###Chapter 2

Snapping out of my reverie, I closed Brielle's Instagram and saw that Bastian had posted a bunch of wedding dress designs for me to choose.

They were all designs by my favorite top wedding dress designer, Dominic Steele.

An indescribable feeling of gratitude welled up inside me: Bastian had even taken the time to research all of this!

Just as I was about to choose a dress, I heard footsteps.

Victor walked in.

"Bella, are you just up? Have you had breakfast?"

Suddenly, he glanced at my phone, his face darkening. "Didn't I say we'd talk about the wedding later? Are you in such a hurry to kill Brielle?!"

Although he misunderstood, hearing those words still left me in disbelief.

I couldn't help but question him. "What did I just hear? I want to kill Brielle? Victor, is that how you see me?"

Gazing at my suppressed tears, Victor's heart tightened and he quickly pulled me into his arms. "That's not what I meant."

His familiar, warm breath enveloped me, and his forceful, fiery breath was close to my ear.

"The company's not busy today. I'll make it up to you, okay?"

Despite my inner resistance, I felt a familiar change in him and my hands, like a thief, gripped his strong back.

I looked up, waiting for the kiss, but the shrill ring of the telephone suddenly filled the room.

Brielle's tearful voice came through.

"Victor, I hurt my leg! It hurts so much!"

Victor's face changed drastically.

"I'm coming right now!"

He pushed me aside and rushed out. Meanwhile, I stumbled, my forehead slamming against the corner of a cabinet, a sharp pain shooting through my body.

From afar came Victor's explanation. "Brielle's in trouble. I'm going to check on her!"

I clutched my bleeding head, fell to the cold floor and laughed loudly.

She was his precious darling, he couldn't afford to let anything happen to her…

Then what about me?

How could he just throw me away like that?

Laughing, tears streamed down my face.

Suddenly, Uncle Sam rushed upstairs. Seeing my face covered in blood and tears, he worriedly asked, "Miss, why are you bleeding so much?!"

Then he pulled out a handkerchief and anxiously wiped away my tears. "Miss, please don't think about everything that makes you sad. We need to go to the hospital now!"

I said softly, "You’re right. I don't need to think about it."

After the driver took me to the hospital, the doctor treated my wounds and told me to stay and rest for two days.

I went out of the ward to clear my head and unknowingly ended up by a pond in the backyard.

Sitting under a tree, I sent a message to my assistant, asking him to dispose of the 10% stake in Wellington Group that I held. It was a ‘token of love’ that Victor had given me against my parents' wishes. Now, it was useless to keep it.

My assistant was my confidant and quickly replied, [Don't worry, I will 'handle' it properly and make that scumbag regret it!]

After putting away my phone, I suddenly heard a rustling sound behind me.

Turning around, I saw Brielle sitting in a wheelchair, her knees wrapped in bandages under her white dress. A pale, pretty face flashed a venomous, sinister smile at me.

“How can you be so shameless, Bella? You’ve been rejected over three hundred times, yet you still shamelessly cling to Victor? Tch, if I were you, I’d be so ashamed. I’d just kill myself!”

I stood up, staring at her. “Even if I’m shameless, I’m not as shameless as a mistress like her mother. You think Victor likes you? He’s just craving for something new.”

I sneered and turned to leave, but Brielle grabbed my wrist, letting out a shrill scream.

“Then let’s see who will he choose!”

What?

Before I could react, Brielle suddenly tumbled into the pool!

I instinctively tried to call for help, but as soon as I turned, a sharp pain shot through my shoulder.

It was Victor shoved me aside then jumped into the water without hesitation, only for rescuing Brielle.

Brielle coughed up several mouthfuls of water, sobbing and huddling in Victor’s arms, trembling all over.

“How…how could my sister called me a homewrecker? She said you'd only come back to her if I died, and no matter how much I begged, she still wanted to drown me!" She cried a lot.

A flicker of heartache crossed Victor's face, but his gaze turned sharp and cold as he looked at me.

"You pushed Brielle into the water?! Now you try to sneak away, pretending nothing happened?!"

