The Hide and Seek Game That Lasted a Lifetime novel Chapter 30

Chapter 2

A cold, bitter laugh escaped Diana’s lips, her eyes blazing with disdain. “You miserable little tramp—who gave you the audacity to reject my check? Was thirty million not enough to buy the life of a worthless maid like you?”

Vivian met her gaze, her own eyes rimmed with red and burning fiercely with hatred. “Vivian Bennett, filth runs in your blood. Even without the title Mrs. Foster, you are still beneath me. You stole what was never yours. This… is your punishment.”

Vivian’s voice trembled but remained steady. “Diana Schuyler, you took a life. You will pay with your own.”

Diana’s laughter cut through the air, sharp and mocking. “Ha! That’s a poor person’s rule. All I need is Charles.”

Before Vivian could respond, the sound of footsteps grew louder behind her.

Suddenly, a searing pain exploded at the back of her neck.

Charles Foster’s voice drifted cold and unforgiving. “Calling the cops? Vivian… you really don’t know your place.”

Vivian’s body went limp, collapsing to the cold floor. Charles pulled his hand back.

As her consciousness began to fade, she saw him stride over to Diana.

Her heart shattered into a thousand pieces. She squeezed her eyes shut, despair swallowing every ounce of disbelief.

Charles had truly loved Diana Schuyler.

Back then, it only took one whispered “it hurts” from her, and he wouldn’t hold back—even if it meant ending up in the hospital.

He loved her so deeply that when Diana got an intern drunk and accidentally caused his injury, Charles publicly apologized and sacrificed everything to cover it up.

Later, Diana divorced him, took their son abroad, and nearly destroyed Charles’s life.

He lost everything. He drank heavily. He tried to end it all more than once.

It was during that dark time that Vivian and her mother were hired by one of Charles’s closest friends to care for him around the clock.

They were paid far beyond the usual rates. Vivian had stepped into the Foster Estate filled with anxiety—only to collide headfirst with Charles Foster himself.

His jaw was sharp, lips pale, and beneath his furrowed brows lay a sadness both broken and unyielding. In the dim light, his eyes locked onto hers.

In that instant, Vivian’s heart skipped a beat.

Her mother noticed her flustered expression and gently warned, “Vivian, he’s not from our world. You’ll never replace the widow in his heart.”

He canceled late-night international meetings just to come home and wash her feet. He stayed awake through every night of her period, watching over her. He walked away from million-dollar deals just to whisk her away on spontaneous trips when she said she felt down.

Vivian truly believed Charles loved her.

What she didn’t know was that he had never let go of Diana.

Their marriage only happened after he heard Diana had registered with another man overseas. He married Vivian just to spite her.

These memories surged back like poisonous waves, crashing relentlessly through her foggy mind.

Vivian awoke in a hospital bed, police officers gathered around her.

Charles sat beside her, his face etched with concern.

And there, calmly applying lipstick, sat Diana Schuyler—the woman who had committed murder.

Vivian clawed at her dry throat, her voice hoarse. “My father was killed. Why… why is she still here? Why haven’t you arrested her?!”

One of the officers sighed heavily. “Ms. Bennett, we checked the address from your text. There was no tank, no blood, no body. It doesn’t meet the threshold for a case. We’re sorry.”