Chapter 250: The Same ’Hero Saves the Damsel’ Routine

Beverly Lynch thought for a moment. Since she’d already said this much, she decided to just let it all out.

"Do you have any fucking idea how much I envy you?" she snarled, grabbing Pauline Shaw by the collar. "Ever since we were kids, I wanted to be friends with Jane Lancaster. I wanted to ask her to hang out, but she was always stuck with you! She had to help you with homework, go to your extra classes, and even be your playmate for sports!"

"I tried to make plans with her for a solid month, and she never had time! And you had the nerve to gloat, telling me Jane Lancaster would only hang out with you! Do you know how badly I wanted to punch you back then?"

Pauline Shaw stared at her, incredulous. "You like Jane Lancaster?"

’But how is that possible?’ "You used to be so passive-aggressive every time you saw her..."

’No, no, this isn’t how it’s supposed to be.’

’How could Beverly Lynch possibly like Jane Lancaster?’

"You don’t know why I was so passive-aggressive? Isn’t it because every time we argued, you’d drag her in to back you up? I was angry! I was jealous! Why was she always so protective of you?"

Beverly Lynch let go of her. "Why do you think I ignored you whenever you tried to make peace? Because I can’t stand the sight of you! You were given such a precious friendship, and you never cherished it!"

Pauline Shaw stumbled back a few steps, her face burning as if she’d been struck by a series of invisible hands.

Beverly Lynch continued, "All those times you tried to sell her out to get on my good side, you know what I was thinking? I wanted to bash your stupid head in!"

"I didn’t sell her out!" Pauline Shaw shrieked, on the verge of a breakdown.

"You came tattling to me, claiming she’d bought off Willow. Weren’t you just hoping to watch me tear her to shreds? Disappointed it didn’t go according to plan?" Beverly Lynch crossed her arms. "You also blamed our fighting on her, claiming she was the reason you weren’t popular. Do you have any self-awareness at all? Have you ever considered who was really dragging whom down?"

After a pause, Beverly Lynch’s expression grew cold. "You even maliciously accused her of seducing my ex-boyfriend! And you were the one who texted me today, luring me here to catch them red-handed, weren’t you?"

Pauline Shaw’s fingers twitched violently, and she averted her gaze.

With her darkest thoughts laid bare, the lights overhead felt blinding, leaving her with nowhere to hide.

She stiffened her neck, her voice cold. "So what if I did? Those two have met in private several times. I just wanted you to know the truth."

"Don’t spread lies. We only met in private once. And you were the one who egged me on to go see her, weren’t you?" Shawn Sutton cut in, desperate to clarify.

He figured he had nothing left to lose. "I’m no saint, but luckily, she dressed me down that day and knocked some sense into me. That’s why tonight, when the waiter said the wine was from Miss Lancaster, I knew something was off. She would *never* send me a drink!"

"That’s the only reason I kept biting my tongue to stay conscious, so I could crawl out of that room and throw myself into the fountain outside!"

It was the single best decision he had ever made in his life, even if that crawl had drained every last ounce of his willpower and was the most agonizing thing he’d ever endured.

After the cold water shocked him back to his senses, he lay sprawled pathetically by the fountain’s edge, on the verge of laughing out loud.

Until a familiar voice sounded from above: "What are you doing here, laughing like an idiot?"

Even now, recalling that moment, Shawn Sutton couldn’t stop the corners of his lips from curling up in a delighted grin.

He jutted his chin at Gordon Dawson defiantly. "I should really thank you for your little plot. I never would’ve known I could be this cool."

Gordon Dawson’s gaze was venomous. "You contemptible little man."

"If I’m a contemptible little man, then what does that make you? Something even more hideous?" Shawn Sutton scoffed. "You set me up tonight just to make me your fall guy, didn’t you?"

He felt disgusted just spelling out the man’s vile scheme.

"You sneak into Jane Lancaster’s room to rape her. Afterward, you dump me in there and call Mandy to come catch the ’cheaters.’ That way I take the fall, Jane thinks I was the one who attacked her, and you get to walk away scot-free."

Jane Lancaster sighed.

’That’s too conservative. Gordon Dawson is a purely opportunistic person. He wouldn’t go to all this trouble just to take advantage of someone once.’

’After all, there was nothing slipped into *my* drink.’

Jasper Sterling’s eyes were glacial. "His scheme went further than that."

He strode over and kicked Gordon Dawson. "You weren’t planning to stay hidden, were you? You were going to use this to threaten Jay, to force her into an illicit relationship with you."

"You overheard Uncle Lancaster’s will at the hospital that day—the part where he’s leaving all his shares to Jay. You figured you could control her and swallow the Lancaster Group whole, piece by piece."

Pauline Shaw collapsed to the floor, as if her very spine had been ripped out.

’So this was Gordon Dawson’s entire plan?’

She had already begun to accept her boyfriend’s betrayal. But what was even more sickening than the betrayal itself was the sheer depravity of his character.

There was a commotion at the door. The police had arrived.

The estate manager had also caught the waiter, who had realized things were going south and tried to slip away. Fortunately, he was spotted and cornered in time.

The evidence was irrefutable. Gordon Dawson would be prosecuted and face imprisonment.

As he was being led away, he lunged toward Pauline Shaw with all his might, pulling her into a fierce embrace. "Pauline, I’m a piece of shit, but I’ll love you till the day I die."

Pauline Shaw leaned against his shoulder, her heart twisting in agony as a thousand thoughts flooded her mind.

’Such a touching love story. Everything he did, every dirty trick he pulled, it was all to climb the ladder so he could be worthy of you!’

The expression on Pauline Shaw’s face froze. She wrenched herself out of Gordon Dawson’s arms.

Gordon Dawson didn’t seem to mind. He was certain he still loved Pauline Shaw, and that she loved him back. So why shouldn’t he use her soft heart to his advantage?

He looked pathetic, yet he managed a roguishly handsome smirk. "I promised I wouldn’t make you cry... Guess I broke my promise."

"It’s him! You bastard, pay up!" a voice shouted, cutting him off.

A sense of dread washed over Gordon Dawson.

A few men were led in by the police. The moment they saw Gordon Dawson, they began seething with rage.

"You paid us to go rough up Jane Lancaster, and we thought it was just supposed to be a scare tactic. But then you show up and beat the living daylights out of us!"

"If you wanted to play hero rescuing the damsel in distress, you should’ve just said so! Not only did you trick us to make it look real, you beat us half to death and then stiffed us on the final payment!"

"That’s not how you do business, man. You’ve got no code. You better watch your back."

Gordon Dawson glared at Jane Lancaster, his eyes venomous. "You investigated me?"

Jane Lancaster replied, "It’s not that I wanted to investigate you. You’re just that stupid. Why would you use the same ’hero saves the damsel’ routine over and over again?"

Pauline Shaw stumbled back, stunned. The last traces of affection in her eyes vanished completely.

The entire reason she had fallen for Gordon Dawson was because he had saved her when she was cornered in an alley by a group of thugs.

That night, he had shielded her with his body, enduring countless punches and kicks until he was covered in bruises.

No one had ever loved her so selflessly.

For years, she had held onto the memory of that night—of the boy’s warm chest and his scorching gaze.

’But now... is Jane Lancaster telling me that the very night our love began... was all a lie?’