Chapter 5

The atmosphere suddenly became horrifying! Just then, a bloody figure crawled out of the coffin and cried out in anguish, "Dad, I'm in so much pain! Am I already dead?"

Matthew mechanically looked up, terrified, and fell to the ground! The bloody corpse crawled out of the coffin and crawled in front of Sophia. "Sophia, I'm in so much pain. Ava stomped on the palm of my hand."

"Ava, you let the kidnappers beat me up so badly."

"Ah! Ah! Ah!" Sophia and Ava screamed and fell to the ground. The three of them were pale from shock.

Ava, holding her head and shouting incoherently, said, "Mom, we sent her to hell. She shouldn't be able to come back! How did her ghost find us? No, don't come near me!"

Her words revealed an important piece of information. Winnie coldly smirked as she slowly stood up. The crowd was visibly terrified, their faces turned pale. A few of them raised their eyes and saw Winnie moving freely. Trembling, they asked, "Miss Anderson, are you not dead?"

"No!" Winnie walked over, stepped on Ava's hand, and looked down with a chilling smile.

"But what's strange is that my family all thought I was dead and even wanted to send me to hell."

This revelation shocked everyone. Winnie smiled slowly, her almond eyes filled with bloodlust.

"So, burying me would conveniently lead to the complete takeover of my company, and my will could be easily falsified, isn't that right? My wealth was supposedly voluntarily handed over to Ava? Dad, did you overlook the fact that Ava and Daniel conspired with the kidnappers just twelve days ago to abduct me to the mountains in order to break off our engagement and silence me?!"

"Oh my god, why is the story different? Wasn't she killed by her lover?"

"What? She's saying her family conspired to kill her..."

Matthew stared at Winnie, confirming that she was alive and not dead! He quickly reacted, rushing up to hug Winnie. "Winnie, you're not dead! This is great!"

"Dad, how could I bear to die?" Winnie looked at Daniel, who had turned pale like a ghost. "Before the wedding, my fiancé and stepsister had an affair and got pregnant. They put me in a life-threatening situation for the sake of their child. How could I forget this tremendous betrayal?!"

Ava and Daniel's faces turned pale. A commotion broke out, and reporters rushed in with cameras. Matthew quickly signaled the bodyguards to clear the area!

"Child, have you hit your head? Why are you spouting such nonsense?"

Sophia reacted even faster, rushing over to cover Winnie's mouth as tears streamed down her face.

"Did we somehow upset you? I'm sorry! We mistakenly believed that you were dead. Truly, we couldn't find your body, and your dad cried for ten days! The company needed someone to take over, so we had no choice but to present your handwritten will!"

"We love you very much. Please don't be angry with us, okay?" Matthew said, putting on an act as a loving father.

Winnie's expression softened, tears welling in her eyes. She nodded and let out a heavy sigh.

Winnie brushed off their hands and ignored them, her cold gaze sweeping over the audience, whose expressions were mixed.

She descended the stairs and addressed the media calmly, "The pen is in your hands, write a great news story today!"

The journalists were stunned by her stunning face.

"Winnie!" Olivia screamed.

Winnie walked towards her, casting a glance at the female employee who had spread rumors earlier, and slapped her decisively.

"Did you witness me sleeping with a male shareholder? You should talk to Ava about the price of spreading rumors; it would be your last meal before you die of overeating."

The female employee turned pale. Winnie's significant words also caught the attention of the journalists, causing a shocked discussion.

In a quiet private room at the café, Olivia hugged Winnie and wept.

"You're pregnant?" She widened her eyes, feeling both heartbroken and shocked. "Winnie, what have you been through? If only I had been in Lymington ten days ago, I could have stopped that bastard couple... sob..."

She blamed herself for believing in Daniel all these years.

Winnie clenched her fists and recounted the whole incident.

Olivia was even more astonished. "Not only are you pregnant, but you also married the man who forced you!"

"It's just a marriage of convenience. They forced me to go along with it. I had no other choice, Olivia."

Olivia's face changed slightly as she hurriedly asked, "Who is he? What family does he belong to? He isn't a scoundrel, is he?"

Winnie shook her head. "He wore a mask, and I don't even know his name."

"What?" Olivia was completely dumbfounded. "So, you married a mysterious man?"

Winnie sighed bitterly and interrupted her, "Let's not talk about him. Going back to the topic, Olivia, you specialize in computers, so help me with something."

Understanding her gaze, Olivia immediately turned on the computer, and it was filled with reports about the funeral controversy. The news of Winnie Anderson still being alive was spreading like wildfire, accompanied by various speculations.

Winnie took out two photos.

"That bastard couple actually went to get a marriage certificate!" Despite Ava wearing a duckbill cap, Olivia recognized her!

