Holding Isabelle in his arms, Ashton turned and shot me a vicious glare.

"Kate, are you following me?"

I looked up at him, disbelief thick in my voice.

"I already told you, Isabelle won’t threaten your position. Why can’t you just leave her alone?"

“Following you?”

“Ashton, have you lost your mind?”

“This is a hospital! I—”

Before I could finish, he cut me off sharply. “Enough! Kate, do you know what I hate most about you?”

“I hate how you think money makes you superior. Are all the people here blind?”

His lips curled into a cold sneer, disdain written all over his face.

“Money can buy an engagement, but it can never buy real love.”

“Kate, people like you will never know true love in this lifetime!”

Watching Ashton stand up for Isabelle, the crowd around us began to murmur in approval.

He straightened his back and spoke coldly, “Hand over that riverside villa. The air there is good. Let Isabelle stay there during her pregnancy. That will settle everything.”

Rage clouded my thoughts. My eyes flared red in an instant.

“Are you serious? That villa is my mother’s inheritance! And you want your mistress living there? On what grounds?”

Isabelle sobbed so hard her voice broke, soft and pitiful, “Ashton, actually, Kate… she isn’t—”

“You don’t need to defend her. I know exactly what kind of person she is!”

“If she hadn’t interfered, we’d have been married long ago!”

He shot me a sharp glare, his eyes full of scorn.

“You think spending a hundred million buys you the right to marry me.”

My body swayed uncontrollably. I could barely remain standing.

This was the man I had loved in secret for eight long years.

How blind I must have been back then.

I wanted to tell him I had already called off the engagement and had no intention of bothering Isabelle.

But Ashton gave me no chance to speak. He ordered the bodyguards to drag me into the car.

The Maybach sped toward the riverside.

Inside, Ashton held Isabelle tightly in his arms, his glare burning with fury directed straight at me.

“Where’s the room key? Hand it over.”

“In your dreams!”

Ashton’s face darkened, malice practically dripping from his eyes.

He glanced at the bodyguard, who immediately stepped forward and began searching me.

“If you don’t know what’s good for you, don’t blame me for not giving you a chance.”

My scream nearly shattered the car roof.

Ashton covered Isabelle’s eyes with his hand, never sparing me a glance.

Still weak from illness, I barely had any strength left.

The bodyguard tore my outer clothes to shreds.

Only the sheer dress underneath clung to me, barely covering my body.

All the dignity I had left was trampled into the dirt.

Tears of despair slipped silently from the corners of my eyes.

At last, the bodyguard found a wallet, and the nightmare finally came to an end.

Ashton handed the room key to Isabelle.

He passed the black card to the bodyguard.

“Go to the nearest mall. Buy everything in the maternity store. Nothing under ten thousand dollars. I don’t want anything that could harm Isabelle or the baby.”

After speaking, he wiped his hands on a tissue with clear disgust, as if my wallet were a filthy thing.

The bodyguard was dropped off halfway.

My fever flared again, and I slipped back into unconsciousness.

In my haze, I faintly heard Ashton’s voice, laced with venom.

I was kicked twice.

“Quit faking! Get up!”

“Kate, can’t you hear me? Don’t make me throw you out of the car!”

“You’ll stoop to anything for sympathy, huh? Isabelle’s pregnant and weak, so now you’re pretending too?”

“Perfect. If you’re pregnant, I don’t have to go through with the engagement. Still not moving? Want me to call your family and tell them?”

Ashton’s patience snapped, his expression turning cold as ice.

He grabbed the cup, ready to fling the scalding coffee at me.

Isabelle hurried to stop him, her voice trembling with sorrow.

“Ashton, Kate doesn’t look like she’s faking. Maybe something’s really wrong.”

“We haven’t gone far. Why not take her back to the hospital for a check-up?”

Ashton sneered, clutching Isabelle tighter.

“You’re far too kind. That’s why she keeps trampling all over you.”

“Kate is the kind of person who won’t hesitate to get what she wants. You don’t really know her.”

Isabelle pouted, tears glistening in her eyes.