I didn't expect Brielle's words to condemn me so easily, so I denied it. "I didn't push her. She did it herself! You don’t believe me, Victor? Fine, let’s check the security footage!"

Victor interrupted me.

"You even secretly followed me to the hospital, wasn't it all to harm Brielle?! If it wasn’t intentional, what else could it be?”

With that, he carefully placed Brielle in the wheelchair and walked straight towards me, his voice as cold as ice while saying, "Bella, since you've become so vicious, you'll have to pay the price!"

With that, he reached out and pushed me, who was afraid of water, into the water.

###Chapter 3

Icy pool water rushed into my nose and mouth. I struggled desperately, trying to call for help.

“Bella, I will never marry a woman as cold as you!”

Victor spoke each word firmly.

If he had turned around, he would have seen the wound on my head reopen, blood gushing out and staining the pool red.

But no matter how much I struggled in the water, my strength waned and I slowly sank into the deep water. The last thing I saw was him carrying Brielle away.

When I opened my eyes again, I met the Uncle Sam’s worried gaze.

“I just went back to make you some soup, how could this have happened, Miss? The doctor said if we had been a minute later, you might not have woken up!”

I huddled on the hospital bed, trembling uncontrollably. The grievances and fear choked my throat, but I swallowed them back down.

After my mother left, Uncle Sam was the only one who truly cared for me. I couldn't bear to worry him anymore.

I forced a smile and gently shook my head. "I'm fine, Uncle. Don't worry."

The infection from my wound, coupled with the shock of nearly drowning, had left me with a fever for several days.

Meanwhile, Victor hadn't called once, only sent some tonics.

The bodyguard conveyed the message expressionlessly. "Mr. Wellington said that as long as you obediently apologize to Miss Brielle, he will forgive you."

Forgive me, he said?

What a joke.

I angrily swept the tonics into the trash can, looked at the faint scar on my forehead in the mirror and gave a bitter smile.

After being discharged from the hospital alone, I took a taxi back to pack my bags, most importantly to retrieve my mother's keepsake—a jade ring I had given to Victor as a token of our love.

But as soon as I stepped onto the stairs, I heard a woman's soft moans coming from the direction of the bedroom.

"Victor...it hurts..."

Then I heard a man’s voice, suppressing his emotions and spoke with utmost gentleness, "Okay, I'll go slower."

"Victor, my biggest wish is to have your baby, so I'll truly have a home... is that okay?"

After a moment of silence, the man's hoarse reply came. "As your wish, Darling."

No need to be genius to know what they're doing!

My stomach churned and I almost vomited.

Back downstairs, I sat there blankly for a long time.

Then Brielle came down. She was wearing Victor's oversized shirt, her legs bare, her eyes languid.

"Ah, you’re back, Bella? Don't misunderstand, my apartment's water's cut off, so I came to borrow the bathroom to take a shower."

Not long after, a tall figure appeared behind her.

Victor, for sure.

Seeing me, his voice was slightly tense. "Bella, when did you get back?"

I suppressed a wave of nausea. "Just now."

He immediately breathed a sigh of relief.

I continued, "I want my mother's jade ring back."

His eyes turned cold. "The ring?"

He grabbed my wrist, seeing me with a sharp gaze. "I thought you came back to apologize to Brielle, but you ask for the ring right away? You want back what you gave me?"

“Why? Then what about you? We’ve known each other for twenty years and you’d rather believe her than me?”

“I saw you push Brielle down with my own eyes, how can I believe you?!”

I was utterly disappointed, and with all my might, I shook off Victor’s hand. “Think what you want. Give me back the ring and we’re breaking up. Victor, you’re free now and I won’t be a laughingstock anymore.”

He was stunned, his anger intensifying. “Just because I’ve been neglecting you lately, you’re threatening me with a breakup?”

“I’m not threatening you,” I looked at him calmly, “I’m informing you. My things, give them back.”

Victor clenched his fists, gritting his teeth. “It’s lost!”

