Early the next morning, I got up and quietly completed my hospital discharge paperwork. Not long after, my phone buzzed. It was a call from the embassy—my visa had been approved.

Without wasting another second, I confirmed my departure plans with Chris.

Another call came through just minutes later and this one came from the hospital.

Tears of overwhelming joy blurred my vision. I rushed outside, flagged down a taxi and headed straight to the hospital.

However, when I pushed open the door to my mother’s room, my steps faltered. There, standing by her bedside, was someone I never expected to see.

Kelly.

She stood there like a viper, “Hello, Auntie. Remember me? I used to work with your precious daughter. Do you know what Jane’s been up to while you were lying here helpless?”

Her voice oozed false pity and cruelty. “She stole my fiancé. She even shamelessly got herself pregnant just to claw her way into the Payton Family. She’s nothing but a cheap, disgusting woman.”

My mother, weak and fragile, struggled to breathe as her face flushed an angry red. Yet even with her muscles stiff and atrophied from months of immobility, she forced her trembling hand to grab the water cup on the table … and hurled it straight at Kelly.

The cup struck her squarely and splashed water all over Kelly’s expensive clothes.

She glared at my mother and hissed, “Like mother, like daughter. You’re both equally disgusting.”

When my mother reached for the call button, Kelly lunged to stop her, but before she could do anything, I slammed the door open.

“What the hell are you doing to my mother, Kelly?!”

I shoved Kelly to the floor and pinned her down. With rage clouding my face, I did not hold back. I delivered one slap after another across her face with raw fury.

There were many things I could tolerate. Except for one, only one reason. I would never allow anyone to hurt my mother. She was the only family I had in this world.

Kelly shrieked and thrashed beneath me. “How dare you hit me, Jane! You psycho! Let me go!”

However, I held her very tight, my eyes cold as steel.

Simon happened to be at the hospital visiting a friend. When he heard Kelly’s scream, he followed the voice, only to witness the chaotic scene.

“Jane, have you lost your mind? Let Kelly go!” he shouted. Then he rushed over and yanked me off Kelly, throwing me hard to the side.

I didn’t even have time to react. My body crashed into the ground and landed right on the shards of the broken cup. Sharp glass tore through my skin. Blood spilled instantly and pooled beneath me.

Kelly scrambled into Simon’s arms, her cheeks red and swollen. She sobbed uncontrollably, playing the perfect victim.

“Simon, I only came because I heard her mom had woken up. I just wanted to show a little care, but Jane attacked me out of nowhere. I don’t even know what I did wrong, I swear…” Kelly’s voice trembled, dripping with false sadness as she pretended to be the wronged one.

Simon turned to me, “Janey, maybe Kelly said something wrong, but she didn’t mean any harm. Hitting someone is still out of line. Can’t you at least apologize?”

I clenched my jaw and pushed myself up despite the pain shooting through my arm. “You want me to apologize, huh? Do you even know what really happened? What gives you the right to ask me that?”

“I get it, you’re upset. However, violence doesn’t solve anything. Let’s calm down and talk this through, okay?”

I let out a bitter laugh, my eyes turning cold and distant. “What if I told you I meant to hit her?”

Simon’s expression darkened. When he heard Kelly sobbing again beside him, he gave in, scooped her up and stormed out of the room.

Just before they left, I caught the glint of triumph in Kelly’s eyes, as if she were silently saying, "See? He still chooses me in the end."

After patching up my wounds, I threw myself into my mother’s arms and sobbed uncontrollably. I had endured too much over the years.

I had kept all the bitterness, the betrayal, the loneliness buried deep inside my heart with no one to confide in. However now, my mother, Madam Luxton was awake. I was no longer alone. I finally had someone I could lean on again.

“Mom.” I choked out through my tears, “Let me take you to the Gaul Nation, okay? I’ve paid off all our debts. We can leave this place for good and never look back.”

My mother raised her arm with difficulty and caressed my face. “Wherever you go, Janey, I’ll follow.”

That very day, I made all the arrangements. I filed the paperwork to transfer my mother to a hospital in the Gaul Nation and hired professional caretakers to accompany her on the flight.

Everything was finally falling into place. For the first time in what felt like forever, I could breathe.

However, on my way back to the hospital to meet her, something went wrong. The taxi driver did not follow the usual route.

Then came the sharp sting of a chemical stench. Before I could react, my limbs went limp and darkness swallowed me whole.

When I woke up, I found myself tied up inside what looked like an abandoned factory.

Panic surged in my chest.

The noise caught the attention of a group of men lounging in the distance. They looked up from their game of cards and slowly approached, their eyes glinting with sick amusement.

