Ch. 1071..1080

Loving You In Secret Chapter 1071-Tyler did not get angry but nodded and said, "Yes, and you're a psychopath magnet."

Vicky nearly choked. She could not come up with a clap back. Tm no match for his shamelessness.'

Vicky temporarily stayed at the Harts' mansion. Old Mister Hart was thoughtful enough not to put her in the same room as Tyler. However, he was not thoughtful enough to put their rooms next to each other.

She understood where Old Mister Hart was coming from, so she did not object to it. The worst thing she could do now was to have an acrimonious falling out with Tyler.

Fortunately, even though they were living under the same roof, Tyler had to go to work during the day and was usually very busy at work, so there were not many opportunities for them to meet each other.

Vicky could finally breathe a sigh of relief and let all the tension in her body melt away.

One day, someone knocked on Vicky's door.

"Ms. Shaw, a lady asked to see you," said the maid respectfully outside the door.

"Okay, I'll be down soon," said Vicky with a frown.

She left the room after changing her clothes.

Aurora was sitting on the sofa in the living room, waiting for Vicky to see her. She lifted her head when she heard the sound of footsteps.

"Vicky, you're here." Aurora stood up and went to grab her arm, but Vicky dodged it.

"Can I help you, Miss Starling?"

Aurora was a little hurt by Vicky’s coldness toward her.

"Vicky, do you blame me for what happened?"

"No. You had nothing to do with it."

Aurora drooped gloomily. "Vicky, I know whatever I say now will just sound like an excuse to you. It's true that I have no right to come to see you, but after thinking it through, I decided to come here and explain everything to you. I also want to formally apologize to you."

She then took a deep breath and bowed to Vicky. "I'm really sorry, Vicky."

Vicky simply stared at her for a while before saying, "Miss Starling, I must say you're a very good actress. I can't even tell what's real or what's fake anymore."

Aurora's face became guilt-ridden. "I wanted to tell you the truth but..."

"Tyler wouldn’t let you, right?"

After a few seconds of silence, Aurora nodded.

"You were there when Tyler and I went on our blind date, so you could probably tell that it was nothing more than that. To be honest, it was kinda like love at first sight for me... He's the most perfect potential partner out of all the blind dates I've been on.

"Some time ago, the Starling Group ran into some problems that were difficult to solve. So, in order to save the company, my parents decided to marry me off. During that period, the highest record of men I met in a day was five. They were either too old, too ugly, too young, or addicted to drugs and gambling. Some of them even have other women on the side or already have illegitimate kids."

Loving You In Secret Chapter 1072-"How can I marry someone like that? My parents respected my wishes in the beginning, but as time went on, and the situation at the Starling Group got worse and worse... they started to lose their patience and told me to just choose someone. Needless to say, Tyler was the best option I had amongst all the men I described just now, so I..."

Here, Aurora dropped her head in shame.

Vicky was not surprised to hear what Aurora told her at all.

Tyler was indeed that attractive. When Vicky was younger, she fell for him hard, making her no different than Aurora.

Vicky asked, "What happened after that? How did everything end up being fake when you had the chance to be his fiancee?”

"Everything I told you when we went out drinking that night was true, but that all happened before I met Tyler. After I discovered the truth, I didn't have the power to fight back... not until I met him."

She hesitated before continuing, "He looked into me before we met. After you found out, he contacted me privately to ask me to put on an act with him, and in return, he would help the Starling Group to solve their problems and also grant me one wish.

"Tyler is the most perfect man I've ever seen in my life, so I didn't want to give him up so easily. If I don't marry him, I'll

have to marry some old and ugly pervert. But he told me he had no intention to marry me, and if I don't agree to his terms, he won't get engaged to me either.

"Meaning to say, I'll have to go through the whole process of going on blind dates again. So, after weighing up the pros and cons, I agreed to his terms. I'll admit that I was unhappy about being forced into agreeing with his terms, and that was why I treated you so rudely at first, but after...."

Aurora's expression became a little weird. "But after that... I'm glad I made the right decision."

She thought herself fortunate to not be too hung up with Tyler. After spending some time with him and getting to know him better, she realized that there was something very, very wrong with him.