“What?!” I stumbled. He knew perfectly well what that ring meant to me!

Beside me, Brielle suddenly interjected. “Huh? You mean this one, Bella?”

She took a leather cord with a jade ring attached from under her oversized shirt.

My eyes lit up and I was about to grab it when I saw Brielle stumble, the ring suddenly slipping from her hand and shattering on the marble floor.

My vision went black. Then…

Slap!

I landed a hard slap on her face.

"Brielle, you did that on purpose, right? How could you be so shameless just like your mother?!"

But Brielle screamed and fell to the ground. Victor threw me onto the sofa and tenderly picked Brielle up.

Turning around, his eyes were filled with endless coldness.

"Lock her in the basement. Don't let her out without my permission!"

###Chapter 4

"It's just a broken ring, Bella."

The cold words made me realize how unfamiliar the person before me was.

The boy who once knelt beside me at my mother's grave.

The man I'd known for 20 years—how could he utter such chilling words?

A metallic taste suddenly rose in my throat; I forced it down. The bodyguard grabbed my arm and threw me into the basement.

Bang!

The door slammed shut, darkness engulfed me and fear instantly spread, like countless monsters closing in on me.

I banged on the locked iron door, but no one outside listened.

Gradually, my consciousness began to blur and many images flashed before my eyes.

When I was little, I was trapped in a broken elevator, shaking with fear. Victor stayed with me, talking until rescue arrived. After that, he always left a light on for me.

At summer camp when I was ten, I fell ill and Victor carried me, feverish, for several blocks to the hospital.

Every birthday, I received a homemade cake from him, ugly yet sweet.

Every anniversary, my favorite Chanel limited-edition clothes, bags and jewelry are always quietly placed on my bedside table…

Everything he had done for me weren't fake. He once poured his heart out to me.

But then, he fell in love with someone else.

The person who protected me with his life became the one who hurt me the most.

“Victor, let me out, please!”

Darkness swallowed everything. His cold face played out again and again and I was in excruciating pain.

Just a door away, Victor held a shard of a ring in his hand and ordered his men.

“No matter the cost, fix it.”

Uncle Sam pleaded, “Please let Miss Bella out. She has claustrophobia!”

Victor knew how terrified I was alone in the dark. But when he saw Brielle sobbing uncontrollably on the sofa, his face turned cold.

“If I don’t teach her a lesson, who knows how she’ll bully Brielle in the future! I’m only doing this for her own good.”

Uncle Sam tried to plead for me, but he had him locked in the bedroom.

I cried until my voice was hoarse, my fingers digging into the door until they bled, finally collapsing to the floor.

In a daze, I saw my mother’s smiling face, her fingers gently stroking my tear-streaked cheek. So warm.

“Mom, I miss you so much…”

I opened my eyes, my vision blurred by tears, to the dim light.

Victor sat on the edge of the bed, letting me clutch his hand tightly. He wiped away the tears from the corner of my eye with his other hand, sighing.

“Why so stubborn? Is it really that hard to say sorry and give in just once?”

I was in so much pain that my breathing was trembling. I threw his hand away, turned over and remained silent.

“What exactly do you want from me? Do you know that there are rumors going around that the eldest daughter of the Whitmore Family is bullying her illegitimate sister? I’m already trying my best to suppress these negative headlines.”

Help me? Or help his mistress?

"You're just afraid people will dig deeper and uncover your secret affair, right?"

I couldn't help but laugh. "Victor, do you really think I'm stupid?"

Victor's heart skipped a beat.

He might think did I know about him and Brielle?

No, impossible.

Knowing my stubborn nature, if I knew, I would have already come to make a scene.

Composing himself, he assumed I was just jealous.

"You know Brielle has mental health issues. If I don't keep her calm then she dies, those people outside will blame you again."

"Besides, she donated bone marrow to me. I can't abandon her."

"I promise you, once Brielle recovers, we'll have the most luxurious wedding on an island."

My heart clenched. She donated bone marrow to him?

Then what about the donation surgery agreement I secretly hid and the wound that still aches from time to time?