so desperate to find a man. It seems we weren’t wrong about her.
"Mom, don’t delete your post. Not only should you not delete it, but we also need to take a strong stance and prove that we are right.
"As long as we ruin her reputation and make her an outcast, the Sinclair family will give up on her.
"Without the Sinclair family’s protection, I refuse to believe she’ll be able to stay away from the Sterlings."
As long as she came back, they would have plenty of ways to deal with her. The Sterling family had raised her for over twenty years. She was delusional if she thought she could cut ties with them so easily.
Grace let out a soft sigh. The tension on her face vanished, replaced by a sinister smile.
"You are the stepping stone I meticulously chose for Stella. How could I let you just run away?" she thought. "Josephine, you are destined to die as a part of this family. Don’t even dream of going anywhere else!"
Armed with Yvonne’s photos, Caleb directly shared the post with his own caption: "Josie, please stop being so stubborn and come home right away. No matter what, you are still the eldest daughter of the Sterling family. How can you live your life this way?"
What way?
Being someone’s mistress?
Caleb stopped just short of saying it outright!
As a result, the public opinion that had previously been turning in Josephine’s favor swung back, launching a one-sided attack against her once more.
The entire internet condemned her for putting on a show, mocking her for having the audacity to call the police while being a homewrecker. Someone even dug up Sean’s social media account, confirming that he did indeed have a family. Netizens directly tagged Sean’s wife online, demanding she come out and make a statement.
Meanwhile, as the rumors reached a boiling point, Josephine had already returned to the villa.
"Pierce, I’ll leave the car to you. Remember to get the license plates registered. I won’t be going out for the next couple of days, so you guys can take some time to rest," Josephine said.
She needed to prepare her thesis; it was time for her to start looking for a job.
She immersed herself in her thesis for the entire afternoon, completely oblivious to the fiery storm raging on the internet.
Seeing that it was getting late, she stretched and decided to head downstairs for dinner.
Just as she reached the landing of the stairs, she saw Sean, Ken Moran, and Aunt Shaw hunched over, looking at the news online and muttering curses under their breath.
She was puzzled. Had a new scandal broken out online?
Where was her phone?
Failing to feel it in her pockets, Josephine turned back to her room. After searching around, she finally found her phone in the bedroom.
She picked it up, only to find that it had completely died.
She hurriedly plugged it in to charge. The moment it booted up, she was bombarded with a flurry of missed calls and countless unread messages.
Unsurprisingly, they were all from one person—Clara!
Skipping the messages, Josephine immediately called Clara back.
As soon as the call connected, Clara’s frantic shouting blasted through the speaker.