Juan’s brow furrowed, but before he could press further, the door suddenly burst open.

Ashley appeared—her hair disheveled, her slip dress torn, revealing a glimpse of her body. Her eyes were red and filled with tears, making her look pitiful.

“Juan, save me!” she screamed. “Someone’s trying to rape me!”

She collapsed into Juan’s arms, trembling and feverish.

“My water was drugged. If I hadn’t stabbed myself, I wouldn’t have been able to face you again!”

Juan then noticed the shallow cut on Ashley’s palm. Blood flowed and his expression darkened with rage.

“What are you all standing there for? Go catch them!”

Juan immediately tore off his shirt, cut pieces of white cloth with scissors and wrapped them around Ashley’s wound.

Susan still remembered that shirt. It was the one Juan had worn at their wedding—a limited edition, high-end model she had purchased after traveling through countless countries. He’d said he would cherish it. Now, he had destroyed it with his own hands.

Susan lowered her eyes, hiding the glint of mockery within them. The alleged culprit was dragged in by the bodyguards and thrown at Ashley’s feet.

Ashley screamed in fear. “It’s him! It’s him! He almost ruined my innocence!”

The man was doused with a bucket of ice water, snapping him out of his drunken state. After realizing what had happened, he collapsed, pale and horrified.

“I—I’m innocent, Mr. Parkston! I was drugged and I lost control of myself. It was this bottle of liquor. After I drank it…”

Suddenly, he straightened up and pointed at Susan, “It was her! It was this woman who drugged Miss Tisdale and me—and had someone lock us in the same room. She did all this on purpose!”

At that moment, Juan trembled, his hawk-like gaze narrowing on Susan. Her stomach churned and she remained slumped on the floor, stunned.

Looking up, she met Ashley’s half-smile—sinister and cold—and instantly understood everything.

This was another trap.

In fact, there were many details that pointed to Susan’s innocence. But Juan didn’t believe her.

So, no matter what she said, it was a capital crime.

“Don’t you have anything to say?” Juan looked down at her, his voice laced with disappointment. “Susan, you’re a stranger to me right now.”

“To avoid divorcing me, you’ve resorted to such disgusting tactics. Have you ever considered how Ashley will cope after you’ve ruined her innocence?”

Susan was drenched in cold sweat from the pain. She had no strength to argue. She closed her eyes, exhausted.

“Whatever you think,” she said in a low voice.

Juan flung everything off the table with a deafening crash. His eyes blazed with terrifying rage.

“Well, even after all this, you still don’t repent. In that case, let’s give her a taste of her own medicine! Come on—pour all this liquor into her stomach!”

Susan froze, staring at Juan in disbelief, almost questioning her own sanity. She had already bled from her stomach. To vent his anger over Ashley, he actually tried to force more laced liquor into her body?

“No,” Susan rasped, shaking her head. “Juan, I’ll die…”

Susan’s mouth was pried open. No matter how hard she struggled, she couldn’t stop the burning liquor from flooding into her stomach. She spat blood against the wall before collapsing into unconsciousness. Her last sight was Juan’s retreating back, walking away without the slightest hesitation.

Susan couldn’t help but smile in despair and wondered in silence, Juan, do you really love me? If you do, would you truly be willing to treat me like this?

Opening her eyes, Susan felt a pair of rough hands groping her. Someone covered her mouth and a sharp slap across her face made her ears ring. "This woman is really something. If she hadn’t been drugged, how would we have gotten our turn?"

Susan then realized the primal desire surging within her body. She couldn’t help but curl up. Her eyes bloodshot, she bit down hard on the man’s hand. With a loud crack, he slapped her again.

"Easy! Mr. Parkston told us to play around, not kill her!"

Hearing that, a chill ran down Susan’s spine. It was him. It was actually him... Susan couldn’t help but laugh softly, tears streaming down her cheeks.

As the sickening stench hit her face, Susan steeled herself and rammed her head into him. She somehow found the strength to tear off the rag covering her eyes, grabbed a nearby vase and smashed it over the man's head with all her might.

Before bolting from the room, Susan caught a glimpse of a familiar face. She remembered that man. He was Ashley’s cousin.

Stumbling home in a disheveled mess, Susan couldn’t wait to tell Juan the truth. But as she approached, the frantic sounds of breathing and moaning sent her spiraling into a whirlwind of despair.

"No, no more..." Juan’s voice was hoarse, frantic and lost in confusion. "No more? Didn’t you ask me to help you with the antidote?"

Susan stood frozen, stunned, feeling like the whole situation was beyond absurd. Her husband was administering the antidote to another woman, while she had just barely escaped a horrifying assault.

She no longer expected Juan to help her uncover the truth. For the next ten days, she reviewed surveillance footage, called the police and received treatment for her injuries at the hospital. She handled everything on her own.

One by one, she tore off the calendar pages. The date of her divorce approached closer and closer.

Finally, with only seven days left before her departure, Susan gathered all the evidence. She was determined to clear her name before she walked away for good.

She returned to the villa and laid everything out in front of Juan, "Juan, it wasn’t me who drugged her that night. It was Ashley’s cousin."

Unexpectedly, she was met with suffocating silence.

