Tessa had always considered Wendy nothing more than a petty clown-an online troll not worth her time or energy.

But things were different now.

Seline had been kidnapped. The emotional strain was pushing Tessa to her limits. She was exhausted both mentally and physically, living every day with her nerves stretched thin.

And now, at this critical moment, Wendy was spreading rumors, inciting cyberbullying, and encouraging her fans to attack her in real life. Using Seline’s situation to deceive her was the last straw.

Crushing the Cox family’s company was so trivial that she didn’t even need to handle it herself. All she had to do was make her wishes known, and plenty of people would be eager to take down the Cox family’s business just to win the favor of the Yates family’s heiress.

That afternoon, she visited the hospital.

Marianne was still in low spirits. Her face was pale and haggard, and her eyes were sunken with dark circles beneath them.

Samuel had gone back to the company to deal with work, leaving only the caregiver in the room.

“Tess, is there any news about Seline?” Marianne’s eyes turned red the moment she mentioned her younger daughter.

Tessa fell silent, then shook her head.

Tears instantly streamed down Marianne’s cheeks. She sobbed quietly with her shoulders trembling.

Tessa’s chest tightened with grief for Seline but forced herself to stay strong. She murmured a few words of comfort, but they did little to ease Marianne’s sorrow.

“Ms. Connors, please try to rest and take care of yourself. Don’t worry too much. I’ll come see you again tomorrow.” With that, she turned and left the room.

After leaving the hospital, she headed straight to the police station.

But the situation remained unchanged. Seline’s kidnapping case was complex, involving multiple perpetrators and cross-border crime. Capturing the suspects was difficult, but the police assured her they were doing everything possible. Any new developments would be reported to her immediately.

Disheartened, she left the police station and wandered the streets with despair.

Suddenly, vivid flashes from her nightmare returned to her mind.

Seline was tied to a chair, and James doused her in gasoline.

It was precisely the kind of monstrous act that lunatic would commit.

A shudder ran through her body, and her face turned pale as she forced herself to stop imagining the worst.

At that moment, a woman on the sidewalk suddenly rushed toward her to yell at her.

“You shameless tramp! How desperate are you to seduce someone else’s boyfriend? Didn’t your parents teach you any morals? Look at you-nothing but a cheap slut who gets off on stealing other women’s men!”

Tessa’s eyes flashed with fury, and her gaze turned sharp as a blade as she snapped, “Another one of Wendy’s brain-dead fans? Do you believ@everything she says? I’m genuinely curious how someone brainless like you has managed to survive this long.”

The woman’s face twisted with rage at Tessa’s words. She spat back viciously, “Bitch! You’re just a tramp with no manners. Fuck you and your mom!”

Before the words had even fully left her mouth, Tessa struck the woman across her cheek.

The woman stood frozen in shock. She never expected this slim, fragile-looking woman to have the nerve to slap her, especially since she weighed 160 pounds and looked strong and sturdy.

Tessa’s eyes blazed red with fury, her whole body radiating a murderous intensity. “Say one more word about my mother, and I’ll break you.”

The sheer rage in her eyes was terrifying.

For the first time, the woman saw genuine fury and bloodlust in someone’s gaze, enough to make her skin crawl.

Somehow, she knew that if she dared to insult Tessa’s mother again, she might actually kill her.

Fear flooded her, and her body began to tremble uncontrollably. She didn’t dare to risk her life.

The woman turned to flee, but before she could take a step, two men in black suits appeared, blocking her path.

Tessa’s expression was as dark as a storm cloud, her presence exuding an icy pressure that seemed to freeze the air around her.

One of the bodyguards kicked the back of the woman’s knee. With a yelp, she collapsed onto the ground.

“Apologize,” Tessa ordered. Her obsidian-black eyes glinted with a chilling light, brooking no argument.