Without letting Winnie say anything, she immediately released the photos to major media outlets.

In less than five minutes, online public opinion was boiling.

"Aren't these two Winnie's fiancé and Ava? They were at the County Office this morning!" said one online comment.

"Winnie said at the funeral that Daniel and Ava conspired to kidnap and defraud her by claiming she was pregnant." Responded another.

"If Winnie wasn't just making things up, this fits perfectly! Winnie has a company and an inheritance; the Anderson family wouldn't really plot against their own daughter for money, right...?"

Winnie and Olivia were engrossed in reading the various opinions when suddenly, numerous debates arose.

Winnie's phone also immediately rang. She glanced at it with a mocking look in her eyes, and coldly answered, "Dad, what's the matter?"

Matthew suppressed his anger and said, "Winnie, don't believe the photos of Daniel and Ava in the news! Where are you now, silly child? Come home quickly. I'm worried about you getting hurt. Sophia has prepared a meal for you; we all welcome you back!"

"Oh?" Winnie responded as if she didn't know that the photo was leaked by her.

Winnie curled her lips and obediently said, "Okay, I'll come back in a while."

"That's good. I'll be waiting for you!" Matthew couldn't wait anymore.

Olivia immediately objected, "Are you crazy? What good will it do for him to ask you to come back now?"

Winnie pursed her lips and said, "Fight fire with fire. For now, I won't confront the Anderson family head-on. There's something fishy about my mother's death, and I feel like the inheritance my grandfather left me is not just monetary, otherwise they wouldn't be so eager to harm me!"

Is there a conspiracy here? Olivia understood what Winnie wanted to investigate.

"Be careful!"

"Do you think I am still the naive and happy Winnie from ten days ago?"

Winnie's eyes were as cold as ice, full of sarcasm.

Olivia stopped for a moment, feeling a pang in her heart. She had experienced death before.

"Do you still have that package of Dry Needling?"

Winnie knows how to do Dry Needling. Last time, Olivia had helped her with gastrointestinal conditioning, and she immediately took it out for her.

"Contact me tonight." Winnie got up and left.

The entrance to the Anderson family mansion was wide open, and Winnie stood there, her gaze coldly sweeping over.

Sophia hurried over and kindly held her, "Winnie, you're back! If there's any misunderstanding, your father will definitely explain it to you. Don't worry, your company is still yours, we're just glad you're alive! Have a seat first, Sophia has made soup for you to help you recover."

Winnie admired her ability to remain calm in such situations. No wonder she couldn't see through her in the past.

She walked towards the sofa.

There was a figure sleeping on the sofa, it was Ava.

"What happened to Ava?" Winnie asked, raising her lips.

Sophia sighed and said, "Ava is pregnant and her body is heavy, plus she's also grieving over your 'death', so she fainted. It's okay, she will be fine after she wakes up."

"Winnie, have some fruit first."

Before Winnie could answer, Sophia had already pressed the fruit knife into Winnie's palm.

Seemingly unintentionally, Winnie lowered her head and stared at the fingerprints on her ten fingers, then looked at the 'unconscious' Ava. Suddenly, a cold smile crossed her lips.

"The soup is ready, Winnie, drink it while it's still hot."

Oh." Sophia gently brought a bowl of bone broth. Winnie looked at it and obediently drank it.

Sophia stared at her as she took four or five sips, a cold darkness flickering in her eyes.

Winnie stood up, feeling a little dizzy, she furrowed her brows and supported her head, asking, "Sophia, where's Dad? I want to see him."

"He's waiting for you in the study upstairs, go quickly!" Sophia smiled and spoke.

Winnie held onto the railing and went upstairs, shaking her head repeatedly. She entered the study, but did not see Matthew. Instead, there were two fat male shareholders from the company, both of whom had sinister intentions towards Winnie.

"Oh, Winnie, you're here?" One of them smirked.

"How come you guys are in Dad's study?"

"We're waiting for you!"

Winnie retreated in panic, but Sophia closed the door with a bang!

"Don't come near me!" a girl's scream came from inside the room.

Sophia listened, curled her lips, and went downstairs, calling for Ava with a sneer,

"I thought she would become smarter after a near-death experience, but she's just a fool. Once we release the photos of you and Daniel, we'll create evidence of her being a whore!

Later, when they inject her with a sedative, you bring some blood plasma and go up there."

Ava laughed. Tomorrow's news would be sensational again.

"So, what if she's alive? She still can't beat me and I will still not be sent to jail!"

Both mother and daughter smiled triumphantly as they eavesdropped at the door.

"Why aren't they moving?" Sophia frowned. "Are they recording it?"

She assumed that two big men should be able to overpower a weak woman without any difficulty.

Suddenly, the door opened.