Chapter 457

Nathan Reeves was just as stunned as everyone else by the revelation. Vanessa Hart had acted with such reckless abandon! But as her father, Richard Hayes couldn't help but defend her.

"Regardless, Evelyn did collide with her sister's car. Vanessa isn't the most skilled driver—you can't place all the blame on her!" Richard argued fiercely.

His words left Vincent Black and Eleanor speechless. They knew Richard favored Vanessa, but they hadn’t expected him to twist the truth so shamelessly.

While Richard was willing to go to such extremes, Vincent and Eleanor refused to stoop to that level. The Caldwells prided themselves on their reputation, and with undeniable evidence staring them in the face, they were mortified.

Vincent cleared his throat. "Richard, this is a Caldwell family matter. Perhaps it's best if you leave now. We'll take care of it."

"But Vanessa is still in surgery—" Richard protested.

Eleanor cut him off sharply. "It's a minor procedure, not open-heart surgery. She'll be on her feet by tonight."

Realizing how inappropriate it was for him to linger in the maternity ward, Richard reluctantly left. Moments after his departure, Vanessa was wheeled out of the operating room.

Eleanor stormed toward her, her face twisted in fury, and delivered a stinging slap across Vanessa’s cheek. "Vanessa, have you lost your mind? You gambled with your own child!"

Vanessa clutched her throbbing abdomen, her cheek burning. She hadn’t anticipated such a violent reaction from Eleanor.

"What—what are you talking about?" Vanessa stammered, bewildered.

"How dare you play dumb! You know exactly what happened in that car crash!" Eleanor snapped.

"You’ve been nothing but a liability! I never should’ve allowed Ethan to marry you! Now that you’ve lost his favor, you think you can drag us all down with you? Who do you think we are?"

Eleanor had noticed Ethan’s growing indifference toward Vanessa, and it terrified her. The baby had been Vanessa’s last bargaining chip to regain her position, and Eleanor couldn’t believe her stupidity.

"You absolute fool! How could you be so careless?" Eleanor hissed, jabbing a finger at her.

"And now, because of your recklessness, I’ve lost my grandchild! Give me back my grandson!"

She struck Vanessa again, leaving her no room to escape.

Vanessa shielded her face, tears welling in her eyes. "I’m devastated too! If Evelyn hadn’t crashed into me, none of this would’ve happened!"

"Evelyn crashed into you? Or did you provoke her and cut her off?" Eleanor demanded.

"It was her fault! If she’d braked properly, there wouldn’t have—"

Eleanor’s eyes flashed with fury. "Enough of your lies!"

The tension in the room was suffocating, and Vanessa knew she was fighting a losing battle.

Eleanor's piercing gaze locked onto Vanessa, her mind flashing back to how Richard had similarly tried to pin everything on Evelyn.

"Like father, like daughter. The apple doesn't fall far from the tree," she seethed internally.

Just as her anger threatened to boil over, her phone vibrated sharply against her palm. Sophia's name flashed on the screen.

"Eleanor, I just heard about Vanessa's accident—she lost the baby? Why on earth was she behind the wheel when she's such a reckless driver? Couldn't you have arranged for a professional chauffeur?"

Eleanor's eyelid twitched in irritation. The accident had happened barely two hours ago, and she hadn't even stepped foot back into Whitmore Manor. How had news spread this fast?

"Eleanor, haven't you seen? It's all over the media. I just caught a glimpse on the evening news—Vanessa's face was plastered across the screen!"

The revelation sent a chill down Eleanor's spine.

Who had leaked this? And why so soon?

Her fingers tightened around her phone as her mind raced through possibilities. This wasn't just gossip—it was calculated exposure.

Someone was pulling strings behind the scenes.

And Eleanor intended to find out who.