Addicted to you

Chapter 341: A crime she did not commit

The moment Calin realized that fact, it was said she completely went mad.

She began screaming hysterically for someone to shut down the livestream while grabbing anything within reach and hurling it wildly across the banquet hall, terrifying the remaining guests into fleeing.

In the end, Calin’s dream of hosting an unforgettable engagement of the century had indeed come true.

Just... not in the way she imagined.

--

Those who watched the livestream, especially her fans, were just as shaken and horrified as they watched the true colors of their beloved socialite exposed before the cameras.

It was already shocking enough to witness Calin spiral into hysteria as she fought with Allen without regard for their safety and even attempted to drug Shin Keir. But unlike the upper class, the netizens were driven by outrage and a fierce sense of justice. Many of them had personally experienced workplace bullying, abuse of power, and suppression.

Learning that Calin had repeatedly used her status to harm and intimidate people around her ignited a storm of anger online.

Overnight, the vicious curses and death threats directed at Calin multiplied explosively.

"Damn it, I even called my uncle who’s an officer to help Calin after Bryce Gate got arrested because I didn’t want her to suffer alongside him. But even if she has nothing to do with Bryce, she’s clearly not a good person either. I can’t believe I spent years crushing on such a venomous woman."

"Calin Ricci, give me back my time and hard-earned money 😭 I bought everything related to you as a fan, but you never deserved any of it at all!"

"How do you survive an immense heartbreak? I’ve been her fan since the beginning. I could turn a blind eye to the issues with Allen and Shin, but she’s genuinely a horrible person. It’s terrifying how she hid behind that pure and innocent persona all this time. A venomous snake, seriously."

"Damn... it’s terrifying how ruthless Shin Keir is. I’d even dare say he orchestrated all of this and simply waited for the perfect moment to take his revenge. Otherwise, he could’ve had Calin arrested the moment she tried to drug him. Clearly, this was a clean warning to anyone scheming against him not to get too arrogant."

"This just proves men aren’t the only predators out there. Women can be just as cruel too!"

Meanwhile, Sergei Ricci, who had followed Marianne to the hospital, suddenly received a frantic call from his mother.

Between sobs and shrill cries, Madam Ricci informed him that Bryce had been arrested and that Calin was supposedly being framed.

Sergei was initially stunned, but he quickly calmed down. If anything, there was even a trace of gloating hidden deep inside him.

At the very least, he would no longer have to constantly clean up after Calin every time she lost control and caused another disaster.

Madam Ricci anxiously demanded that he help his sister, but Sergei merely offered a few bland reassurances before ending the call.

He sneered inwardly, his mother’s favoritism toward Calin could not have been more obvious. She always tried to sugarcoat it with excuses, saying it was only because he was the family heir that she had no choice but to give more maternal affection to Calin instead.

Not that he cared much about which child she loved more anyway.

Just as Sergei believed the matter had nothing to do with him personally, his secretary suddenly rushed toward him with a panicked expression.

"T-The board of directors is demanding answers."

"About what?" Sergei frowned irritably.

The secretary’s face had turned pale as paper.

"With Bryce Gate’s arrest, the authorities have launched a massive investigation. All assets, transactions, and funds connected to this case have been frozen."

"What do you mean?!" Sergei’s expression finally changed as alarm surfaced in his eyes.

He immediately reached for his phone, clearly intending to call someone.

The secretary swallowed nervously, already aware of who Sergei was trying to contact. Grimly, he continued, "The company’s legal and finance teams already received the official notice, along with the banks affiliated with the Ricci Group. Most importantly... this doesn’t just affect the company. The entire Ricci family’s assets are now under investigation as well."

For a moment, Sergei looked as though he had just heard the world’s cruelest joke.

Forget the company. If the authorities truly conducted a thorough investigation, then the embezzlement, the secret overseas transfers, the siphoned company funds, and all the dirty dealings he had hidden from the executives over the years could easily be exposed.

Would all the hard work he had built over the years disappear overnight?

The secretary continued delivering reports one after another, but Sergei suddenly felt the blood rushing violently through his body. His vision darkened as he coughed up blood before collapsing unconscious to the secretary’s horror.

Fortunately, they were already at the hospital, and the medical personnel rushed over almost immediately to rescue him.

---

At the police station, Venice cried endlessly as she repeatedly denied ever pushing Marianne Vega.

Although she wasn’t some pampered rich heiress, she had never once experienced being handcuffed and accused of a crime, especially one she did not commit.

Hadi moved quickly the moment it involved his beloved Calin. His lawyer had already arrived to handle everything personally.