“I thought you agreed to the engagement because you had feelings for Kate. I only wanted to help you.”

Ashton wiped the tears from the corners of Isabelle’s eyes and pressed a gentle kiss to her forehead, his voice heavy with pity.

“Feelings? More like disgust.”

“If the Castellano family still held any use for me, do you think I’d ever agree to marry someone like her?”

“When this crisis is over, I’ll divorce her. I can’t bear Kate’s temper another day.”

“Then I’ll give you the most extravagant wedding the world has ever seen. We’ll take the baby, travel to Paris or maybe chase the northern lights. How does that sound?”

Isabelle blushed, curling closer into his arms.

Ashton stroked her long hair tenderly, his gaze softening as it landed on the scar on her wrist.

“Isabelle, thank you. Thank you for standing by me back in school. And thank you… for giving me a child.”

Her expression stiffened, panic flashing in her eyes.

“You still remember…”

Eight years ago, Ashton had been the illegitimate child of the Johnson family, enduring humiliation and contempt.

The darkest moment came when he was kidnapped and beaten unconscious. The legitimate Johnson heir had hired someone to end him.

While he lay in the haze of unconsciousness, a man’s desperate scream pierced the air. “Psycho! You’re completely insane!”

When he finally awoke, only Isabelle was by his side, her wrist still bleeding heavily.

From that moment on, Isabelle became the most precious person in his life.

In a shadowed corner, unnoticed by anyone, my body slipped slowly from the seat.

Beneath my torn clothes, the scar on my wrist stared back, cruel and raw.

Even as the car pulled up to the villa, I remained unconscious; my cheeks flushed with unnatural heat.

Only then did Ashton sense something was terribly wrong.

When my eyes fluttered open again, I found myself lying in a guest room.

From the hallway, I glimpsed Ashton, carefully straightening Isabelle’s clothes.

His touch was so gentle that it felt surreal as if he were handling priceless treasures rather than mere fabric.

I remembered the last time I attended a banquet at the Johnson house with my father for business.

I pouted, asking him to fasten a necklace for me.

His face remained cold as ice, and he replied curtly, “Don’t you have hands? I don’t touch a woman’s things.”

I used to believe that was just how he was.

But today, I finally understood that the cold façade was merely a mask, hiding how deeply he despised me.

When he faced Isabelle, there were no pretenses, no restraint.

Catching my gaze, Ashton looked directly at me.

Our eyes locked, and every trace of tenderness vanished, replaced by freezing disdain.

He strode over with cold steps and said, “You hurt yourself just to frame Isabelle?”

I froze, my heart pounding as his face darkened.

“Stop pretending. If you fall ill under my roof, do you think the Castellano family will let Isabelle go unscathed?”

Suddenly, a bitter laugh escaped me, tears streaming down my cheeks as I laughed harder.

“Fine. I’ll leave.”

I lifted the blanket, trying to rise, but he pushed me back down without mercy.

“Enough. Stay here and recover. If you leave now, they’ll say I mistreated you.”

After tossing those words aside, Ashton turned and walked away.

Laughter soon floated up from downstairs.

Ashton’s gentle voice coaxed Isabelle, asking what she wanted to eat, while Isabelle responded with playful, unrestrained coquettishness.

At that moment, my flickering heart withered completely.

He had found his happiness. I would seek my own.

He craved freedom, so I would grant it.

I slipped into a fresh set of clothes, ordered a car with my phone, and prepared to leave the villa.

But suddenly, Isabelle knocked at the door.

Her mask of pretense fell away, revealing a smug, provocative smile.

“Miss Castellano, do you really think money can fix everything? You may have wealth, but it’s a pity Ashton won’t even spare you a glance.”

“Marrying you was just a temporary tactic. Once the Johnson crisis passes, won’t you be the one thrown out the door?”

I stood my ground, meeting her gaze without flinching.

“Yeah, money isn’t everything, but no money is nothing. Tell me, if my family pulls out their investment, do you think Ashton will choose you or that billion dollars?”

Isabelle’s smug expression faltered.

I closed the distance step by step, pressing my advantage.

