Celeste moved out of the master bedroom that very night. She took nothing but her identification and essential documents, leaving even her clothes behind. She told the housekeeper to throw out all of her belongings to make way for Winona.

She felt more exhausted than ever when she settled down in the guest room. She didn't even have the strength to go to the hospital. All she did was collapse on the bed, falling asleep almost immediately.

However, she woke up in the middle of the night with a heavy head. She felt like she was burning all over, almost like she was being roasted over a fire. This evidently wasn't the right way to feel when fall had already arrived.

Celeste realized something was wrong and cracked her eyes open with difficulty. To her surprise, she saw Terence sitting by her bed and carefully tending to the burns on her arms.

He glanced at her when he noticed she was awake. Then, he picked up a pill from the bedside table and held it to her lips, making her take it with water. "Your wounds are inflamed, and you're burning up. Take something for the fever before going back to sleep."

There was the slightest hint of worry in his low voice. After she swallowed the pill, he added, "Winona got you the medication, so stop picking on her from now on. Take it and get some rest."

This was the first time since they'd married that Terence had cared for Celeste when she'd fallen sick, but it was just to tell her not to go against Winona.

Celeste hadn't even done anything wrong. But so what? Winona was all he cared about.

Celeste felt a deep sense of bitterness surge in her. Her consciousness slowly blurred, and she wanted to go back to sleep, hoping the dizziness would soon pass. However, her body was still burning, and it was getting worse with every passing second. Her eyelids were heavy; she couldn't even open them.

She lay there, fighting with herself for a long time before finally managing to crack her eyes open again. She mustered all her strength to prop herself up in bed. She felt her neck to find that it was blazing hot. She dragged herself to the mirror to see that her eyes were bloodshot from the fever.

Not only had her fever not broken, but it had gotten worse. She knew she couldn't drag this out any longer, so she stumbled toward the door.

Something occurred to her when she got there, so she turned back to grab the bottle of fever medicine on her bedside table.

By the time Celeste got to the hospital, her fever had already spiked to 104 Fahrenheit. She could barely breathe; the medical personnel immediately wheeled her into the ER.

A doctor arranged for her to be hospitalized. Her blood was drawn for further tests, and the burns on her arms were tended to. Her fever finally broke and subsided after being put on IV drips throughout the night.

The doctor asked sternly, "What were you thinking? How could you not have put anything on your burns when they were so badly inflamed? And how could you take just about anything for your fever? Do you have a death wish?"

Celeste frowned, and her heart sank. "Wait, you said I didn't do anything to my burns? But they were tended to. And the medication I took was given to me by my family. How did I end up like this?"

As she asked that, a guess formed in her mind. Her gaze darkened, and she pursed her lips as she retrieved the bottle of fever medicine she'd brought from home. She handed it to the doctor and said, "This is what was given to me. Isn't it supposed to help with the fever?"

He took it and checked the label seriously. Then, his expression turned grim. "This is ridiculous! This is a government-restricted drug! Not only will it not help bring your fever down, but it can even poison your kidneys and cause internal bleeding! Whoever gave you this was trying to kill you!"

Celeste stared at the prescription bottle, feeling like her fever was making a comeback after having just subsided. The heat made her fingers go numb.

Soon, her phone buzzed. It was a message from Terence, but when she opened it, she found a video from Winona instead. In it, Winona grinned and asked, "Are you having a nice stay in the hospital after taking what I gave you, Celeste? I bought it just for you, you know. I guarantee your heart will feel like it's on a roller-coaster ride after you take it!

"Oh, and I also gave you the wrong thing for your burns. Instead of burn ointment, a moisturizer was applied to them. You'd better treat them soon, or you'll be left with scars!"

Celeste wanted to save the video as evidence, but it was deleted before she could. She knew Terence had done it—he was afraid she would go after Winona and force her to take responsibility.

She curled her lip mockingly and lowered her gaze while taking a deep breath. Then, she called the police. "Hi, I'd like to report someone for attempted murder."

She drifted off to sleep again after calling the police. When she next woke up, it was due to the incessant ringing of her phone. Terence was the one calling.

She knew what he wanted, but she didn't have the strength to argue with him. She was about to block his number when her phone rang again. This time, the call was from Hayden. She answered it.

