I was locked up in the basement for seven days. I never saw anyone else other than the maids who came to deliver my meals to me.

Sometimes, I would hear someone standing at the top of the stairs before sighing heavily and leaving. I knew that it was Camden.

The family doctor had advised that my body would heal better if I could get some sunlight and fresh air.

However, every time Camden thought of letting me out, Ruth would remind him that I was a crazy lunatic who had lost her mind. I was endangering both her and her son because of my malicious intentions.

She said, "This is not imprisonment, Camden. This is for her protection. It's fine if she only hurt me, but what if she goes out and hurts someone outside? She'll get sent to a mental institution!"

Every time, he would be convinced by her words.

Ruth smoothed out the frown on his face and said, "If you trust me, then let me take her out into the woods for a walk instead."

"Alright. You're both mothers. Try to talk some sense into her. When she comes back, I won't lock her up anymore. I'll bring her overseas for a vacation instead."

He even sounded sincere about it.

A crack appeared in Ruth's perfectly crafted expression, but she recovered very quickly and agreed to him.

"Alright."

…

I was rudely awakened by a bucket of cold water in my face.

Ruth appeared before me, wiping her hands in disgust.

"Are you some kind of dog shit, Angeline? Why didn't you just die in that accident? Now, I have to get my hands dirty trying to get rid of you again."

My shocked expression seemed to please her as she continued, "Your daughter's a lot easier to deal with, though. I just told someone to tell her that you were looking for her, and then, I just had to snap off the sign above her head. She really just stood there waiting for you to show up!"

I felt as though I had just fallen into an icy river. I knew that Arlene hadn't died from an accident. It was a premeditated murder all along. Ruth had killed her!

And now, she was planning to kill me by tricking Camden into thinking that she was just taking me out for a walk.

"Come, let's talk about your eventual fate. What do you think about suicide after being kidnapped and gangraped?"

Ruth then grinned slightly while telling the handful of big, burly thugs next to her to proceed with tying her up like me.

My eyes were bloodshot, and I was gagged, but that didn't stop me from struggling with all of my might. At this point, I wanted nothing more than to drag Ruth down to the depths of hell with me, even if that meant giving up my own life.

However, I couldn't budge an inch and could only watch helplessly as the thug leader called Camden via video call.

The thug went straight to the point.

"Hey, Mr. Bale. I heard that one of these women is your wife, and the other is the mother of your son. But you can only save them with ten million dollars. So, who are you going to pick?"

Tears streamed down my face. I kept trying to scream despite my gag. I wanted to tell Camden that this kidnapping was all part of Ruth's plan, and that she killed Arlene, but I couldn't say a word. And of course, Camden couldn't read minds either.

He froze for a few seconds. After realizing that it really was me and Ruth who were captured and tied up, he immediately answered, "I'll give you 20 million dollars for both of them. Nothing must happen to either one!"

The thug laughed and said, "I'm only letting you pick one, idiot! Only one! Do you now understand what I'm saying? Now hurry up. I don't have much patience left!"

Then, he turned and punched me squarely in the face. "Shut up, you noisy bitch!"

He turned to Ruth and shot her a lustful look.

"Say, Mr. Bale, I heard that you only got to where you are today because of your wife. You must want to save her, don't you? As for me, I think I'm pretty interested in your secret lover instead. I'd love to have a little taste of her—"

"Shut up! Don't you dare touch Ruth!" Camden yelled, his face darkening.

The thug lost his patience and repeated his question again. "Hurry up and make your decision! Who are you picking?"

Contrary to my anger and fury, Ruth's long hair fell around her ears as she kept shaking her head at Camden on the screen, tears falling down her face.

"Camden, save Ms. White! I don't want to live anymore if they touch me like that! I'd be filthy!"

Camden kept shaking his head as well. "No, Ruth! I won't let that happen to you!"

The thug then gagged Ruth and said, "So, you're picking her?"

Camden cast me a complex look. He went silent for a few seconds, the past ten years we'd spent together suddenly flooding his mind in fleeting moments.

The beauty of the past we shared together got more and more distant, and soon, only bitter resentment was left.

Camden finally spoke, his voice hoarse.

"Yes, but—"

The thug laughed, interrupting him. "Alright, that's it. You don't have the right to any buts after that!"

Camden's short reply sounded like an explosion going off in my mind. I thought that I had no more tears left to cry, but they began streaming down my face again. My body ached, and my internal organs were hurting after being still messed up from the miscarriage.

Still, why was I even harboring any hope in Camden anymore?

The thug exchanged a smile with Ruth without Camden noticing. He then continued, "You have ten minutes. If you don't come here by then, you're getting neither of them back!"

The last of my hopes was crushed beneath his feet. I felt as though I'd died once, and the excruciating pain in my whole body suddenly felt somewhat liberating all of a sudden.

The thug grinned greedily at me and said, "It's been a while since I'd slept with anyone. Let's start with you, shall we?"

He hung up and started toward me. I struggled hard and kept backing away, but the wall was right behind me, and there was nowhere for me to go.

His greasy hands tore my clothes off, and red handprints marked my fair skin. I felt a wave of disgust overwhelm me.

Ruth's cold voice sounded.

"Hurry up."

She got up and left, but not before smiling victoriously at me and saying, "Don't worry, Angeline. There's no rush. You'll be able to meet your darling Ari soon."

Ari.

I still hadn't avenged Arlene yet. I couldn't let them get away with this!

I dug my fingers into my palm and gathered all my strength in my leg before kicking the thug right in the balls.

He was caught completely off guard and fell to the ground. By the time he got back up, cursing and swearing at me as he lunged toward me, the warehouse was suddenly kicked wide open from the outside.

The new figure came closer toward us. When I finally caught sight of the family crest on the newcomer's uniform, I finally relaxed a little.

The time that I had agreed to go back to Dad had arrived. Since the private jet couldn't get in contact with me, the bodyguards on duty searched for me based on my tracker location. So, I wasn't at all surprised that they would show up.

I used the last of my strength to grab the bodyguard closest to me and said, "Add one more thing to the stuff I asked you to prepare—the surveillance footage from this warehouse."

"Yes, Ms. White."

Then, I passed out.

…

When I woke up again, I found myself in a hospital bed in another country, Beldania.

Dad held my hand and told me that they had managed to investigate everything.

"Good. Send them all to Camden."

"The bodyguards were worried that the family crest would expose us, so they knocked that Ruth Carroll woman unconscious. She doesn't know what happened. How do you want us to deal with her, Angie?"

I chuckled coldly. "Leave her at the door. I want her alive."

I was going to make sure her life was nothing but a living hell.