The hope that had just sparked inside me disappeared instantly.

The next second, Kevin started speaking coldly.

"You tried to kill me."

He pulled open his collar to reveal the stab wound on his chest.

"A personal maid dared to use a knife on me. I don't like hitting women. It's not very gentlemanly. But you! Actually, I don't care what your name is. Tell me who sent you."

Laura's eyes darted around. She slapped me across the face.

"This woman must have tried to seduce you and failed, so she wanted to kill you. Luckily, I stopped her!"

She showed the wound on her palm.

"To protect you and the Hemsworth family, I grabbed the blade with my bare hand. These hands that once played the piano are now ruined."

Her eyes filled with tears, and her expression seemed both regretful and proud.

Kevin had grown up in warfare and bloodshed. Few people had ever shown him genuine devotion.

The way he looked at Laura softened.

"We've only been friends for ten years. We're not even that close. How could you go that far for me?"

His words made me recall the first time I met Kevin ten years ago.

He had been covered in blood when he collapsed outside my private clinic.

I wanted to send him to a hospital, but he pressed a gun against my forehead.

"Treat me yourself. You're not going anywhere!"

Shaking, I treated all his wounds. Halfway through, he passed out from blood loss.

I wanted to run away, but as a doctor, I couldn't let someone die in my hands.

After I was done tending to his wounds, I hid nearby and only left after I saw him wake up.

"Are you going to call the police?"

A sharp dagger was pressed against my throat. I burst into tears.

"No, I just want to go home."

He stared at me for a long time. He suddenly laughed and withdrew the blade.

"You're so timid, and you still dared to help me? Aren't you afraid of getting into trouble?"

I shook my head frantically.

"I'm more afraid you'd die in front of me."

He was stunned speechless for a long while.

In this world, countless people feared him being alive. They feared he wouldn't die.

I was the only one who said I'd fear him dying.

"I was more afraid you'd die in front of me."

The same words echoed again in Kevin's ears, but this time, it was Laura who said them.

Kevin froze. A moment later, he looked at Laura with deep affection and gentleness.

"You'll never lose me."

Kevin always kept his word. That was both a promise and a contract.

I should have felt relieved, but my heart clenched painfully.

Memories Kevin and I shared from the past ten years flooded my mind.

Once, I had only chatted with a cafe owner for two minutes longer than usual, but Kevin thought I was cheating on him.

Kevin stayed silent for two days. George immediately had my parents locked up.

"If you don't go make things right with Godfather, I'll send your parents to hell to pay for your sins!"

That was the first time I truly understood the cruelty and madness of the Hemsworth family.

Laura turned to look at me. There was malice in her eyes.

"Kevin, since this maid wants to impersonate me, why not give her a new face?"

Kevin glanced at me coldly.

"Let Dr. Ken Miller handle it. He knows what to do. I want to rest. Everyone, leave."

Laura smirked at me. Under her supervision, the guards dragged me down into the dungeon.

The same guards who once called me Donna now watched expressionlessly as Laura carved into my face with a dagger.

The pain made me tremble and scream.

Laura wiped the blood from her hands while she admired my miserable state.

"I know why you're so bold. It's because of those two old fools."

My heart clenched.

"Laura, don't you dare!"

She gave me a look before running her fingers over the torture devices on the table.

"What wouldn't I dare? Kevin loves me now. I can do anything I want."

In less than thirty minutes, my parents were dragged into the dungeon.

My dad's leg hadn't healed, yet his primary concern was me.

"My darling. What happened to your face?"

My mother, Nina Keller, cried. She then raised her head and shouted toward the entrance.

"Kevin, you heartless monster! You don't deserve to be Godfather! My daughter should never have saved–"

Slap!

Laura slapped my mom hard. She was afraid the truth would reach Kevin.

The guards gagged my parents.

At that moment, Kevin suddenly walked down the stairs.

Laura ran out and blocked him at the dungeon entrance.

"Kevin, give me a little more time. I'll find out who sent that maid to stab you!"

"Where is she? There are things I still don't understand. I want to question her myself."