It could all be down to her imagination, but it was already manipulative enough that he asked her to team up together to trick Vicky. However, to actually rope Elijah into the whole ruse too? Imagine just how psychopathic would a person need to be to bribe the whole world into deceiving one person!

What was even more confounding was that up to that point, Aurora still had no idea why Tyler would do such a thing like this. Why did he divorce Vicky If he did not want to let her go in the first place? Of course, Aurora would never tell Vicky what was on her mind because it was only her opinion. Tyler could be normal for all she knows.

Aurora looked at Vicky with a serious and sincere expression on her face.

"Vicky, I'll admit that I had ulterior motives for getting close to you in the beginning, but after getting to know you, I

realized I had misunderstood you. I don't care whether you believe me or not, but I really saw you as a friend. I know I have no right to use the word 'friend' with you but... I want to make something very clear to you.

"Tyler and I are not married, and there's nothing hanky-panky going on between us. He doesn't like me, and I don't like him, so you don't have to see me as a threat."

Vicky lowered her eyes to hide her feelings.

"Thank you for telling me all this, Miss Starling."

Aurora knew nothing she could do would be able to undo the lies. It was just as Tyler said. She had lost the right to be friends with Vicky the moment she agreed to work with him.

She did not ask Vicky to forgive her but instead said, "Okay, Vicky. I'll be going then."

Vicky nodded.

Just when she was about to leave, a sudden thought occurred to Aurora. She stopped in her tracks and said," Vicky, make sure you don't go out unless necessary for the time being."

Something flashed across Vicky's eyes. She looked at Aurora and asked, "Why?"

Loving You In Secret Chapter 1073-Aurora looked around to make sure no one was there to hear what she said before whispering, "When I came here, I saw a lot of mysterious men dressed in black lurking around outside. My guess is they work for Tyler, and I'm afraid that you'll be taken away the moment you set foot outside this house."

Vicky was shocked, but her heart turned cold the next second. 'That Tyler never changes! So, not taking me away by force was only a stopgap measure for him!'

"I understand. Thank you for warning me, Miss Starling," said Vicky while trying to tamp down the anger rising in her heart.

Aurora threw her one last look before turning around to leave. From her eyes, Vicky could see pity and compassion.

'Even an outsider who doesn't understand what's going on between Tyler and I could tell how terrifying it is to get entangled with him,' thought Vicky.

In the evening, Vicky went downstairs on time to have dinner. She paused in her tracks when she saw the handsome man sitting at the dining table.

At that moment, Old Mister Hart, who was sitting next to Tyler, waved for her to sit down.

"Take a seat, Vicky. The kitchen made some of your favorite food for you tonight."

Vicky glanced at the food on the table and discovered almost half of it was, indeed, her favorite. 'This must be Tyler's doing since Old Mister Hart doesn't know what I like.1

As if knowing what she was thinking about, Old Mister Hart smiled and said, "Tyler was the one who asked the kitchen to make these for you. Come sit down and see if they suit your taste."

Vicky did not want to eat with Tyler, nor did she want to offend Old Mister Hart. Thus, she went into the dining room and picked a seat that was furthest away from Tyler.

"We're all family here and I don't have many rules, so there's no need to be shy. Let's all dig in," said Old Mister Hart. He then picked up his fork and knife.

Vicky, too, started eating, albeit a little absent-mindedly. She was not in a good mood, therefore had little appetite. Even though most of the foods on the table were her favorite and they were indeed delicious. She found herself full after a few bites.

At that moment, someone put some food in her place.

"Eat more."

Vicky looked up and saw Tyler's handsome and familiar face. This made her lose her appetite completely. She quickly lowered her head and ignored the food he had placed in her place. Until the end of the dinner, she did not touch that particular piece of food at all.

Tyler's eyes darkened.

After dinner, Vicky did not want to stay a second longer than she had to with Tyler. So, completely ignoring his existence, she said to Old Mister Hart, "Please excuse me. I'd like to head back up first for a rest."

Old Mister Hart looked at Tyler and then at Vicky before nodding gently. "You're excused."

Loving You In Secret Chapter 1074-Not happy with being ignored, Tyler pursed his sexy lips into a thin line. He then got up from the table to chase after Vicky.

After the two of them had left the dining room, the old butler came over with a pot of coffee in his hand.

"Mister Hart, are you sure this is okay?"