I swallowed hard and forced myself to yell hoarsely, “I paid off my debts! Who sent you? If it’s money you want, let me go! I can get you more! However, if you hurt me, you’ll get nothing!”

They didn’t respond. One of them casually picked up a baseball bat and tapped it against his palm, his gaze fixed on my legs.

"People say she used to be a model," he sneered. "Shame if something happened to her legs, huh? Wonder how she’d strut the runway then.”

Realizing what they intended to do, horror and rage twisted in my heart. "Who sent you?" I snapped, my voice shaking.

“That’s not your concern,” another one smirked. “After tonight, you’ll be lucky if you can even walk, let alone talk. Before we wreck those pretty legs, we’re going to have a little fun.”

Two of them laughed and exchanged a glance. One of them stepped closer. His eyes were leering at me with a disgusting light.

Disgust churned in my stomach.

After getting a nod from the leader, he stepped forward, groped my face and began tearing at my clothes.

I struggled violently, screaming at the top of my lungs, but a hard slap cut me off.

"Shut up!" the man snarled. "Scream again and we’ll make this even worse for you."

Just when desperation crushed what little strength I had left, a loud engine roared outside.

Simon burst through the entrance like a hurricane. He swung the golf club he’d grabbed from the backseat of his car with savage fury.

I stared in a daze at the crazed Simon, watching him smash the golf club into the kidnappers without any hesitation, like a man possessed.

However just before I blacked out again, a chilling thought flickered across my mind …

Kelly must have been the mastermind behind this. She hated me enough to want to see me destroyed.

What made this thing even worse... it was possible Simon had been involved too.

Maybe this whole kidnapping was something they had planned together.

The trauma and stimulation turned me into someone who suffered from mutism and panic attack disorder.

Night after night, I woke in horror, trapped in one nightmare after another. Only when my gaze landed on the familiar furniture did I begin to calm down.

I was trying to get out of bed to go to the bathroom when I heard raised voices drifting up from downstairs. It was Simon arguing with someone.

“Who the hell gave you permission to touch her? If I hadn’t gotten there in time, she’d never be a model again! What the hell were you thinking?” he yelled furiously.

I pressed my hand against the cold door and hid in the shadows. So… he wasn’t the one behind it?

Yet, it didn’t matter. If Simon hadn’t turned a blind eye to Kelly and his so-called “brothers,” they would’ve never dared lay a hand on me in the first place.

A quiet, bitter laugh escaped me. They were all cut from the same rotten cloth.

“I told you, this was between me and her. I’ve told you, no one was to touch her!”

Kelly’s sobs filled the air. They were sweet, sorrowful and manipulative. “Simon, how could you yell at me because of her? I thought you hated her! I was just trying to help you get revenge. What did I do wrong?”

Someone snapped indignantly, “Simon, she left you for money and fame. She’s the reason you lost everything. Do you really not hate her? Kelly did it because she loves you so much. What’s wrong with that?”

“Jane broke your heart, man. You can’t seriously still be into that heartless woman, right?”

“Enough! I’m not in love with her. I’m marrying Kelly. She’s the only one I love.”

The crowd looked at each other in disbelief. Anyone could see that Simon was out of sorts, but none of them said anything …

Upstairs, I heard footsteps coming up the stairs. I quickly returned to bed and shut my eyes, though my tightly furrowed brows betrayed my unease.

The door creaked open. Simon entered quietly, stepping softly. He knelt beside my bed and he reached out his hand. It seemed he wanted to feel my forehead.

However, I snapped my eyes open and tilted my head, avoiding his touch.

Seeing the hollowness in my eyes and how distant I was toward him, Simon’s heart clenched.

His hand hovered mid-air for a long moment before slowly falling to rest on the edge of the bed. With a gentle voice, he said, "Janey… don’t be afraid. Those men are gone. I took care of them. No one’s going to hurt you again.”

I didn’t respond to him. My gaze stayed locked on the ceiling, blank and unreachable.

“Please…” Simon’s voice cracked. “Janey, I’ll find the best doctors. I swear I’ll help you speak again. However, please… don’t shut me out like this.”

He sounded so heartbroken and humbled, his voice trembling with unshed tears.

At last, I moved. I raised my finger and pointed to the door. Without making any sound, my mouth formed the words, “Get out!”

Seeing this, Simon knew I didn’t want him there.

When I saw him standing frozen in place, my control snapped. I grabbed an object on the table and hurled it toward Simon.

“Okay! Fine! I’ll go!” Simon was too worried sick about upsetting me, about making me even more ill, so he backed out of the room. I could see it through his eyes that it broke him to do so.