Chapter 421

He made it sound like it was only right, but Carmen felt a wave of bitter resentment rise inside her. Why should I take the fall for him? she fumed.

That was exactly what she told him, too.

“I refuse.”

For the first time, Carmen didn’t try to fawn over or flatter the Wilson family. She lifted her head, half her face swollen and red, but her eyes burned with stubborn defiance.

“I won’t do it. My mentor put his reputation on the line just to help clear my name a little. If I were to admit now that it was my idea to instigate Sophia to frame Aubree, my reputation would be completely ruined. I’m an artist, and my reputation is important to me.”

In that recording, Carmen was definitely involved, but since she’d always spoken and acted on behalf of the Wilson family and Trevor, and since Sophia’s miscarriage didn’t bring her any obvious benefit, everyone just saw her as Trevor’s mouthpiece. No one was coming after her.

But if she did what Trevor wanted, he could play the victim, say a few nice things, or cozy up to Sophia and potentially turn the whole situation around. As for her, she’d be left with nothing and ruined.

She’d end up just like Milena.

But she wasn’t Milena, and she never loved Trevor that much anyway. Carmen had only ever truly loved herself.

“What?” Trevor let out a laugh, so angry he could barely speak. “You care about your reputation? Then what about mine? I’m a public figure. Who do you think you are?”

He sneered inwardly. “To the Wilson family, you’re just a dog we took in. Don’t think too highly of yourself.”

Carmen’s face went even paler, but she still refused to back down.

Trevor was about to lose it and raise his hand to hit Carmen again when Bryan walked in.

“What the hell is going on here?” Bryan barked.

Carmen clenched her fists, steadied her voice, and explained what had just happened to Bryan. “Bryan, I don’t want to do it.”

Her tone was firm, but her face was full of wounded vulnerability.

For a moment, Bryan was dazed. It was like seeing Aubree back in the old days, wronged by the Wilson family but still refusing to bow her head.

“Aubree…” Bryan thought to himself.

“Trevor, Carmen is our little sister. Do you think it’s okay to say things like that to her? Apologize to Carmen. And instead of trying to fix the mess you made, are you just hoping your family will clean up after you?” Bryan said.

Trevor turned his head away, his face full of reluctance. He could glare at Carmen all he wanted, but he wouldn’t dare raise his voice to Bryan. “I know I was wrong."

As for actually apologizing to Carmen? That was never going to happen.

Bryan never really expected Trevor to apologize. Just admitting he was wrong was already more than enough.

His tone softened. “Alright, this isn’t the time for fighting. We should focus on how to solve the problem.”

“This whole thing is obviously a setup by Aubree and Sophia. Sophia simply wants to marry into the Wilson family. Fine, I’ll let her have her wish,” Trevor said with a mocking smile.

He thought, Getting in is easy, but getting out? That’s not going to be so simple.

Right now, the reason netizens were trashing him was because they thought he had no sense of responsibility. If he could just sweet-talk Sophia and get the marriage license, all those accusations would fall apart on their own.

As for the recording, Sophia was both the person involved and the supposed victim. If she denied it, then that so-called evidence wouldn’t hold up at all.

Of course, all these moves were just for show, to paper over the cracks. Whether the fans would believe it or what the public would think, who knew? But at least he could keep up appearances.

He was definitely going to pay out breach-of-contract fees for some commercial gigs, and as for any awards this year, he could pretty much kiss those goodbye.

Trevor gritted his teeth. He had truly underestimated Aubree. With just the slightest chance, she’d string everything together, one move after another. Her tricks were so slick that even he had to admit he was impressed.

Without wasting any time, Trevor jumped into his car and drove straight to the hospital to find Sophia.