Old Mister Hart picked up the cup from the tray and poured himself a cup of coffee.

"Tyler has this whole place surrounded by his men. Not even a mosquito, let alone Vicky, can get out of here."

"I thought Mister Tyler had given up on Miss Shaw a long time ago. Why is he still so obsessed with her?" the old butler asked quizzically.

Old Mister Hart looked at the old butler. "Given up? When did that happen?"

"A few years ago... when Mister Tyler came back here after Miss Shaw had broken his heart. That's why I was shocked when I heard you say that they had gotten married. I mean... Didn't they break up? So, how did they end up with each other again?"

Old Mister Hart picked up the coffee cup, took a sip, and smiled. "Break up? It was just an act. I can't believe they even had me fooled."

He leaned back in his chair. "I thought Lincoln was the one who’s good at playing dumb, but now it looks like Tyler is even better at it."

The old butler had served Old Mister Hart for many years. Therefore, he did not need Old Mister Hart to explain in detail for him to understand everything.

He was slightly shocked. "Old Mister Hart, are you saying that he purposely did that when he came here so that well chase him out of the house?"

Old Mister Hart smiled. "If he didn't do that, he wouldn't have been able to cut ties with this family. If that was the case, he wouldn't be able to return to Zendonia and marry Vicky."

He sighed in resignation while at the same time feeling a little relieved.

"Among those in the family, only Tyler reminds me of my younger self. It's a shame he doesn't use that brain of his on the business but on a girl instead."

"Yes, we’ve all witnessed just how talented Mister Tyler is. He not only saved the Hart Corporation from the brink of bankruptcy, but he also managed to turn it into the biggest company in the city. All this is proof that he's not the type who would spend all his time on romantic affairs," said the old butler with a smile.

Old Mister Hart did not really mean what he said. After all, the Hart Corporation would not be where it was without Tyler. Instead of being angry, he was actually impressed by

how Tyler managed to fool him.

He shook his head. "It's still a shame that he's so obsessed with Vicky. He didn't give up on her when he was at his most desperate, so why would he give up on her now?"

The old butler looked at Old Mister Hart. "I heard Miss Shaw was the one who seduced Mister Tyler first. It happened after her family went broke, and her ex-fiance was thrown into jail, leaving her with no one to turn to."

Old Mister Hart gave him a side-eye. "Do you actually believe that?"

"But that was indeed what happened from the result of the investigation..."

Old Mister Hart chuckled. "Then all I can say is that you've really underestimated Tyler."

The old butler was slightly taken aback because he knew what Old Mister Hart was implying.

"So, what you're saying is..."

"Everything, including the Shaw family's bankruptcy and Harvey Sparks being thrown into jail, was planned by Tyler. Do you know the real reason why the Shaw family went bankrupt?"

Old Mister Hart's eyes sparkled brightly. "On the surface, it might look like Harvey was just collateral damage after her engagement to Vicky went bust. However, everything was, in fact, planned by Tyler. Without her family and Harvey as support, Tyler could do whatever he wanted to Vicky. As long as he wants to, Vicky will never be able to escape from his grasp."

The old butler frowned. "Why did he divorce her in the first place if he's so obsessed with her? Why did he keep on harassing her after the divorce?"

"Divorce?" Old Mister Hart let out a weird chuckle and changed the topic. "Although he's strategizing now, he's still too young to fully understand matters of the heart. He has overestimated himself and underestimated just how much Vicky means to him. Now that Lincoln is in the picture... we only have to wait and see. This time, he'll fall even harder than the last time."

Loving You In Secret Chapter 1075-In order to avoid Tyler, Vicky forwent her usual after-dinner walk and went straight into her room. However, someone grabbed her arm just when she was about to enter her room. Before she knew it, she was pinned to the wall and found her lips being ravaged by Tyler's in an instant.

Stunned, she angrily pushed him away. However, she was no match for his strength. Seeing her being uncooperative,

Tyler grabbed her neck to stop her from struggling. He did not let her go until he was satisfied with the kiss.

"You won't eat the food I placed on your plate, eh?" he asked in a deep and hoarse voice. "Vicky Shaw, how long do you think my grandfather can help you? You'll come to regret crossing me once you're in my hands again."

