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.

Susan didn’t know how long she had cried.

After nightfall, she swept up the shattered glass on the floor like a ghost, then tossed all the paper cranes into the brazier, watching them burn to ash.

Once everything had turned to cinders, Juan pushed the door open and walked in. He was carrying Ashley in his arms, his expression full of fury.

"Susan, look at you!"

Susan stared at him without expression, even managing a faint smile, "Mr. Parkston, may I ask what I’ve done?"

Juan felt a stab in his chest. "What’s with that tone? To escape from the basement, you actually knocked Ashley unconscious and left her lying there alone all afternoon!"

Susan stared at him blankly, "Is that what Ashley told you? Whether I knocked her unconscious or not, you could’ve asked the servants. Mr. Parkston, to protect Ashley, you even argued over something so trivial. Can’t bear to see her hurt?"

Juan’s chest heaved with anger, his eyes burning coldly, "You think I didn’t ask?"

Before Susan could react, a servant stepped forward.

"Mr. Parkston, I saw it myself. It was Madam who injured Miss Tisdale."

"Yes, yes. She even used a stun gun on Miss Tisdale!"

One of them even dropped to their knees while saying, "Madam, please stop being so stubborn. Don’t you want to cancel your divorce registration with Mr. Parkston? If you keep acting like this, he might never forgive you!"

Susan stared at them, eyes filled with disbelief. But all she felt was an overwhelming emptiness. She had always treated them kindly. In the end, they were nothing more than sycophants. Susan no longer had the strength to argue.

She simply closed her eyes and smiled faint, "What would you have done if I had done it?"

Juan immediately raised his hand and slammed it against the door, veins bulging across the back of his hand.

"Susan, you’ve disappointed me so much! Bring in the family discipline!"

His eyes were bloodshot, his voice like a growl, "She’s not allowed back in this house until she’s been lashed a hundred times!"

With a sharp crack, agony tore across Susan’s back.

The saltwater-soaked whip landed mercilessly, ripping her skin open, leaving blood and torn flesh in its wake. Yet Susan didn’t utter a single cry. She endured it until her entire body was soaked in sweat, as if she’d just stepped out of a storm. She fainted, woke up and fainted again—hovering near death.

When she finally regained consciousness, she was already in a hospital room.

The first thing Susan did was glance at the time on her phone.

It was the 6th.

She thought vaguely to herself, soon, I can leave…

Juan took her hand in his, his voice softening, "Susan, as long as you don’t try to harm Ashley again, I can go with you to cancel the divorce."

Susan closed her eyes, her expression calm, "Okay."

Juan added, "After all, you’ve been married for years and you and Ashley are close friends. There’s no need to make things so tense."

Susan responded again, "Okay."

She looked so quiet, so obedient.

A strange feeling stirred in Juan’s heart. He frowned, about to speak again.

But suddenly, the phone rang loudly and Ashley’s voice filled the room, "Juan, I’m having another nightmare. Where are you? I want to see you. You know I was locked in the cellar for a week..."

Susan’s eyes shifted slightly, a flicker of confusion crossing them, "Cellar? She also…"

But before she could finish, Juan had already let go of her hand and rushed out.

Watching Juan’s Lincoln disappear into the distance, Susan, despite the stabbing pain in her body, she changed into casual clothes and headed to the City Hall.

Juan had completely forgotten that today marked the end of their one-month cooling-off period. He would never need to accompany her to cancel the divorce registration.

This time, they were truly divorced.

After receiving the divorce certificate, Susan mailed Juan’s copy to him.

She also enclosed her resignation letter, along with all the evidence she had gathered proving Ashley’s slander and false accusations.

She made a copy of the evidence and asked a friend to report it to the authorities.

Once everything was settled, Susan boarded a plane to a foreign country.

Before takeoff, she sent a text to Frank, [I’m leaving. Landing in twelve hours.]

Then, with a cold and steady gaze, Susan snapped her SIM card in half without hesitation. She vowed never to return to the Parkston Family again.

The night was as dark as ink. As the plane soared into the sky, she saw the stars twinkling.

She knew that it was guiding her to pursue a better self.