Chapter 48: There Are Cameras, You Know
Henry Sterling didn’t know who to believe.
From their years abroad, he’d gotten to know Wendy Wynn. He knew she loved small animals and was a kind girl who would never make a scene for no reason.
In the three years they were together, they had never even argued. Even when they had disagreements, Wendy Wynn would always analyze the situation rationally and never threw childish tantrums at him.
Therefore, deep down, Henry was very willing to believe Wendy.
But this time—
He also couldn’t believe that Eleanor Rhodes would push Wendy Wynn!
Eleanor Rhodes was just a childlike young woman. Though she could be a bit spoiled at times, she wasn’t a bad person.
"Henry~"
Wendy Wynn, likely seeing Henry’s lack of response and fearing he didn’t believe her, called out his name again in a delicate, tearful voice, looking utterly pitiful.
"You... you’re putting on an act!"
Eleanor Rhodes was absolutely livid.
She was naive and didn’t understand such machinations, but she wasn’t an idiot!
With things having progressed this far, she was finally starting to see it!
Wendy Wynn had intentionally targeted her today!
She just wanted to drive a wedge between her and Henry!
Even though she and Henry were just friends, with nothing between them to sow discord over.
Eleanor Rhodes pointed at Wendy Wynn, ready to curse her out, but Wendy paid her no mind, only continuing to cry in Henry’s arms.
Vivian Lowell sighed.
’Wendy Wynn’s skill level is pretty high.’
"Eleanor."
She gave Eleanor a little pull, gesturing for her not to be impulsive. Then she slowly walked up to Wendy Wynn and asked, "You just said it was Eleanor who pushed you, is that right?"
Wendy Wynn nodded, her eyes still showing a trace of fear as she looked at Vivian Lowell.
"Alright, then."
Vivian Lowell smiled coldly, suddenly turning and walking behind a cat carrier. She retrieved a camera from behind it and tossed it in front of Henry and Wendy Wynn.
"I won’t hide this from you. Ever since Eleanor told me that strange stray cats often come to Professor Sterling’s place, I installed a camera here."
Vivian Lowell said, "I was worried a pregnant cat might get into trouble, or that something might happen to the newborn kittens. I never thought this camera might actually come in handy today!"
"You each have your own version of events, and Professor Sterling is caught in the middle, unsure who to believe. So—why don’t we watch the footage before we say anything else!"
"There’s actually a camera!"
Eleanor Rhodes hadn’t expected this. Her eyes lit up as she shot a disgusted look at Wendy Wynn.
’Vivian was right!’
’This woman is no good!’
"..."
Henry was silent for a moment as well. He said slowly, "It’s good there’s footage. But Wendy is injured, and this isn’t the best place to watch it. Let’s go back inside the lab first, shall we?"
He looked at Eleanor Rhodes and Vivian Lowell, seeking their agreement.
Vivian Lowell nodded.
At this point, she couldn’t be bothered with whether Wendy Wynn was going to keep clinging to Henry’s arms.
She believed Henry’s moral compass was sound. Once he saw Wendy Wynn’s true colors, she doubted there would be any chance of them getting back together.
「Ten minutes later.」
The group returned to the lab. Vivian Lowell borrowed Henry’s laptop, removed a USB drive from the cat-shaped camera, and plugged it into his computer.
The cat camera’s feed was connected in real-time to Vivian Lowell’s computer and could also automatically detect when cats appeared in the frame.
Whenever Vivian Lowell had a free moment, she could pull up the feed to check on the cats.
She had checked it just last night before coming over. The mother cat and her kittens were doing well. Although their environment wasn’t the cleanest, they only had a few fleas on them.
Once they were caught and treated for fleas, they would be fine.
Now, opening the footage again, Vivian Lowell scrolled back through the timeline.
Soon, Wendy Wynn appeared in the frame.
The time stamp showed it was right when Vivian Lowell and Eleanor Rhodes had arrived at the lab, with Vivian supporting the injured Eleanor.
Meanwhile, Wendy Wynn was standing by the wall outside the lab, spying on them.
The footage was a bit blurry.
Vivian Lowell couldn’t see Wendy Wynn’s face clearly, but she knew that from where Wendy was standing, she had a clear view into the lab.
In other words—
Wendy Wynn must have seen everything: Henry disinfecting Eleanor’s wound with an antiseptic solution, applying the bandage, and even giving her a piece of chocolate afterward.
"I wonder what Miss Winslow was doing, standing outside for so long after she’d already arrived?"
Eleanor Rhodes couldn’t resist asking.
She wanted to use this to show Henry that Wendy Wynn was clearly up to no good!
By now, Wendy Wynn had taken off her jacket, revealing a pale arm.
There was a dark bruise on her arm, apparently from hitting a nearby shelf when she fell.
Hearing Eleanor’s question, she just shrank closer to Henry and said in a small voice, "When I arrived today, I happened to see you with her, Henry."
"I... I was outside, and I didn’t know if I should come in. Henry, I don’t want to disturb you, and I don’t want to interfere with any of your decisions."
"It was all my fault back then. Even now that I’m back, there are some things I don’t dare to even think about. Do you understand, Henry?"
’More of Wendy Wynn’s classic manipulative act.’
’She was the one who’d wanted to break up with Henry back then, and now she was the one acting so "devoted"!’
Henry’s expression was a little stern. He seemed to be deep in thought, considering how to reply to Wendy’s words. He wanted to respond, but—
"Let’s keep watching the footage."
In the end, that was all Henry could say.
’No matter what, I have to figure out what really happened.’
Wendy Wynn fell silent, just looking at Henry with red-rimmed eyes, the very picture of misery.
Vivian Lowell continued to scroll through the footage.
Soon, Wendy Wynn stopped watching the lab. She turned and walked toward the area behind it where the kittens were.
She was getting closer and closer to the camera.
But the video quality was too poor; even when she was close, Vivian Lowell couldn’t make out the expression on Wendy’s face.
She slowly walked up to the kittens, then squatted down and reached out to pet a long-haired white Lion Cat.
Vivian Lowell recognized it at once. The long-haired white Lion Cat that Wendy was petting was the very same one they had seen her holding when they arrived!
’We’re finally going to see it!’
Vivian Lowell tensed up.
In the footage, the white long-haired Lion Cat didn’t seem afraid of the stranger. As Wendy Wynn petted it, it even actively nuzzled against her.
Wendy Wynn also seemed to like the cat a lot. She picked it up with ease and held it in her arms, gently stroking it.
Up to this point, there was nothing wrong with the footage.
Wendy Wynn’s movements were gentle as she petted the cat; nothing seemed out of the ordinary.
Then—
Then, voices could be heard from the footage—it was Vivian Lowell and Eleanor Rhodes, coming over to find the cats!