Vicky balled her hands into a fist. Regret? Yes, she had lost count of the many times she had to beg him to let her go. He seemed to derive his happiness from pushing her to the brink of despair and seeing her beg him helplessly.

He was so confident with the knowledge that she would never be able to escape his grasp that he thought he could treat her however he wanted.

"No.” Vicky coldly looked up at him. "Not this time. I'll never again beg for my life even if you kill me this time."

Tyler was caught off guard for a split second before he returned to his usual composure.

He said frostily, "Vicky, when are you going to give up?"

Vicky did not want to waste her breath on him, so she just replied indifferently, "Well, that depends. When are you going to let me go?”

Tyler's tone turned even colder than before and threatened," Don't even think about that."

"Then we have nothing to talk about with each other." Vicky pushed him away to go into her room, but Tyler grabbed her wrist again.

"I'm not engaged to Aurora, and your relationship with Elijah is fake too. What are you still unsatisfied with?"

Vicky's eyelashes fluttered when she heard what he said.

"Are you saying that I should feel grateful toward you?" Annoyed, she swung off his hand. "Whether or not you're engaged to Aurora has nothing to do with this, and I

wouldn't care even if you really are engaged to her. Let me make it clear to you, Tyler Hart. It's over between us."

"No, it's not. Not until I say so," Tyler said coldly.

The anger in her heart transformed into hopelessness. There was resignation in her voice when she said, "Tyler, this is not a joke. You're not a kid anymore. Oh, forget it. It's useless arguing with you. You won't understand or listen to me.

You'll just do whatever you want."

Tyler looked deeply into her eyes and said mockingly," Listen to you so you can dump me again?"

"Tyler, you're the one who asked for the divorce."

"So? Does that give you the right to give up on our marriage just like that?"

Vicky could not believe just how unreasonable Tyler was being. "I gave up? You were the one who forced me to give up! Not only did you throw me in jail, but you also did the same to Cece and Jennifer! Not to mention what you did to Aurora. Don't tell me you've forgotten about all the things you've done just to force me into divorcing you!"

Tyler looked at her unblinkingly. His deep and hollow eyes were like the cold and boundless night sky.

"Doesn't that just prove that deep down in your heart, our marriage is not as important as those two assistants of yours?"

Vicky was so stunned that she was rendered speechless. She did not agree with what Tyler had said and felt that there was something wrong with his reasoning.

"Tyler Hart, I'm only going to say this one last time! I didn't give up on our marriage because of Cece and Jennifer. It's because you forced me into doing that! How could you say you're not as important as they are? Don't you see how ridiculous you're being right now?"

"The result speaks for itself, doesn't it?" Tyler asked coldly.

Loving You In Secret Chapter 1076-"Let me get this straight. You forced me into divorcing you, and then it became my fault when I agreed to it? Doing so makes you think that I don't care about it. Is that it?"

"Isn't it?"

Vicky broke out in laughter out of disbelief. She opened her mouth to say something but then closed it shut again when she realized she did not actually know what to say. After all, everything was her fault, and he would always be the innocent party.

"Let me go. I want to go back to my room to rest now.” She did not want to speak to him again.

Tyler did not move. He simply stared at her silently.

After a while, realizing that Tyler was not going to say anything or let her go, Vicky impatiently said, "Tyler, I'm tired.

I want to go back into my room."

A few more seconds of silence later, Tyler finally said, "You gave up on our marriage without hesitation when I didn't do anything more than threaten you by putting Cece and Jennifer in jail. What if, one day, someone else threatened them or did something even worse to them? Would you have given up then?"

Vicky looked up and stared into his eyes. "They are them, and you are you. If you think you are the same as them, then I have nothing else to say to you."

The fact that Tyler forced her into a divorce meant that he did not want to continue with their marriage and did not love her anymore. Knowing that love could not be forced, Vicky agreed to the divorce without any hesitation.

After all, once Tyler had made up his mind, there was nothing Vicky could do to change it. Therefore, it had nothing to do with who was more important to her. Even if someone else used Cece and Jennifer to threaten her, she and Tyler would be able to put their brains together and come up with an idea to save them.

However, the reality was, Tyler destroyed the marriage with his own two hands. He was the one who killed what little love she had for him. Vicky had tried, and very hard at that, to save the marriage, but he was unwilling to accept that. In fact, he even came up with ways to make it harder for her, so what was she to do? She knew very well she was no match for Tyler.