Ashley’s body went limp, her expression shifting through confusion and disbelief. "How is that possible?"

Susan pointed at her face, her voice trembling with fury. "Ashley, don’t pretend. You conspired with your cousin and let him do this to me..."

Before she could finish, Juan cut her off impatiently, "So what?"

Those two simple words, cold and dismissive, struck Susan like a blow to the chest. Her eyes widened in disbelief before tears spilled over.

"I’m going to call the police. She framed me. Slandered me. I can’t let this go."

Ashley began to sob, her voice trembling. "Susan, you misunderstood. I really don’t know anything! My cousin—he just wanted to help me. He acted on his own... Juan, he did this for my sake. Please, don’t hurt him, okay?"

"I only have this one brother. If anything happens to him, I won’t want to live anymore!" Ashley said, ready to slam her head against the wall.

Juan pulled her into his arms. His expression darkened and he nearly roared, "Enough! Don’t you just want to divorce me? Why are you making up so many excuses to mess with me?"

Juan closed his eyes and let out a sharp breath, "Fine, I promise. As long as you stop stirring things up, I’ll go with you to cancel the divorce registration in a few days. Is that okay?"

He looked as if he was conceding everything.

But Susan only sneered, "What if I insist on suing?"

A flash of disgust crossed Juan’s eyes, "Then I’ll send Ashley’s cousin abroad before you do."

He turned to Ashley with unwavering tenderness, "Don’t worry, I won’t let anything happen to your cousin."

"Take her. Lock the lady in the basement first. No one is to let her out without my permission!"

Susan stumbled as the bodyguard dragged her away, slamming her against the wall. She let out a burst of hollow laughter, tears slipping freely down her face.

Before being shoved into the basement, Juan caught sight of her devastated expression—and a sharp pang pierced his heart. He opened his mouth, as if to say something more.

But Ashley had already taken his hand. "Juan, let’s take my cousin to the airport now, okay?"

Juan looked away, unable to dwell on the strange heaviness rising inside him because of Susan.

She loved him so deeply. She had always forgiven him. Just like how she had forgiven his 99 betrayals.

In reality, Susan had always been terrified of cramped, dark environments. Once, in an attempt to save Juan from a kidnapping, she had been held captive in a cellar for an entire week—beaten and verbally abused—leaving her in unbearable pain.

Juan had known she was afraid of the dark, of confined spaces. Still, he had stuffed her into that dark, damp basement.

Susan curled up in a corner, her eyes so dry she couldn’t even shed a single tear. It was as if she had become completely numb to the pain Juan inflicted on her.

And so, in the basement, Susan counted down the days, enduring the torment. Six days, five days, four days... She was terrified of missing her flight.

Luckily, with only three days left, the basement door finally opened. A pair of ten-centimeter high heels appeared before Susan. Ashley looked down at her, eyes brimming with mockery.

"Susan, you're so shameless. Even after all this, you're still thinking about withdrawing your divorce application from Juan? Do you really want to be his dog?"

She reached out and thrust an electric baton into Susan. The searing pain nearly took her breath away. She collapsed to the ground, eyes bloodshot, yet no tears came.

Hearing all this, she remained strangely calm, even managing a faint smile, "Ashley, is Juan really that good to you?"

Ashley sneered, "You should know better than I do, right? Otherwise, you wouldn’t have clung to Juan for so many years. It’s not him who’s so amazing—it’s the mighty Parkston Family behind him."

Ashley bent down and jabbed the baton into her again.

Susan's face turned ghostly pale from the pain, "Soon, everything will be as you wish."

"Ideally," Ashley scoffed. "After all, from beginning to end, Juan’s heart has only ever belonged to me."

Susan froze. Her eyes widened as a chill spread through her body, "What do you mean?"

"Oh, so you didn’t know!" Ashley covered her lips, feigning surprise.

"You chased Juan for years and he never said yes. Did you never wonder why he suddenly confessed to you in college? Of course, it was because he wanted to confess to me!"

Ashley laughed triumphantly, "It’s a pity that back then, I didn’t realize how important the Parkston Family would be to me, so I rejected him. I never thought that, out of spite, he would turn around and confess to you—and even marry you!"

A low thunder rumbled from above, as if the world cracked open. All the strength in Susan’s body vanished. Her eyes turned bloodshot. She sprang to her feet, shoved Ashley aside and bolted upstairs.

No. Impossible!

Juan had clearly liked her. He clearly had feelings for her.

Susan rummaged through her closet and finally found the glass bottle filled with paper cranes—Juan’s gift when he confessed his love.

With a crash, she smashed the bottle, the flying shards slicing her skin. Susan, completely oblivious to the pain, crouched down like a madwoman, picking up each paper crane and unfolding them one by one.

[Ashley, I fell in love with you the first time I saw you.]

[Ashley, you're so adorable when you're angry.]

[Ashley, there's really nothing between Susan and me. Don’t misunderstand.]

Susan had treasured these confessions to Ashley like precious tokens, hoarding them for a full ten years. She was truly ridiculous.

Her entire body trembled uncontrollably as she let out one mournful laugh after another. Finally, two lines of tears streamed from her eyes, washing away the dryness—tears of anguish and devastation.