Chapter 1270 Clues of Tina’s Whereabouts
Cynthia knew Sonia felt disgusted by the state of Cynthia’s legs and became nauseated. However, Sonia fought the urge to vomit because she didn’t want to upset Cynthia, so that was why she reacted this way.
Still, Cynthia wasn’t angered by Sonia’s reaction. Perhaps it was true at the start that she could not accept the fact that others reacted in such a way whenever they saw her legs. If she noticed it, she would be incensed and throw a fit.
However, after seeing it time and time again, she slowly got used to it, and eventually, she could even take it in stride without letting it affect her. After all, what could anger do for her?
Would her legs recover? Thus, instead of being bothered by other people’s reactions, she figured it would be better to focus on her state of mind.
“It’s hard to stomach, isn’t it, Miss Reed?” Cynthia calmly rearranged the skirt to hide her legs once more.
Sonia took a few deep breaths to regain her composure. She had a complicated look in her eyes as she stared at Cynthia before she nodded gently. “I was a bit shocked. Your legs…”
“Tina Gray did this.” Cynthia kept her cool as she informed Sonia of the culprit behind her suffering.
Sonia hummed in acknowledgment. “I guessed as much. You just told me you hate Tina, and then you showed me your legs, so it was easy enough for me to figure out who did it. But why did she do it?”
“What other reason could there be? Jealousy, of course.” Cynthia snorted. “It all happened years ago. It was about seven or eight years ago, I think. Once, I went shopping with Tina, and she took a liking to a little black dress from Doir. It was a short bodycon dress, and the slim-fit cutting meant that it highlighted the wearer’s figure a lot. Anyone whose figure was a little less than ideal would look like a trainwreck in the dress, but Tina loved it so much and insisted on trying it on anyway.
“However, the sales assistant told her that her legs were on the short side and looked a little too full, so the dress wouldn’t suit her. I was standing beside Tina at the time, and the sales assistant then said that my legs looked good and that I would suit this dress well. Just because of what the sales assistant said, Tina immediately started resenting me. Although she didn’t do anything there and then, as soon as we went back, she poured a kettle of boiling water over my legs.”
By now, Cynthia’s eyes were bloodshot and filled with her loathing for Tina.
Sonia could imagine just how agonizing it must have been to be scalded by a kettle of boiling water. She pitied Cynthia a little.
She felt nothing but pity.
“You know, Miss Reed, she nearly scalded me to death. If it had not been for the sudden appearance of a maid and Tina being afraid that she’d be labeled a killer, I’m willing to bet that she would not have called an ambulance for me. She would’ve loved to see me die, just like that. When I was writhing around on the floor in pain, she stood right beside me and laughed gleefully at the sight. She didn’t feel any sense of anxiety or regret for what she did. Thus, I knew that she wanted me dead.
“That day, I was taken into the emergency room and had to spend an entire month in the ICU before I could get discharged. When I could finally leave the hospital, Tina came to me, shedding crocodile tears and insisting that she didn’t do it on purpose. She said the kettle slipped out of her hand by accident, and she asked me to forgive her. Hah! What a joke!”
Cynthia clenched her jaw. “How can a huge kettle like that slip out of her hand so easily? Also, if it had been an accident, she would’ve called the ambulance from the start and tried to help me ease the pain. Why would she have stood on the side laughing at me instead?
“However, even though I knew she did it to me on purpose, I couldn’t tell anyone else. I had to try and convince myself that she didn’t do it on purpose because I knew that my family relied on the Gray Family’s support. My parents could use this opportunity to gain more benefits from the Gray Family. Either way, my lot in life is to be sacrificed for the family’s glory anyway, so I was willing to forgive her if it meant my family would gain from this incident. However, I never thought that Tina had no intentions of letting me go just like that!”
“I only took a glance at the scars on your legs, but I could tell there were scars made from other kinds of injuries instead of just your skin getting scalded. These were the scars left after getting stitches, right?” Sonia piped up.
Cynthia nodded emotionally. “That’s right. You don’t need stitches for scalded skin. The scars left from stitches came from the second time Tina hurt me. Soon after I left the hospital, it was Tina’s birthday. I was one of her lackeys, so naturally, I was invited, and I went. During the party, the birthday girl had to pour the champagne down the tower herself. She stood on a stool and poured the champagne as planned at first, but halfway through, she yelped and started falling toward the champagne tower. Although someone caught her in time and stopped her fall, her hand smacked against the champagne tower. And I was right in front of the champagne tower at that time. Over ten layers of champagne glasses all came crashing down on me—”
“And you couldn’t escape,” Sonia stated confidently.
Cynthia bit her lip. “That’s right. I hadn’t fully recovered yet and was still in a wheelchair. The champagne tower came down too quickly. Even someone with fully functioning legs might not have been able to escape in time, let alone someone in a wheelchair. I was buried under all the champagne glasses, which shattered all around me. The stitches I got were for the cuts I got from the shards of glass. It wasn’t just my legs. I had cuts all over my body. This is why I never wear dresses and gowns that expose any skin.”
“That’s true, now that you mention it,” Sonia commented thoughtfully.
She saw Cynthia several times, and every single time, Cynthia was fully covered up.
However, she only bothered to think a little of it since everyone had their tastes in fashion.
Well, she now found out the reason behind Cynthia’s clothing choices.
“Of course, what I wear isn’t the main concern here. The point is, I knew that Tina did this on purpose, too. She wanted to ruin my legs for good, and it worked. Now, my legs will never fully recover, regardless of how many surgeries I do. How can I not despise her?!”
Cynthia clenched the edge of her skirt tightly as the resentment colored her expression and contorted her features. “However, because of who she was, I couldn’t say anything. I had to keep my hatred buried deep down inside my heart. However, the situation’s different now. She’s become the target of everyone’s vitriol now. I can finally take my revenge, but unfortunately, there’s only so much I can do. I can’t locate her on my own, so I have to rest my hopes on someone else instead.”
“Am I that someone else?” Sonia raised her eyebrows.
Cynthia nodded. “Yes. I apologize, Miss Reed. I know that this just means I’m trying to use you, but I have no other choice. You and President Fuller are the only ones I can think of who’d be able to find Tina. That’s why I really hope that you can find her and destroy her. It’d be vengeance for me, too. Furthermore, I can also provide you with some clues about the places where Tina has appeared in the past few months.”
“What did you say?” Sonia had been a little pissed that Cynthia had been plotting to use her, but her attention was immediately drawn to the clues regarding Tina’s location.
“You said you know where Tina has appeared the past few months?”
“Yes.”
“That’s impossible!” Sonia pursed her lips. “Didn’t you say that Tina never came to see you? In that case, how would you know where she’s been?”
She stared at Cynthia suspiciously.
Cynthia tapped her cheeks and wiped her resentment for Tina off her face before she swiftly explained, “Melody Stryder’s the one who told me about it. She wants to destroy Tina as well and has been looking for Tina all this while. Even though Melody has fallen from grace, she’s not powerless as she still has contacts from her past. Some of them were willing to help her out of consideration for her, so they looked into it and managed to find some clues.”