Tyler was silent for quite a long while. Vicky raised her hand to push him away and this time, he let her. The reason was most probably because he was deep in his thoughts. i

Vicky went into her room without looking back at him and locked the door. Tyler did not follow her, nor did he knock on her door, making it a rare quiet night in the household.

The next day, Vicky deliberately waited until Tyler had gone to work before she went down for breakfast. After that, she took a stroll around the garden.

'If what Aurora said is true, that means that Tyler's men would kidnap me as soon as I step out of this place.

However, that also means that I have to stay here forever if I want to be safe,' thought Vicky.

She stood on the little bridge and stared blankly into the pond.

"Vicky!" Someone called out her name from behind.

She turned around and saw a handsome man standing behind her. He beamed a sunny smile at her and asked," How have you been?" "Good."

Loving You In Secret Chapter 1077-Lincoln looked apologetically at her and said, "I'm sorry, Vicky. This is the only way I could think of to make sure Tyler doesn't take you away. Please bear with it for the time being. I'll arrange for you to go abroad once security is not as tight."

"Thank you. You've actually been an immense help to me. I might have been taken away by Tyler already if you hadn't asked Old Mister Hart to help me," said Vicky quietly. Guilt immediately filled her heart when she saw the wound on the corner of Lincoln's mouth. "I'm sorry that you got hurt because of me."

Tyler did not hold back at all when he punched Lincoln in the face, and up till now, there was still a bruise on the corner of Lincoln's mouth.

Lincoln smiled to show that he did not mind. "This? This is nothing. Besides..." He suddenly paused and changed the topic. "Vicky, Tyler's men are stationed outside of this place, so don't ever leave until I give you the green light."

A multitude of feelings flashed across Vicky's eyes as she looked at the smiling man in front of her.

"Just what happened in the past between you and Tyler to make him hate you so much?" Then, realizing she had overstepped her boundary, she quickly added, "You don't have to tell me if you don't want to."

"Well, what happened was no secret." Lincoln walked over to her and looked at her gently with his deep, dark eyes." Besides, there's no need to be a stranger with me."

Vicky instinctively backed away to avert her gaze from his. Noticing this, Lincoln's eyes darkened but he did not continue to move closer to her.

"I know you must have heard a lot of rumors about what happened between me and Tyler, like how I'm worried about him usurping my position as the heir, so I deliberately set up a plan to frame him to the extent of using you as a bargaining chip to destroy him. To be honest, I've never cared about all those rumors, so I didn't feel the need to clear them up. While I might not care about what others think about me, I do care about what you think about me."

He moved his gaze from her face and to the calm pond.

"I also know that my grandfather had spoken to you a few times. He had been trying to throw me out of the family ever since he found out that we were not related by blood. He would've gotten his way if my parents didn't intervene," Lincoln continued in an indifferent tone.

He suddenly smiled in a self-deprecating manner. "Our family and the Hart Corporation might be big, but through the years of infighting to be the successor, everyone has pulled out all of the tricks in the books at the expense of those closest to them.

"I'm sure you've heard about my father being in a coma before. Well, he ended up that way because the other relatives tried to get rid of him for their own benefit. To ensure her own and our safety, my mother transferred away all the shares she had, but she never got them back, not even after my father woke up from his coma.

"That is why this branch of the family had no choice but to live under the thumb of the other relatives. My mother had to ingratiate herself and endure all kinds of humiliation just to ensure my safety while I was growing up. She never fought back even when she was hit.

"Thus, when I was young, I swore to myself that once I'm an adult, I would never let my parents live such a life anymore. I hid whatever I was feeling and pretended to be lackadaisical just so they would lower their guard around me while I slowly bought back all the shares that belonged to my parents."

Lincoln raised his head and looked at Vicky.

"However, my grandfather prevented me from doing that once he found out that we were not related by blood. He even went as far as to bring Tyler back into this family."

Loving You In Secret Chapter 1078-"At that time, Tyler had his own business, so he didn't want to come back to the family. Meanwhile, I gradually grew my influence patiently over the years. My grandfather didn't want the family business to end up in the hands of an outsider, so he came up with a plan."