“Remember, Ashton, wasn’t stolen by you. He’s someone I, Kate, willingly let go.”

“A man whose heart isn’t mine. I wouldn’t even want him.”

“As for what happened back in school—”

Before I could finish, Isabelle’s face darkened instantly.

“Shut up!”

“I don’t need your pity! Talk all you want, but we’re both women. Don’t think I can’t see through you. Your heart’s broken, isn’t it? I don’t mind helping you along.”

She spun around and slammed into the wardrobe.

A piercing scream shattered the silence.

Ashton burst through the door, his eyes blazing, and his hand struck my cheek with a harsh slap.

“What did you do!?”

Isabelle collapsed into his arms, tears streaming as she pleaded, “Kate, I’ve already apologized. Why are you doing this to me?”

“Ashton, I don’t want to be a hidden mistress anymore. Please, let me go. I just want to live…”

Veins bulged on Ashton’s forehead, rage consuming every inch of him.

“Kate, get out! Get the hell out of here!”

But there was no heartbreak in my chest, only a bitter irony.

“Ashton, this is my house. If anyone should leave, it’s you two.”

His eyes flared with shock, hatred burning bright.

“Fine. I owe you a marriage contract, so I can’t argue. But mark my words. I’ll marry you, but in this lifetime, you won’t see a single shred of kindness from me.”

With those harsh words, he swept Isabelle into his arms and stormed out.

For an entire week, he vanished and cut off all contact without a trace.

Until the engagement banquet arrived, where Ashton stood among a hundred elite heirs from the most prominent families, all lined up for me to choose from.

The moment he stepped into the Castellano estate, he looked like a hollow puppet, his face void of any expression.

Every guest assumed he was my chosen fiancé and hurried to offer congratulations.

But Ashton didn’t spare a single glance, his gaze cold and distant, unwelcoming like a winter chill.

Just as the selection segment was about to begin, his phone buzzed sharply.

Reading the message, his face drained of all color, pale as death.

Without a moment’s hesitation, he stormed forward and slapped me hard right in front of everyone.

“Kate, why did you hire someone to run Isabelle over?”

“I already came today like I promised! What more do you want from me?”

“Every second near you… even the air makes me sick!”

With that, he spun on his heel and charged out, ignoring the bodyguards scrambling to stop him.

My father’s eyes burned red with fury.

He slammed the table so hard that the entire room shook.

“That bastard! How dare he defy the Castellano family for a vixen like her?”

“Cut all ties with the Johnson Corporation immediately! And announce it publicly. Anyone who dares help the Johnsons goes against me, Vincent Castellano!”

The guests exchanged glances, whispering quietly among themselves.

No one knew who I would choose now that Ashton had stormed out.

I smiled calmly and stepped forward, taking my father’s arm.

“Apologies for the scene, everyone. Ashton and I never had anything between us, to begin with. He’s gone, so the engagement banquet will continue.”

“Gentlemen, please begin the rock-paper-scissors game. The winner will become my fiancé, gaining access to the Castellano family’s shared resources, maximizing our mutual benefits.”

“But beware, those struck by bad luck will be eliminated!”

Three quick rounds passed, and the winner was a young man who had just graduated from college.

He stood shyly on stage, ears flushed crimson, barely daring to meet my gaze.

I handed the microphone to my father and ran into the young man’s arms.

The venue erupted with thunderous applause as guests surged forward to offer their congratulations.

..…

At the hospital, Ashton’s father made call after call, only to be hung up on again and again.

Finally, Sturt Johnson burst into the hospital room, his face twisted with fury as he slapped Ashton hard across the cheek.

“You skipped the engagement banquet. Are you out of your mind?! Do you even realize what the Castellano family—”

Before he could finish, Ashton cut him off coldly. “Does it even matter if I show up? Kate’s dead set on marrying me anyway. What’s the point of that empty formality?”

His expression was drained, eyes hollow as they lingered on Isabelle.

Sturt’s anger boiled over into a bitter laugh before he raised his hand again, slapping Ashton once more.

“She’s dead set on marrying you? Kate’s already engaged to the Hamilton family! Who the hell do you think you are?”