Trapped By Tainted Love

Chapter 41: Retreat And You'll Be Standing On The Edge Of An Abyss  

Ivy sneered, "I've changed my mind.Even if you get on your knees and beg me for forgiveness, I won't let Rachel off the hook.Just give up!"

Upon hearing that, Abby's face turned paler.

"How could you break your promise, Ivy?"

"So what if I break my promise? Is there anything you can do about it?"

The way Ivy said those words were filled with disdain and malice.

Ever since Rachel showed up, she hadn't said much.

She held Abby's arm, and felt that Abby was clearly trembling.

She then cast Abby a glance, and only then did she see that her clothes had coffee stains too; even more stained than the documents.

Abby's clothes were soaked, and due to how thin the fabric was, she could see her bare skin turned red after getting burned by the piping hot coffee.

It was apparent that Abby was trembling from the pain.

All of a sudden, Rachel's mood took a turn for the worse.

With a face devoid of emotion, she turned to Ivy and asked, "Did you spill coffee on her on purpose?"

Although she was asking a question, the way she said it made it seem like she was certain that Ivy did it on purpose.

The sound of Rachel's voice was so intimidating that it shook Ivy to the core.

"What...what are you trying to say? She's the one who bumped into me!"

Ivy stammered.Her face paled, and a look of guilt glinted in her eyes, but she quickly calmed down.

"Rachel, I was holding a cup of coffee, and your dog bumped into me.How am I the one to blame? You can't pass the buck to me with that baseless accusation!"

Every time Ivy called Abby her "dog", Rachel became more and more livid.

"Is that so?" she asked, averting her gaze from Ivy and looking at Abby.

"Abby, did you bump into Ivy on your own?" Rachel asked.

"I...." Content (C) Nôv/elDra/ma.Org.

Abby lowered her head.

"Abby, remember why I kept you around in the first place.Today, I want to teach you a lesson that hopefully will remain in your heart forever," Rachel said calmly.

"Sometimes, tolerance and concessions does not bring sympathy from others.It only makes people take advantage of your kindness, and make things worse.Take a step back, and you'll see the big picture.But if you take more than one step back, you'll be standing on the edge of an abyss."

Rachel smiled at Abby, touched her head, and said, "Don't worry.I'll protect you."

"Miss Bennet..."

Stunned by Rachel's words, Abby could no longer hold back her tears.

Back when Abby was old enough to leave the orphanage, the head of the orphanage told her, "Abby, you must depend only on yourself in the future.Remember, you're different from those who have

families and parents of their own.Unlike them, you're alone, so you must endure whatever hardships come your way.As long as you can bear all those burdens, you can survive."

But now, Rachel told her that tolerance wouldn't invite people's mercy.

Instead, it would only make them take advantage of her.

Abby clenched her fists.

As of this moment, she decided that she didn't want to be a burden to Rachel any longer.

The only way she could prevent others from looking down on her was if she became stronger.

That way, she would be able to protect Rachel.

"Miss Bennet, I didn't do it," Abby said firmly.

She then looked Ivy directly in the eye.

"I didn't bump into Ivy.She ran into me on purpose when she found out that I was here to deliver those documents.After that, she spilled coffee all over me, and deliberately stained the files."

Noticing the obvious change in Abby's attitude, Rachel felt relieved and delighted.

It seemed that Abby was a fast learner.

At the very least, she was much more sensible than that brat, Quintin.

Meanwhile, Quintin was eagerly waiting for King of Hearts to login to the form.

Suddenly, she sneezed and cursed, "Who the hell is speaking ill of me?"

"What nonsense are you talking about?" Ivy screamed, clearly panicking.

"Apologize to her right now," Rachel said to Ivy in a cold voice.

The moment Ivy heard Rachel say that, she chuckled as if she heard a joke.

"You want me to apologize? Preposterous! Fine.I did it on purpose, but so what? It was still her fault, because she was too visually impaired to dodge! You want me to apologize to her for something that was clearly her fault? Ugh! Over my dead body! Rachel, you don't even deserve my apology, let alone this dog of yours! What can you even do to me? You're not the president's wife anymore.I'm not afraid of you because you're now just a gopher in the archive room!"

"What the hell is going on here? Why are you so noisy this early in the morning?"

Out of the blue, Alice came from behind Rachel.

The following moment, she went to Ivy's side.

When Ivy saw Alice, her eyes lit up.She felt as if her savior had arrived.She immediately pulled a long face, and exaggerated what had happened.

After explaining her side of the story, her eyes welled up with tears.

"Miss Jenkins, please uphold justice for me.I really don't know what I did wrong, but Rachel is acting so aggressive.She keeps insisting that I apologize in front of everyone!"

Abby's eyes widened in disbelief.

"You're lying!" she said.

Ivy glanced at Abby then turned back to Alice.

"Miss Jenkins, I'm telling the truth.I've never seen this woman before, so I don't have a reason to antagonize her.It makes no sense for me to do that!"

Seeing that Ivy was twisting the truth, Abby was livid.She clenched her fists, wanting to argue with Ivy.

However, Rachel held her wrist, motioning her not to move.

And then, she looked at Alice and asked, "Are you sure you want to get involved in this?"

Alice put on a fake smile.

"What are you implying? I'm a senior executive of the Sullivan Group.Matters such as this one are mine to handle."

Rachel didn't respond to that statement.She just stared at Alice with eyes devoid of emotion.

Alice glanced at Abby.She recognized Abby.

When Viola left the Bennet family to follow her father, she brought many servants with her, but Abby wasn't one of them.

'She's a traitor!' Alice thought to herself.

She creased her eyebrows and said, "I think Ivy didn't mean it.It's too much to ask her to apologize in public.Besides, you're the one who asked your servant to deliver the company's files.That's too negligent! If something goes wrong, no one will get off the hook.Fortunately, nothing bad happened.However, if you still want to argue about who's right and who's wrong, then I suggest you and Abby should apologize! But given that Abby has gotten injured, I think we should just drop this case altogether.Nobody has to apologize.Now, everyone, get back to work!"

When Ivy heard that, a smile formed on her lips.

She looked so smug when she turned to Alice, smiling at her obsequiously.

"Right away, Miss Jenkins."

Just when Ivy was about to leave, Rachel broke her silence.

"Apologize," she said to Ivy; her eyes showed how angry she was.

The smile on Ivy's face dissipated.

She took a step back, swallowed, and said, "You..."

Seeing that the situation was escalating again, Alice frowned.

"Rachel, enough is enough!"

Ivy wasn't scared anymore because Alice was speaking for her.

"Miss Jenkins is right, Rachel.You're not going to defy her, are you?" she said.

All of a sudden, a sardonic smile appeared on Rachel's face.

"I'll say this one last time.Apologize to Abby, now" she remarked.

"Rachel!"

Alice gritted her teeth.

The way she called her name served as a warning.

"I'm not going to apologize! It wasn't my fault!" Ivy declared haughtily.

Afraid that things would get even worse, Abby tried to persuade Rachel.

"Miss Bennet, perhaps we should—"

Before she could finish talking, Rachel suddenly grabbed her hand and walked away.