Instead of helping me up like I expected, Lionel just stood over me and looked down with a cold expression.

"Isn't this just an act with Sophie? How did you end up like this? You really went all out, dragging Henry into it too, just to trick Elliot into coming home."

His tone dripped with disdain. To him, I was nothing but a liar playing along with Sophie's schemes.

"Lionel, I'm not acting! Sophie's trapped at home! There are intruders in the house. Please, take your bodyguards and save her!"

He glanced at the wound on my knees with a hint of amusement, then shook his head helplessly. "If Elliot hadn't warned me first, I might've actually believed you. But he already told me you and Sophie made up this nonsense about intruders breaking into the house because you're jealous he took Ava camping."

My chest burned with fury. "Don't listen to him, Lionel! This is real! They came for revenge! They were hired by the man Elliot offended not long ago when he landed that big deal!"

I pulled up my call log and shoved my phone at Lionel. "I'm not lying. I even called the cops. I was just afraid they wouldn't get here in time. I'm really worried about Sophie. Please, I'm begging you. Help her!"

Lionel didn't believe me. He even scoffed impatiently. "Filing a false police report can land you in jail. Sophie's jealousy has really crossed the line. I know you two are close, but how could you go along with something like this?"

"Lionel! We're not lying! I'm telling the truth!" I screamed hysterically, tears spilling down my face.

But my desperation still didn't sway him. He shot me a look full of disdain, then turned and walked away.

I grabbed his arm with everything I had. "Lionel, please. Sophie's pregnant. Just do me this one favor. Go check on her. If you don't, she's going to die!"

He looked down at me, his expression cold. "Gracie, Elliot told me not to get involved in your family matters."

His words pierced straight through me.

Before Ava showed up, Lionel had been my childhood sweetheart. We had only been a step away from getting engaged.

But once Ava entered the picture, both Elliot and Lionel changed. Lionel grew distant, and Elliot came home less and less, and later every time.

They both showed Ava special treatment, and it led them to do all sorts of foolish things.

Lionel even forced a female employee at the company to change her name just because she also happened to be called Ava.

Elliot was worse. When Ava complained that a client had looked at her the wrong way, he ruined the man's entire company. He deliberately drove prices into the ground, even at a loss, just to crush him into bankruptcy.

And because of that, the man he destroyed had come looking for revenge.

Desperate, I held Henry in my arms and pleaded again. "Lionel, I'm begging you. Just go take a look. I swear I'll never bother you again after that."

He froze at my words.

All these years, my greatest dream had been to marry him. Even after Ava came between us and we drifted apart, I never once gave up on loving him. And yet today, I actually told him I would never bother him again.

He knew I would never make light of our relationship.

Even the maid standing nearby couldn't stand to watch any longer. "Mr. Flynn, maybe you should go. Ms. Quinn would never make up something like this."

Lionel hesitated. I took the chance to smash my head fiercely against the bluestone slab. "Please, Lionel. Save Sophie. I'm begging you."

At last, compassion flickered in his eyes. "Fine. I'll go. But let me make one thing clear. If I find out this was all an act, you and Sophie will pay for it."

My eyes lit up. Finally, there was a sliver of hope.

But just as Lionel picked out a few bodyguards to head out, his phone rang. He glanced at the screen, then at me.

After a pause, he put the call on speaker.

Elliot's impatient voice came through on the other end of the call. "Gracie came to you, didn't she? Don't listen to her.

"Some guy just called me from Sophie's phone and said if I don't hand over 50 million dollars, he'll kill her and the baby. Tell me that's not the dumbest thing you've ever heard. These women, I swear. Jealousy makes them do the craziest things."

His words hit me like a bolt of lightning. I felt as if I had fallen into a deep abyss, my mind going completely blank.

I could never have foreseen that the brother who once vowed to cherish me forever, the Elliot who once pledged a lifetime to Sophie, would turn out to be so utterly cold and ruthless. He was willing to throw us all away for one woman.

Rage and despair twisted in my chest. I screamed, "Elliot Quinn, are you even human? Are you really going to wait until we're dead before you believe me and Sophie? Did you forget what you've seen with your own eyes?"

He had been reborn, same as me. So why wouldn't he believe us?

He sneered. "You just want Dad to hand the company over to you, right? But you'll get married someday. What's the point of giving you everything?

"Besides, I called the driver at home. He said nothing's going on. Last time I trusted you, Ava ended up dead. This time, there's no way I'm falling for it again!"

His accusations left me breathless.

The driver he had spoken to had gone back to his hometown three days ago. There was no way he could know what was happening here.

I opened my mouth to explain, but the line had already gone dead.

Lionel, who had just agreed to go with me to check on Sophie, now tuned me out and said with evident disgust, "So it really was all an act. Throw them out! Toss out that little brat who helped her lie too!"

Suppressing the pain in my body, I held the already unconscious Henry tightly. "Don't you dare touch me! My dad will never let you get away with this!"

The bodyguards hesitated, startled by my defiance.

Lionel sneered, then drove his shoe into my chest.

I hit the stone steps with Henry in my arms. Thank God he landed on me and wasn't hurt.

"Who are you trying to scare? If your dad finds out you faked something like this, do you think he'll still take your side?"

I stepped back in despair. The Lionel standing before me was so cold he felt like a stranger.

I was still lost in sorrow when he kicked me once more. This time, the tip of his polished shoe hit my jaw, tearing open a long gash.

"This is what you get for lying! You're a Quinn, yet all you know is cheap schemes and petty drama. You and Sophie will never measure up to Ava."

Tears streamed down my face from the pain, yet he seemed not to notice at all.

At that moment, my phone lit up.

Lionel yanked it from my pocket and mocked, "Is Sophie calling you to come home and figure out a plan after realizing her lie is failing?"

But the voice on the other end was brisk and unfamiliar. "Ms. Gracie Quinn? This is the police. The situation at your home has been contained. The intruders fled. Your sister-in-law is in critical condition and needs to be rushed to the hospital. Can you get there in time to sign the consent forms?"