Unaware of the chaos unfolding outside, Hadi’s lawyer requested to speak privately with Venice, calmly attempting to persuade her to follow their prepared script.

Venice glared at him coldly.

Did he really think she was stupid enough to take the fall?

What use would money and property be if she ended up rotting in prison? Not to mention, her reputation was already hanging by a thread.

"Consider this my sincere advice," the lawyer said patiently. "I don’t think I need to explain exactly who you’re going up against. Besides, if Miss Vega regains consciousness, I’ll do my best to obtain her forgiveness and settle this matter privately so you can avoid jail time."

"Then I hope she wakes up soon so I don’t have to sit here listening to your nonsense while staring at your ugly face," Venice snapped viciously. "I wasn’t even there when she fell! Do you seriously think that woman will go along with Hadi Keir and Calin Ricci’s ridiculous excuse?"

The lawyer’s expression darkened, his patience visibly thinning.

Just then, a police officer entered and announced the arrival of Venice’s parents.

The moment Venice saw them, she burst into tears again.

"Stop crying and tell us what’s going on!" Nolan demanded anxiously. "Why were you arrested?"

Between sobs, Venice hurriedly explained how Hadi had betrayed her and turned her into a scapegoat to protect Calin Ricci.

The moment Linda heard this, she completely exploded.

Throwing herself dramatically onto the floor from her wheelchair, Linda caused the officers to instinctively step back in alarm, afraid they would later be accused of worsening her injuries.

Meanwhile, she continued screaming hysterically, accusing them of colluding with Hadi Keir.

At one point, she even hysterically demanded that they arrest her too if they were so desperate to protect powerful people.

Nolan could not have looked more mortified watching his wife behave like a raging street shrew in the middle of the police station.

It was at that exact moment that the Zhi couple arrived.

The instant Linda spotted them, her eyes lit up as though she had just seen a massive rescue ship appear in the middle of a stormy ocean.

"Klaus! Thank goodness you’re here!" Linda cried as she scrambled to her feet and tried to latch onto Master Zhi’s arm. "You have to make these corrupt officers pay for wrongfully arresting my daughter! Make them compensate her for the emotional and mental trauma she suffered! And that bastard Hadi Keir must publicly apologize and compensate our family too!"

Klaus, who had absolutely no idea what was happening, frowned deeply and subtly stepped back to avoid her grasp.

"Linda, calm down first and explain what happened to Venice," Madam Zhi said, trying to ease the chaos.

Linda paused briefly, irritation flashing across her eyes before she immediately turned back toward Klaus with tearful pitifulness, recounting Venice’s version of events as though she were the greatest victim in the world.

Linda’s explanation was chaotic and completely incoherent.

One moment she was cursing Hadi, the next she was accusing the police of corruption before suddenly dragging unrelated matters into the conversation.

Just as she finished ranting, she deliberately pretended to lose her balance and threw herself toward Klaus, clutching onto him dramatically while pointing indignantly at the officers.

"Do you even know who this man is?!" Linda shrieked. "He’s the CEO of Zhi Corporation and the father of Yeri Zhi! Need I remind you who she is? She’s Shin Keir’s fiancée! So you corrupt bastards better release my daughter right now, or I’ll make every single one of you pay for arresting her without evidence!"

Klaus frowned in displeasure, though seeing her injured condition, he merely turned his gaze toward his younger brother, silently signaling for Nolan to control his wife.

Unfortunately, Nolan interpreted that single glance as humiliation.

To him, it looked as though Klaus was implying he was too incompetent to even manage his own family.

His expression darkened instantly.

Taking a few quick steps forward, Nolan grabbed Linda by the arm and shoved her back onto the wheelchair before growling furiously under his breath.

"You shameless old hag. You’re already in this condition, yet you’re still trying to seduce my brother? Did you forget to look in the mirror before leaving the house? And why didn’t you tell me you called them over?! Do you think this is some tiny village where crying and rolling around on the floor will magically get you whatever you want?"

Linda froze momentarily in disbelief.

Then, like a cat whose tail had just been stepped on, she exploded.

"If you weren’t so useless, would I have needed to call them?!" she screeched. "What can you even do anyway? Did you really think I didn’t know you were still seeing that slut behind my back and secretly enrolling that little bastard into an upscale private school?!"

Nolan’s face twisted in both fury and humiliation, having his affair exposed in the middle of a police station.

Venice stared at her parents in horror while even the officers looked increasingly exhausted, their expressions carrying the silent regret of people who had definitely not been paid enough for this shift.

Master Zhi had already given up waiting for the couple to stop fighting, he turned toward the officer in charge and quietly requested the full details of the incident instead.