Lincoln's eyes darkened. "His plan was to put me in a fight against Tyler. He's the biological son of my parents, so that makes him the rightful heir. With his capabilities, he could easily dethrone me with my grandfather's help if he wanted to. However, he didn't want to return to the family, nor did he want to fight me for the inheritance."

After a pause, he added, "Vicky, everyone thought I was the one who wanted to stop Tyler from coming back for fear of him taking over. However, in all my years of growing up under this roof, I've been preparing and gathering power, so even if he's the biological son of my parents, it would still be very difficult for him to replace me, right?"

Vicky gave a light nod.

Lincoln continued to say, "So, why should I care whether he comes back or not if he can't win against me? Besides, he was the one who didn't want to come back. Nevertheless, my grandfather found out about your existence and decided to use you to drive a wedge between me and Tyler. He even arranged for someone to deliberately spread the news to Tyler, claiming that I wanted to hurt you.

"To be honest, I wouldn't even have known of your existence if my grandfather hadn't done that. You've regained your memory, right? So, you should know that we've never ever met before this. After that, Tyler got really angry. He barged into this house and beat me up. His actions after that infuriated our family. Everyone thought he acted too rashly and that he should have thought it through before doing something like that."

Lincoln suddenly smiled subtly. "However, what they didn't know was Tyler did all that on purpose."

Vicky was rather shocked. "He did all that on purpose?"

"How would he be able to cut ties with our family if he didn't make them angry?"

Vicky immediately knew what he was getting at.

"So, what you're saying is...”

Lincoln nodded, sighed, then said, "He used me and hurt me. So, it was only fair that I returned the favor."

Vicky's eyes flickered. "Then why did you let me marry him in the first place?"

Lincoln looked at her. "He must break up with you if he wants to return to the family because neither of your statuses don't match. He would have to marry someone who comes from a powerful family for him to dethrone me.

"Vicky, I'm no saint. All these years, I've given everything to the family, so I won't let him waltz in here and take

everything away from me. Letting you marry him was just a stopgap measure to buy me some time.

"Now that I'm powerful enough, I don't have to worry about him coming back to dethrone me. However, I want you to know that I don't really hate him. It's just that it's best for me to keep a close eye on him, so I hope you can understand."

Vicky was about to say something when her phone suddenly rang. She was still trying to digest everything Lincoln told her, so she did not pay attention to who was calling.

As soon as she answered the call, a man's cold and glum voice said, "Vicky, stay away from Lincoln."

Loving You In Secret Chapter 1079-Realizing it was Tyler’s voice, Vicky instinctively looked around her. Everything was as it should be, and there was no suspicious person to be found. However, she knew Tyler must have ordered someone to monitor her. Otherwise, how would he know that she was with Lincoln? She and Lincoln had only been speaking for a short while before his call came.

Vicky did not want to speak to him anymore, so she immediately hung up the phone. However, her phone rang again after a few seconds. She checked the caller ID and realized that it was still Tyler who was calling. Biting the bullet, she quickly blocked his number.

After a few minutes of peace and quiet, she received a call from an unknown number. Frowning, she answered the phone.

"Vicky, how dare you block my number," said Tyler coldly.

Without waiting for him to say anything else, Vicky hung up the phone again. This time she did not block that number but instead turned off her phone. She knew Tyler could get his hands on as many new numbers as he wanted, so there was no point in her blocking one number after another.

Peace and quiet finally returned to her world after she turned off her phone. Lincoln quietly watched all that transpired. It was only when she lifted her head did he ask," Are you sure it's okay to turn off your phone?"

"Yeah. Why wouldn't it be?"

Lincoln smiled. "I always thought you wouldn't have the heart to be so ruthless to him."

At the mention of Tyler, Vicky's face immediately turned sullen.

"That might be true. Maybe that's why he thinks he can do whatever he wants to me," Vicky admitted.

"What about now?"

Vicky looked at Lincoln. "Now?"

"Do you still feel the same way as you did last time?"

After a brief moment of silence, Vicky finally answered, "No."

Lincoln let the conversation go at that. Instead, he asked," Vicky, do you believe all the things I've told you just now?"

He seemed as if he really cared about what she thought of him.

'The rumors, Old Mister Hart, and Lincoln... They all have their own version of the story. I don't even know who's telling the truth. It's not like I was there when it happened, so I have no right to judge.' 1

"I... I don't know," she said quietly.