A guard covered my mouth tightly. No matter how hard I struggled, my cries came out as muffled whimpers.

'Kevin, please don't hurt my parents. Try to remember everything. Save them!'

But the next second, he changed his mind.

"Oh, my head. Laura, make sure she's sent to Ken. I don't want her looking like you anymore."

Kevin raised his hands and rubbed his temples.

"Laura, you handle this. My head hurts."

Then came the sound of his footsteps as he turned around and went upstairs.

Laura admired the ring on her finger with delight. I recognized it right away. It was the one Kevin had never taken off.

Seeing that ring was like seeing the Godfather of the Hemsworth family himself, Kevin.

She casually picked up a torture device from the table and handed it to a guard.

"Anna, so what if you stayed by Kevin's side for ten years? The one he's going to marry is me. That wedding dress that was originally made for you? I'll be the one wearing it."

The excitement in her eyes was impossible to hide, but she suddenly remembered that I had been the one to choose the dress. The look of jealousy on her face was obvious.

"You're such an eyesore."

I struggled while trying to shout upstairs for Kevin, but Laura ordered the guards to drag me and my parents to a warehouse outside the estate.

She sealed our mouths shut with layer after layer of tape.

Smiling, she placed a knife against my dad's plastered leg.

"Take a guess. Do you think I can stab through this cast?"

"No!"

I screamed in terror as she raised the dagger high and stabbed down.

Although it didn't pierce through, the unhealed flesh beneath the cast was still hurt by the pressure.

Afraid I would worry, my dad endured the pain without making a sound.

But I still saw the large beads of sweat on his forehead.

Seeing my anguish only made Laura smile wider.

She retrieved a vial of poison and had a guard pry open my mother's mouth.

"You made me watch Kevin love you for ten years. Now I'll make you watch your parents die right in front of you.

"I'm being merciful, really."

They forced an entire bottle of poison down my parents' throats before Laura called George over to the warehouse entrance.

"Not satisfied, are you? I'll give you one last chance.

"I'll ask George to pass a message to Kevin. Let's see if he'll send someone to save you."

Outside, after speaking with George, she used his internal line to call Kevin.

"Kevin, this maid keeps crying and saying she wants to talk to you. It's kind of pitiful. Do you want to hear her out?"

She pressed the receiver to my ear. I could hear his breathing grow heavier.

Desperate, I shouted into the phone, "Kevin! You said I should never leave you, and I agreed! I'll marry you! Please remember me! Please save my parents!"

My parents lay on the ground. Their faces were pale, and they foamed at the mouth. Their bodies were trembling all over.

Tears streamed down my face as I panicked. My heart felt like it was about to explode.

"Did you think I lost my memory?"

I froze completely. His cold voice pierced through me.

"Tricking me once wasn't enough? Are you trying for a second time?"

The call ended. My parents stopped moving.

I felt like a puppet with no soul. In fact, I even forgot how to breathe.

Laura pulled out a syringe and injected a sedative into my arm.

When I woke up, I couldn't move at all.

I was surrounded by flowers and the sound of guests offering congratulations.

I saw Laura in a white wedding dress. She walked step by step toward Kevin, who was in a tuxedo.

The wedding was luxurious yet romantic. Every detail exactly as I had once described to him.

Almost every important figure connected to the Hemsworth family was there.

Yet now, he held the ring we had designed together while gently taking Laura's hand.

I lowered my gaze. Below me was a bottomless cliff.

My fingers had been broken. I couldn't even make a sound.

From afar, Laura met my eyes. Hers were filled with triumph and provocation.

She mouthed to me, "You lost. Go to hell!"

The wind on the mountain grew stronger. A slight shift of my body would send me falling to my death.

My parents were dead. I was crippled and could no longer hold a scalpel.

I knew Laura would stop at nothing to kill me.

It was better to end it myself.

I closed my eyes. Tears slipped silently down. I leaned back ever so slightly.

As if driven by instinct, Kevin suddenly looked toward me. His pupils dilated uncontrollably.

He blurted out my name.

"Anna!"