After waking up, I didn’t see Derick.

My parents sat around me, looking decades older.

They had never imagined that Winona, who had come to my wedding, would die.

But they didn’t dare show too much sadness in front of me. They could only smile and ask if I felt any discomfort.

We tacitly kept silent, but sadness still permeated our words and actions.

“Let’s go home. Mom and Dad will take you home…”

Derick texted me every day, saying he was busy, but never explaining what.

I didn’t reply to any of them.

The day I was discharged from the hospital, I waited for my parents to collect Winona’s ashes and take me home.

But that evening, a call from the police completely shattered me.

“Ms. Alvarez, your parents were in a car accident. They’re seriously injured and died instantly… Please come to the City Central Hospital and identify the bodies.”

At that moment, my hands and feet were stiff and numb. I didn’t even know how I got to the morgue.

When I signed the body claim, my hands were shaking so much that I couldn’t even hold the pen.

“Ms. Alvarez, my condolences.”

The police investigation revealed that the taxi my parents were riding in skidded while turning, causing them to be thrown out and crushed to death by a truck.

The video was a bloody scene I couldn’t bear to watch.

The officer was the same one who had investigated Winona’s suicide. He looked at me, wanting to say something, but then stopped.

As I turned to leave, he finally spoke.

“I still have something to advise you: Don’t fight the Robbins Family. You can’t win…”

I paused and I heard the sound of my nerves snapping.

I frantically called Derick, but none of them connected.

When I arrived at the office in a taxi, the secretary at the door stopped me with an awkward look on her face.

“Elizabeth, Mr. Robbins has a guest in his office…”

I ignored her and walked past her through the small door. Derick’s office was ajar. Through the crack in the door, I saw Sienna, topless, leaning against his chest.

“Brother, I really know I was wrong. But I didn’t mean to do it this time. His parents were determined to get back at me and I couldn’t help myself and had someone hit them. I didn’t expect the car to be so powerful!”

Derick’s cigarette burned out in a flash. He sighed, stood up and put on his pants.

“Sienna, this is the last time. If you cause trouble again, I can’t protect you.”

Derick leaned over and dialed the intercom. “Please make an appointment for me and Elizabeth to get our marriage certificate.”

The next second, Derick stood by the window and dialed a hidden line.

“Chad, I’ve sent the information to your email. Elizabeth… Keep her mouth shut.”

I knew he was calling Chad, the man who had helped us handle the gray area before he took over.

It had been a long time since he took over. I didn’t expect it would restart just to cover my mouth.

The cold doorknob pierced my palm like a sharp sword.

The phone in my pocket rang and Derick, holding the phone, peered through the crack in the door.

His dark eyes narrowed and he approached the door.

Derick opened the door and there was nothing outside.

His heart, hanging high in the air, finally settled.

I hid in a corner and answered the phone. Derick’s gentle voice came through the receiver.

“Elizabeth, I know about your parents. Elizabeth, you still have me. I’ve asked my assistant to schedule a date for us to get the marriage certificate…”

There was no mention of Sienna on the phone.

He even tried to lull me into a trance by using the marriage certificate as a reward.

But Derick, I had long wanted to stop marrying you.

“Okay.”

The marriage certificate date on the phone was three days from now, so I called the funeral home and made an appointment for three days later.

When I got the call from Chad, there was silence on the other end. “I want all the evidence of Sienna’s crimes, as well as the video of her and Derick having sex. Three days from now, at the funeral, I’ll make them the object of everyone’s disdain!”

“Okay!”

“Also, contact Rowan for me and ask him if the Robbins Family still wants him.”

Derick, perhaps you had been away from crime for so long you had forgotten that Chad’s loyalty to you was because of me.

If it weren’t for me, you wouldn’t be where you were now. And I could bring you down from that position at any moment.

I emerged from the crematorium clutching three jars of ashes. Everyone on the street looked at me with sympathy. But I was numb enough to feel no pain at all.

Derick parked the car steadily in front of me. His eyes flickered when he saw the three jars in my hands.

He opened his mouth, but nothing came out.

The passenger window opened, revealing Sienna’s face. “Elizabeth, my brother and I are here to take you home.”

Sienna wore a harmless expression, as if this matter had nothing to do with her.

On the surface, it certainly didn’t.

I stood outside the passenger seat, motionless and silent.

“Elizabeth, you sit in the back. Sienna’s stomach is upset today…”

Derick’s guilty voice grew weaker and I got into the back seat before he finished.

Sienna kept chatting with him the whole way, but I remained silent.

In the rearview mirror, Derick’s eyes occasionally flicked towards me.

Finally, he said in a flattering tone, “I’ll arrange the funeral for Mom and Dad and Winona. Just stay home and rest for a few days. We’ll go get the marriage certificate in three days, okay?”

I looked into those eyes in the rearview mirror and nodded. “Okay.”

For some reason, Derick’s heart was pounding.

For the next few days, Derick stayed by my side, comforting and coaxing me. Sienna gnashed her teeth beside me.

I, however, still looked completely disheartened and never spoke another word to Derick.

On the day of getting the marriage certificate, Sienna stopped me as soon as I stepped out of the room.

“Your parents and sister are dead and you’re still thinking about getting a marriage certificate? You’re so heartless! Aren’t you afraid your parents and Winona are crying in the grave?”

I curled my lips and walked around her.

“Don’t you just want Derick and I to get married?”

I heard Sienna’s screams and jumping up and down behind me. Without even looking back, I rushed out and hailed a taxi.

“Driver, to the funeral home.”

In the rearview mirror, Sienna followed me in her red sports car.

Outside the City Hall, Derick waited for a long time, but never saw me. The call connected and Derick anxiously asked, “Elizabeth, haven’t you arrived yet? Elizabeth, where are you?”

I chuckled coldly. “I’m at the funeral home. By the way, your sister is here too.”

Heavy breathing came from the other end of the line, followed by the sound of a car engine.