Lincoln smiled haplessly. "So, you still don't believe me."

There was nothing wrong with Lincoln's explanation, and yet Vicky still could not say with a hundred percent honesty that she totally believed what he told her. However, she had to admit to herself that she would rather believe Lincoln than Tyler. In fact, her trust in Tyler had already dropped to zero percent.

Lincoln did not say anything to force her to believe him but instead gently said, "Let me show you around."

Vicky was going to turn down his offer when Lincoln added quietly, "It's better to familiarize yourself with the surroundings in case you wanted to escape from here one day."

The place Old Mister Hart lived in was huge. Even if he allowed her to leave, she would not be able to find the exit. Thinking of this, Vicky accepted Lincoln's offer.

Lincoln showed her around the place. Ever the gentleman, he made sure to keep some distance away from her so that she would not feel pressured or scared.

Loving You In Secret Chapter 1080-The sun hung high up in the sky and the weather gradually got hotter as noontime came.

When Lincoln noticed Vicky’s forehead had become slick with sweat, he said gently, "Vicky, there’s a gazebo over there. Why don’t we take a rest there?"

Vicky was indeed feeling a little tired, so she nodded in agreement. "Okay."

The path leading to the gazebo was paved with palm-sized pebbles, giving those who walked on them a sense of unevenness.

Suddenly, Vicky mistakenly stepped on a loose stone, which made her slip. Fortunately, Lincoln managed to catch her before she fell.

Lincoln looked worriedly at her and asked, "Vicky, are you okay?"

Vicky gave him an embarrassed smile and said, "Yes. Thank you."

Lincoln was about to let go of her hand when an ice-cold voice sounded.

"What are you guys doing?"

Vicky turned around and saw a handsome man dressed in a suit standing not far away from them. At that moment, he was glaring angrily at them as though he had caught his wife

cheating on him.

His lips were drawn in a tight line as he strode over to them. Grabbing Vicky's hand, he then asked, "Did you block my number and turn off the phone just so you could enjoy your date with Lincoln? And why did you smile at him just now?"

The feeling of disgust rose up Vicky's throat when she looked into Tyler's cold eyes. She did not want to explain anything to him, so she just said, "What I do with anybody is my business. It has nothing to do with you."

She did a mental calculation and realized that Tyler had driven straight back here right after she turned off her phone.

Tyler's tone became even colder to the point of threatening when he said, "I dare you to say that one more time, Vicky Shaw."

"I can say it a hundred times, but it still doesn't change the fact that whatever I do, or who I do it with, has nothing to do with you!"

"Vicky, are you trying to cheat on me?"

Vicky laughed at how ridiculous he was being. "Cheat on you? Tyler, we've already divorced. I'm a free woman. That means I can be with whoever I want and there's nothing you can do about it."

"I won't allow it," said Tyler overbearingly.

Vicky’s expression turned cold. "As if I hadn't heard about the many other things you won't allow me to do. Even if you're still my husband, you still don't have the right to say

who I can and cannot be friends with."

"Friends?" Tyler's tone became colder. "Do friends hug each other like the way you two were hugging just now?"

"Tyler." Lincoln could not stand it anymore. "Vicky nearly fell just now and I was just helping her up, so things were not as you thought. There's nothing going on between us."

Tyler threw a mocking glance at Lincoln. "Didn't you call her your girlfriend some time ago? Now you say there's nothing going on between the two of you? Lincoln, did you think that I won’t know what you're thinking just because you hid it well?"

Instead of being unhappy, Lincoln came to Vicky's defense." Tyler, you should know better than me why I called her my girlfriend previously. It was just a stopgap measure to prevent you from forcibly taking her away."

After a sigh, he added, "Even if you don't trust me, you should at least trust Vicky. Could it be that deep down in your heart, you don't trust her at all? Are you thinking that she must be doing something with someone if she doesn't pick up your call? Or she must be flirting with a guy if she's talking to him?"

All the things Lincoln said brought out a hint of anger in Vicky. 'Trust? In all the years I've known him, Tyler has never shown me any trust! Alex, Sebastian, Harvey, and countless other acquaintances got hurt because of me! When will

Tyler ever stop?'