Third Person's POV
"Divorce?"
Cliff was stunned. "I never said I wanted to..."
Vanya looked at the confusion in his eyes and took a divorce agreement out of her bag. "I've already signed this. All that's left is your signature."
"I told you, I could never divorce you! Have you forgotten about our bet..."
"That bet, I never intended to honor it."
Vanya sneered. "Even if you bet your entire fortune on my love for you, I still wouldn't do it. Let's just say I'm letting you go. Don't bother me anymore."
"No, Vanya, listen to me, I really love you..."
"You love me, but you had a child with Melinda?" Vanya interrupted him.
At the mention of the child, Cliff was momentarily speechless.
It was a long while before he choked out, "I can explain about the child, that night..."
Vanya coldly cut him off and turned to look at Melinda. "I'm not interested in what happened between you two, but I can't tolerate betrayal in my relationship. Since you already have Melinda, there's no way for us. Let go, think about yourself, think about the Todd family—Veronica wouldn't want to see you lose the family business to a woman like me."
She placed the divorce agreement in Cliff's hand.
Cliff grabbed her arm, trying to make a final plea.
But Vanya suddenly said, "By the way, since Melinda is your woman now, there's something I need to tell you."
She instructed Stuart beside her, "Bring them in."
"Yes, ma'am."
Stuart quickly brought in three bodyguards escorting three kidnappers.
The three were tightly bound and forced to kneel in front of Cliff. He recognized them at once, and his face instantly turned cold. "You caught them?"
He had people searching the surrounding waters for so long, but never found a trace of these kidnappers. He hadn't expected that Vanya's people had already caught them.
"I caught them," Vanya said, looking at Melinda.
Melinda's face had already turned pale when she saw the kidnappers.
Vanya said, "Miss Coleman, you really are something, being able to find such skilled professional killers to come after me. I'm truly honored."
Hearing this, Cliff's gaze fell on Melinda.
"You?" His eyes were filled with disbelief.
No matter what, Melinda was a student he had personally mentored. She used to be just a somewhat scheming girl, but now she had even resorted to hiring assassins.
Feeling his gaze, Melinda hurriedly waved her hands. "No, this has nothing to do with me, Cliff, let me explain..."
"It was her who paid us to kill Mrs. Todd!"
One of the kidnappers confessed directly, cutting off Melinda's words.
Melinda glared at the kidnapper. "Who put you up to framing me like this? I'm just a student, where would I get the money to hire you? And how could I possibly find professional killers like you?"
She anxiously grabbed Cliff's arm. "Cliff, you know me. I can't even bear to step on an ant, how could I dare to kill someone? I admit... I admit I like you, and I've made mistakes, but I would never dare to kill!"
Cliff looked at her with a completely unfamiliar gaze, as if he had never known this woman.
But he also knew that with Melinda's connections, she really couldn't have found professional killers.
To dare kidnap Mrs. Todd and even consider killing her—very few people would dare do such a thing.
"Is what you just said true?" he asked the kidnappers.
"It's true! We have a recording!"
The kidnapper who had spoken looked at Vanya. "The recording has already been given to Mrs. Todd. We know we've offended someone we shouldn't have, so we wouldn't dare hide anything!"
At these words, Melinda's heart skipped a beat—recording?
Those three bastards actually dared to record it!
Vanya gave Stuart a look, and he immediately played a recording.
Melinda instantly became nervous.
Her voice came out from the recording:
"Isn't it just a million dollars? As long as you kill Vanya and I become Mrs. Todd, how could I not have money?"
"I'll give you a hundred thousand as a deposit first. If you can kill Vanya, once I become Mrs. Todd, I'll pay you the rest."
"Think about it, Cliff and his wife have long been at odds and should get divorced. As long as Vanya is dealt with, I can use the child in my belly to become Mrs. Todd! There will be plenty of money then! I promise you, after I become Mrs. Todd, not only will I give you a million, I'll give you another million!"
Hearing the contents of the recording, Melinda's face turned deathly pale.
Cliff immediately shot her a sharp, icy glare.
Melinda, trembling all over, rushed forward and smashed the recorder to pieces.
Pointing at the fragments on the ground, she shouted, "This is fabricated! It's fake! I never said those things! Cliff, don't be fooled! Vanya is just jealous that I'm carrying your child and is trying to drive a wedge between us!"
Melinda tried to approach Cliff, but he stopped her.
His tone was filled with unprecedented disgust. "You wanted to buy Vanya's life, and use the child in your belly to become Mrs. Todd... I never knew you were this kind of woman!"
"Cliff..." Melinda trembled, her eyes brimming with tears. "They set me up on purpose, it's not true..."
Vanya watched her coldly as she tried to argue—no matter what Melinda said now, Cliff would never believe her.
Vanya said calmly, "I'll leave both the people and the recording to you. You can question them as much as you want, and the recording can be authenticated by professionals. Melinda is carrying your child, so what punishment she deserves is up to you."
She said to Stuart, "Let's go."