You Are The Apple of My Eyes
Chapter 448 A Little Impatience Would Spoil A Great Plan

Julie took the slap for her daughter.

The slap carried one hundred percent of Jessica's strength, and it left a mark on Julie's face, burning her skin.

"Mom! Mom, are you okay? Does it hurt?" Vivian rushed to her mother, tears streaming down her cheeks. She reached out to her with trembling hands but pulled back at the last second, afraid that she would hurt her more. "Why did you do that, Mom?"

"I can't just stand by and watch you get hurt." Enduring the pain, Julie grabbed her daughter's hand and pulled her behind her. She looked up at Jessica and said, "My daughter's telling the truth. She didn't do any of this. I did."

"Mom..." Vivian's voice trembled.

Jessica sneered, "You?"

"Yes, it's me." Julie shifted the blame on herself. She had to protect her daughter no matter what.

Howard was an unreliable man. She had to take responsibility, or Jessica would not let them go.

Vivian was almost married to John. She could not fail now.

"Vivi has been kind since she was a child. She would never invade other people's privacy. This is all my fault. I secretly took the necklace and planted the bug in it. Vivi had nothing to do with it." Half of Julie's face was now swollen, and tears rolled down her cheeks. She looked Jessica in the eye.

Vivian lowered her head and gritted her teeth. She wept quietly and bitterly. She felt touched and guilty at the same time.

She did not expect that her mother would be the one to take the blame to protect her while her father stepped aside, choosing his company over his own daughter.

She clenched her fists as a burning hatred for Howard consumed her from the inside out.

From now on, she would never let her mother down.

And she would not count on her father anymore.

"How dare you spy on me? Do you have a death wish?" Jessica was so angry that she was out of breath.

As soon as she finished speaking, she slapped Julie again and harder this time.

The suddenness of the second slap startled Julie, and she lost her footing. As she hit the floor, blood trickled down the side of her mouth.

"Mom! Oh, my God!" Vivian's face turned bone white in panic and fear. She hurried to help her mother up and asked, "Are you okay? Oh, my, you're bleeding. Let's go to the hospital." Julie's ears buzzed so much with the impact of Jessica's slap that she did not hear what her daughter just said. She struggled to get back on her feet, desperately holding onto Vivian for support. "No one's going anywhere." Jessica folded her arms across her chest. She had no intention of letting them go.

They had spied on her. Why should she let them go?

"Jessica, please let go of my mother. I'm sorry. I'm really sorry." With tearful eyes, Vivian bowed to Jessica. "I'm sorry for what my mother has done. Please forgive her. She knows she's wrong." "It's not that easy." How could Jessica let go of those who had offended her so easily? "She's not going anywhere."

"Jessica, please. She's bleeding. She must see a doctor immediately." Vivian was so anxious that she stomped her feet and begged Jessica. "You've already slapped her twice. Isn't that enough? What more do you want?"

"What more do I want?" Jessica's angry stare bored into Vivian's skin, forcing Vivian to step back in fear. "I want to know what she did with those recordings."

Jessica's words landed like throwing knives in Vivian's heart. "She didn't do anything with the recordings," she breathed.

"And I should just trust you?" Jessica looked into Vivian's eyes. "Vivian, I'm asking you whether you know it or not. Tell me.

And you better not lie. I'll know if you do, and I will ruin your reputation for it. Do you understand?" She pointed a finger at Vivian. Vivian's heart skipped a beat.

She understood perfectly. Jessica could ruin anybody who wronged her without batting an eye.

Should she just fold and tell the truth?

If she did, the consequences might be more catastrophic than losing her reputation.

And Julie would have taken the fall for nothing.

"I don't know anything." Vivian decided to lie.

Leaning against her daughter, Julie breathed a sigh of relief. Deep inside, she could not help feeling proud of her smart daughter.

"You really don't know?" Jessica approached her menacingly.

Vivian closed her eyes and opened them again with a pitiful look. "Jessica, if I did, I would've stopped my mother. I'll never let her put herself in harm's way and then drag me down with her when everything goes to hell."

Jessica looked Vivian up and down for a while. Vivian did not look like she was lying.

"Then stay out of this. Your mother did the crime, and now she has to do the time. I'll see her in court."

"What? You can't sue her." Julie could not afford to lose face. All of a sudden, she fainted in Vivian's arms.

"Mom! Mom..." Vivian shook her unconscious mother, but she did not get any reaction. She had to ask her father for help. "Dad, you have to take her to the hospital. Please." Then, she turned to Jessica. "Jessica, please let my mother go see a doctor first. I'm begging you."

Since Julie had fainted, it was useless to interrogate her.

Jessica turned her head in disgust.

"I'll take your mother to the hospital." Howard stepped in, scooped up his wife in his arms, and left.

Vivian stayed where she was.

She bowed to Jessica deeply. "I'm sorry, Jessica. I apologize on behalf of my mother. I'm truly sorry."

"I won't let her go." Without returning Vivian's show of respect, Jessica turned around and sat on a chair. "You can apologize as many times as you want, but I won't let your mother off the hook that easily. Also, don't call me Jessica. You should call me Ms. Ye. We are not family."

Vivian's heart sank.

'Does Jessica still blame her even after Mom took responsibility?

She said we are not family.

Everyone knows that I'd marry John today. Even if the wedding was temporarily called off, I'm still John's betrothed.'

"Jessica, I'm sorry." Vivian did not change the way she addressed Jessica.

It just angered Jessica even more. "I just told you not to call me Jessica. What part of that didn't you understand? My brother's still missing and possibly in grave danger. Are you reminding me that my brother met an accident on his wedding day? Maybe you're a jinx after all, Vivian. None of this would've happened if John hadn't decided to marry you."

Jessica had been worried about her brother's safety, and she had also been disturbed by the matter of the planted bug. She felt like she was about to explode from all the stress.

She pointed at Vivian's pale face and said, "If anything happens to my brother, I won't let you go as well. And if I find out that your mother has done something with the recordings, I will make her life a living hell."

Vivian endured the humiliation in her heart despite the impulse to walk up to Jessica and slap her across the face. She just lowered her eyes and did not say anything.

She had to put up with it.

A little impatience would spoil a great plan.

While Vivian was silent, Chester raised his head, revealing a shrewd look that did not match his young age. "Aunt Jessica, Mrs. Ye and her daughter really did something with the recordings. They used them to harm Grandpa."00