"Celeste, the immigration papers are already being processed. It'll take about half a month. I've already bought my flight ticket back so I can pick you up. Are you ready to go?"

A slightly nervous tone replaced his usual relaxed drawl. Perhaps he was afraid she would change her mind.

She smiled faintly when she sensed his caution and said, "Yeah, I am. Don't worry, Hayden. I won't change my mind. I'm definitely leaving after I deal with things here."

The ward door swung open as soon as the words were out of her mouth. Terence stood there, his expression stormy. "You're leaving? Where do you think you're going? I won't let you go anywhere before this matter with Winona is resolved!"

Timothy's voice was hard.

Celeste's smile disappeared when she saw him. She didn't want Hayden to hear about this and worry about her, so she quickly made an excuse to hang up.

As soon as she did that, Terence snarled, "Why did you call the cops, Celeste? Winona just switched out the medication in the heat of the moment. Did you have to go after her for that? Do you know how badly you scared her by calling the cops on her like that? You made her cry!"

His expression was frosty, but his eyes blazed with flames of rage. It was as if she'd committed a heinous crime.

Celeste lowered her gaze and curled her lip mockingly. "You think I should've let her off for what she did? I ended up in the ER last night, you know. Or do you think I should've waited until after I died to call the police?"

She'd gone into shock and had almost died. She'd spent the night in the hospital, yet he hadn't even asked how she was. His first thought upon learning that she'd called the police was to interrogate her, and his first reaction to learning that Winona had switched out the medication was to side with her.

His heart was wholly and completely in Winona's favor.

Terence was taken aback by Celeste's questions. Then, he snapped to his senses, and a trace of irritation flashed in her eyes. He scowled impatiently and said, "She acted impulsively in switching out the medication, but I've already told her off for that. Stop harping on about it. Besides, you're fine now, aren't you? I'll stay here to care for you if you're still mad. Happy now?"

He had more to say, but his phone rang, stopping him. He immediately dropped his scowl when he saw it was Winona calling. "Everything's fine, so don't worry. They can't take you away, alright? Stop crying. Does your cut still hurt?"

He left the room as he spoke on the phone. Celeste watched him, suddenly finding the situation laughable. She'd long since lost hope in him, yet she still found his actions ironic.

She'd almost died, yet all he'd done was berate her. Winona had just cut her hand, yet he was so worried he couldn't bear to leave her for even a minute.

Her chest throbbed dully with pain; she suddenly lost the strength to fight back.

…

Terence claimed he would stay in the hospital to be with Celeste, but Winona wouldn't let that happen. Each time he set foot in the hospital ward, he would receive a message or call from her.

"I'm scared to be home alone, Terence. Can you come back to be with me?

"You know I tend to sleepwalk. I can't rest easy without you watching over me. Come home, please.

"I'm so bored today. If you don't come home to be with me, I might just go abroad to spend a year or two with my friends."

A message or phone call would be enough to draw all of Terence's attention. He would absent-mindedly tell Celeste to rest well before turning and leaving.

All Celeste did was watch calmly as he came and went. Maybe it was because she'd long since lost hope in him, but seeing him so devoted to Winona no longer affected her. She was already numb.

All she wanted now was to get better as soon as possible so she could leave forever and never see him again.

…

Celeste was alone on the day she was discharged from the hospital.

During her final week before her departure, she received an invitation to watch a boxing match. It was organized by one of her company's business partners—she and Terence had both been invited.

She accepted the invitation and got dressed before leaving the house. Terence waited beside the car in a dark suit tailored for him. It made him look commanding.

When Celeste came out of the house, she saw him hold the door open as Winona got into the front passenger seat. She wore a pale pink evening gown, and her hair cascaded down her back in waves. Her makeup was light and impeccable, and she looked up at him with twinkling eyes.

Celeste faltered when she saw them acting so affectionately. Soon, however, she suppressed her emotions and got into the backseat without batting an eye.

On the way to the boxing ring, she looked out the window quietly, not reacting to any of Terence's and Winona's laughter and chatter. Eventually, they fell silent.

Celeste sensed a sharp gaze occasionally landing on her amid the silence. She turned to meet Terence's eyes in the rearview mirror. He looked at her oddly. Then, he looked away.

