Chapter 38

Celine immediately retraced her steps. She saw Melody panicking and grabbing Adam's arm. "Adam, Carly was abducted!"

"By whom?" Adam's expression shifted instantly.

"Grandma!" Melody exclaimed. "Grandma had some men take her away!"

What?

The air seemed to freeze around Adam upon hearing those words. Melody then saw Celine approaching.

Melody jabbed a finger in Celine's direction. "Celine! You must have been behind this!"

To Adam, she said, "Adam, someone gave Grandma a picture before this. It was a picture of you and Carly dancing at a pub. Grandma was furious when she saw it and had some men take Carly away. Celine's probably the person who gave Grandma the picture!"

Celine's gaze turned cold. Did someone give Mary a picture? Celine wasn't aware of that.

"Adam, Celine's a cruel woman! She knows Grandma adores her and will always have her back," Melody continued, escalating the situation. "She wants to take advantage of Carly's heart condition to get rid of Carly with Grandma's help!"

Melody had barely finished speaking when Celine felt Adam's cold gaze on her, and he strode toward her.

"Adam, I—" Celine denied.

Adam spat coldly, "You'd better pray that Carly's fine."

With that, he stormed off, leaving Celine and Melody in the corridor.

Melody looked at Celine with a sadistic smile. Celine's face paled, knowing that Adam didn't believe her. He must have thought she had sent Mary the picture. She was indeed the most suspicious person.

Dread washed over Celine, and she quickly returned to the Alvarez Residence. She went to the study. Before entering, she heard Mary's stern voice: "Carly, how could you be so insolent? Adam and Celine are married, so he's your brother-in-law. How could you ruin their family?"

Mary continued to berate her: "You left when you felt like it, and you came back after three whole years. Did you think you could still be Adam's wife after all that? You're so selfish and greedy!"

At that moment, Carly was on her knees on the carpeted floor in the study. Her face was drained of color as she muttered timidly, "That's not it"

Furious, Mary roared, "I'll give you a chance to leave Adam alone and head back to whichever country you came from before you returned. Don't ever come back!"

Carly, terrified by Mary's outburst, trembled. Even so, she shook her head and said, "Sorry, but I can't do that. I love Adam, and I want to be with him forever."

Mary, trembling with rage, screamed, "Do you have no shame at all? I'll teach you a lesson in your parents' stead!"

Alfred had been standing beside Mary the whole time. He handed her a whip—a family tradition in the Alvarez family.

Mary swung the whip at Carly, making her yelp in fear. The whip made a loud, crisp sound, but it didn't land on Carly. It struck Adam instead. He had barged into the study and hugged Carly, shielding her completely. The whip struck him heavily across the back.