Chapter 440 Grace Falls into Patricia's Trap Again
Clearly, Riley and she weren't on the same page.
"You cornered her in the hallway?"
No sooner had the words left her mouth than a sharp "snap" rang out.
Shane slammed his palm on the table and stood up, trembling with rage: "Grace, do you have any clue what you're doing? How many times have I told you, people need to act with integrity. When you make a mistake, you own up to it. But you keep messing up, driven by your selfishness. It just makes me all the more disappointed in you."
Thinking of the evidence on her phone, Grace wasn't worried about their anger in the slightest.
The angrier they got now, the guiltier they would feel after listening to the recording, and the better they would treat her afterward.
She hastily found the recording, tapped on it eagerly, and handed it to Shane.
"Grandpa, I didn't lie, listen..."
Shane, Riley, and Patricia all turned their gaze toward her, eyes falling on the phone in her hand.
"..."
Ten seconds went by.
Silence.
Twenty seconds passed.
Still no sound.
Riley: "...??"
Shane: "...??"
Grace: "...??"
They all stared at the phone for a full minute.
Still, nothing.
"How can this be? I definitely recorded it," murmured Grace, retracting her hand to check the situation.
The time was correct.
It was recorded a few hours ago.
The duration showed on the recording was right.
Everything was in order.
But why was there no sound?
What was going on?
Not willing to give in, Grace repeatedly pressed play.
She kept exiting and re-entering the app, even restarting her phone.
Unfortunately, no matter what she tried, the recording remained silent.
Shane and Riley looked at her coldly, initially with pain in their eyes, holding onto a sliver of hope that she might turn over a new leaf.
But gradually, they realized that she was beyond redemption.
A dumbfounded Grace lifted her head, still not figuring out what went wrong when she suddenly caught a fleeting look of triumph in Patricia's eyes.
Patricia was facing away from Riley and Shane.
So only Grace could see the expression on her face.
All her questions were answered in that moment.
A boundless fury swept over her.
She lost all sense of the occasion, all awareness of her surroundings, and bolted towards Patricia with a crazed intention to throttle her.
"It was you! It had to be your doing. You snake, spill the truth to grandpa and my brother—tell them it was you who orchestrated today's chaos, and you who leaked that video online!"
Patricia recoiled in shock, her heels stumbling over something unseen, nearly toppling over.
Fortunately, Riley, with his quick reflexes, caught her just in time.
With one hand supporting her back and steadying her, Riley firmly grasped Grace's raised wrist with the other.
"Thank you…"
Patricia muttered her thanks and awkwardly stepped out of his embrace.
But Grace, seething with resentment, was not ready to let her off easily. "Brother, why are you on her side? She set me up, she's the reason my life's in ruins, why I'm the target of online humiliation, and why The Koch Group's reputation is tarnished!"
With her head bowed, Patricia's shoulders shook in feigned distress. "Miss Koch, if it eases your conscience, let's say I did it."
Grace was so enraged she could barely breathe.
"What do you mean let's say? You did it!"
Patricia followed her lead and confessed. "Yes, it was me."
Thinking she had admitted guilt, Grace turned excitedly to Riley. "Brother, you heard her! She confessed! She's responsible for all of this. Get rid of her; people like her are a danger to our home, like harboring a tiger."
Patricia, as if craving more drama, murmured, "You're right, Miss Koch. I'll pack my bags—not tomorrow, right now—and leave."
With those words, she turned to head for the door.
Grace, believing she had finally rid herself of Patricia, was not satisfied. She wished she could kick Patricia out physically.
"You should've been gone ages ago, get out, just get the hell out of my house…"
Once she might have maintained her facade.
Whether it was anger, happiness, or fury, she used to keep it concealed.
But after today's overwhelming events, the mask had slipped.
Rage, jealousy, and a thirst for revenge consumed all her thoughts.
All she wanted was for Patricia to die.
First to drive her out of The Koch family, then find a way to end her life.
Shane and Riley could scarcely believe that this monstrous shrew raging before them was once the gentle and kindhearted granddaughter and sister they knew.
Swollen cheeks.
Tousled hair.
A wild look in her eyes.
She might as well be an escapee from an asylum.
Finally losing his patience, Riley raised his hand and delivered a sharp slap across her face.
"Smack..."
The sound of the slap brought instant silence to the study.
Patricia halted, turned, and stared at Riley in shock.
Shane instinctively reached out to check on Grace but then hesitated, collapsing back into his chair, feeling utterly powerless.
A vein throbbed on Riley's forehead, his usual composure on the edge of shattering due to his sister's antics.
"Have you had enough?"
Grace could hardly believe Riley had actually hit her. Clutching her stinging cheek, tears welled up in her eyes as she sobbed, "Brother, I swear I'm not lying. Everything that happened today was Patricia's doing."
Riley clenched his jaw, the vein at his temple pulsing as he ground out the words through gritted teeth.
"Even if Patricia orchestrated it, weren't you the one who stole the design?"
Defiantly, Grace replied, "She told me where it was..."
Cutting her off, Riley snapped, "If you weren't harboring ill intentions, how could you fall for it? She tells you where the design is and you go and steal it? Feeling entitled to claim it as your own?"
"I..."
Grace was left speechless by the retort.
"And was it also her who made you accuse her of plagiarism during the competition?"
Grace's lips parted as if to explain, but realization struck that there was no explanation.
Riley knew that if he didn't make things crystal clear today, Grace would continue with her relentless denials.
"Your boyfriend already came forward to vouch for her. Are you suggesting she manipulated you into defaming Jeremy as well? Completely disregarding his reputation?"
Grace was perplexed.
"Do you have any idea how damaging it is for Jeremy's reputation to have an affair with a married woman?"
Without a comeback, Grace silently averted her gaze, unable to meet Riley's piercing eyes.
"As for that video leaked online, are you going to deny your involvement? There are no secrets that time doesn't reveal, Grace. Everything you did today, nobody forced you. You chose to do all of it on your own."
Grace muttered defiantly under her breath.
"If she hadn't released it, how would anyone else know?"
Underneath Riley's penetrating stare, Grace slowly lowered her head, unwilling to confront the truth he laid before her.
"You..." Riley was almost beside himself with rage, his hand raising again, itching to strike.
In his thirty years, Grace was truly the only person who could get under his skin like this.
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