Guests milled about at the venue. Terence entered the hall with Winona on his arm. He deliberately left Celeste behind as he carefully shielded Winona. He introduced her to everyone he knew and pulled out her seat for her, leaning close to her as he explained the rules of the match to her.

"I guess the rumors online are true—Mr. Ford is very displeased with his wife. Did you see how he hasn't even spared her a glance since they arrived?"

"Anyone with eyes can tell that Winona is the one he cares about. See how he can't take his eyes off her now that she's by his side? I bet he and Celeste are going to call it quits soon."

Celeste's heart ached a little at their words. She clenched her fists but kept her expression calm.

The boxing match heated up, and blood spilled as fists flew. She couldn't stand the brutality, so she got up to quietly leave the scene.

Just then, Winona shot to her feet and felt around anxiously for something. "My necklace is gone! It's missing!"

"Terence, the necklace you gave me is gone! It's the one you got after fighting in 12 consecutive boxing matches, and it's the only one in the world! Hurry and help me find it—it means a lot to me!" Winona cried.

Things descended into chaos, and all the lights were flipped on. Celeste had just made sense of what had happened when someone grabbed her arm and dragged her back from the door.

"Mr. Ford, this person was sneaking out of the hall. The necklace might be with her."

As soon as the words were out of their mouth, a necklace fell to the floor behind her. The person standing beside her hurriedly picked it up and held it high. "Look, here it is! I knew she was sneaking off for a reason! She's a thief!"

All eyes landed on Celeste at those words. Some people were appraising, some were disdainful, some were disgusted, and some were just excited by the drama.

Winona had already made her way to Celeste when the necklace had fallen. She said, "I know your parents died when you were young and that a playboy brother raised you. I can give you everything else that you want, but that necklace really means a lot to me.

"The necklace isn't all that's gone missing. My bracelet and diamond ring are gone, too. They were all from Terence, so please let me search you for them."

She waved as she spoke. Two bodyguards shot forward and grabbed each of Celeste's arms before starting to tug at her clothes.

Celeste's expression darkened. "Let me go! I didn't steal from you! There are surveillance cameras everywhere—look at the footage if you've lost something! You think you can just search me like this after forcing a false accusation on me? Do you think you're still abroad?"

She tried her best to break free, but a woman's strength still fell short when compared to a man, especially since two bodyguards were holding onto her.

She couldn't escape them, and the crowd watched her coldly. Her gaze hardened as the bodyguards tried to strip her. Then, throwing caution to the wind, she kicked Winona hard in the abdomen.

Winona screamed in pain and fell to the floor. Everyone stopped what they were doing.

"Come on, she's the heiress of the Lodge family. Why would she steal a necklace? This must be a misunderstanding."

"Why wouldn't she? Mr. Ford won that necklace after fighting in boxing matches, and Celeste is hopelessly in love with him. Who knows how long she's been jealous of Winona?"

"She even had the nerve to kick Ms. Ford. Do you see the look in Mr. Ford's eyes? He's going to kill her."

Sure enough, Terence charged forward as the crowd whispered among themselves. His eyes were filled with heartache as he checked on Winona. Then, he turned to give Celeste a deadly look.

"Do you want to die, Celeste Lodge? How dare you hurt Winona! Apologize now!" he roared.

Celeste remained where she was, her fingers trembling as she pulled her clothes tighter around herself. She said sarcastically, "You didn't do anything when she ordered her bodyguards to seize me and strip me in public, yet you're making me apologize for fighting back. Do you even have a heart, Terence? She orchestrated this whole thing—there's no way I'm apologizing for that."

With that, she turned to leave.

Terence's expression turned hideous, and he stormed after her, stretching out an arm to stop her from leaving. He said commandingly, "I told you to apologize. You're not going anywhere if you don't."

She clutched the hem of her clothes so tightly that her nails almost bit into her palms. Her blood boiled, but all she did was force out, "What if I refuse to apologize?"

What would he do if she didn't apologize?

He sneered and raised a hand. The two bodyguards from earlier came to grab her again. Terence said, "We need an assistant in the boxing ring to hype things up. I'll send you up there."