Chapter 1212

Laverne’s words did comfort Vanessa, but a knot of unease remained in her

stomach. She knew lan too well. He was such a proud man; if he didn’t genuinely care, why would he lower himself to do small things like picking someone up from the airport or carrying their bags?

In all their ten years, she had only asked him to carry her bag once. She had been invited by Henry to a dinner party with wealthy socialites, and there were two other prominent couples in the private room. Wanting to break into the wives’ circle, Vanessa orchestrated a chance encounter with lan in the parking lot. Before entering the room, she asked him to hold her bag so she could put up her hair.

After lan took her purse, she pretended to fix her hair but never took it back. She waited until they walked into the private room together, making sure the other two wives saw lan carrying her bag for her.

Sure enough, that night, both wives cozied up to her, opening doors to new connections.

What Vanessa didn’t know was that Eleanor had also been at that restaurant that night and had seen lan carrying her bag.

It was true that a woman with a broken heart would find it hard to love the same man again. But if that man was lan, and if he was willing to put in the effort and swallow his pride to pursue her again—not to mention they had a daughter connecting them.

And Evelyn Goodwin was, without a doubt, the child Vanessa despised most in the world.

Her thoughts drifted to the first time she met Evelyn. The girl must have been about a year and eight months old. Vanessa had managed to get an invitation to the Goodwin family villa in Drexford, hoping to present a gentle and approachable side of herself to the family.

But Evelyn was like a little shadow, practically attached to lan’s hip. The cold, distant demeanor lan showed to outsiders melted away when he looked at his daughter; the affection and gentleness in his eyes could practically overflow.

He held her while she ate, patiently feeding her. At the slightest whimper, he would immediately scoop her into his arms to comfort her.

Vanessa had

ad to put in an immense

amount of effort just to get close to Evelyn. She even took child

psychology classes for her. Through a relentless campaign of candy, princess dresses, toys, and endless> patience, she finally won Evelyn over.

She succeeded in charming Evelyn, teaching her Drexford-style greetings and practicing piano with her slowly leaving her mark on the child. Before Evelyn returned to her home country, Vanessa would slyly dab her signature perfume on the back of the girl’s neck.

Whenever she was near lan, she would also spray the same specially blended, long-lasting fragrance on her fingertips—a scent so potent it could linger on clothing for forty-eight hours or even longer.

She knew that the moment they returned, Eleanor would smell the perfume and wonder just how close she had been with the father and daughter before their trip.

The perfume was like an invisible poison, quietly fraying Eleanor’s nerves in places she couldn’t reach.

Vanessa had only ever used one fragrance. It was her signature. Once Eleanor smelled it, the scent would haunt her like a nightmare, shaking her trust in lan and creating a ghost that she could never escape.

Undoubtedly, these tactics were despicable, but they were highly effective. They sent a clear message to Eleanor: “See how close I am with your husband and your daughter while you’re not around p>

lan was a proud man who wasn’t good at expressing his feelings. He was incredibly busy and

he

accustomed to giving orders, so h wouldn’t explain such trivial details, like why he smelled of another

woman’s perfume or why his

daughter occasionally used a

Drexford greeting.

He simply assumed that Eleanor should understand how difficult his life was.

But men so often underestimate the power of such subtle attacks. And he had likely

overestimated the resolve of the Eleanor who had once depended on him

completely, her determination to go through with the divorce.