###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?

###Chapter 5

Just as I was about to speak, Brielle's phone rang.

"Victor, I feel nauseous all the time. Could I be… pregnant? Can you come keep me company?"

Victor immediately hung up, hurriedly explaining that his subordinate needed to speak with him.

I gave a cold reply.

He looked at my slender neck, its sickly fragility leaving his mouth dry.

His Adam's apple bobbed. The he said with low and hoarse voice, "Bella, if you don't want me to leave, I'll stay with you."

"No need."

I pulled the blanket over my head.

The air suddenly turned cold. Victor sat for two seconds.

"I've left bodyguards downstairs to take care of you."

Without looking back, he got up and left.

Take care of me? Or control me?!

I hugged my arms, feeling completely cold.

It was a long time before I forced myself to get up and pack my things.

By the time I finished packing, it was already late at night.

The door was suddenly pushed open.

Uncle Sam rushed in, grabbed my suitcase and shoved me out. "Miss, you should leave while the bodyguards change shifts."

"Then let’s go together, Uncle."

In this city, I no longer cherish my father, who didn't even show up when my mother died, or Victor, who constantly betrayed me for others. Uncle Sam was my only remaining attachment.

"No, I'll stay and hold them off!"

But suddenly Victor appeared at the door, his face grim. "What the hell are you doing?"

Seeing the suitcase in my hand, his eyes grew even colder. "Bella, where do you think you're going?"

I replied indifferently, "Wherever I go, that’s not your business, Victor. We have nothing to do with each other anymore."

"You think you can run away after hurting Brielle? Don't even think about it!"

His hand gripped my wrist like an iron clamp. I desperately tried to break free. "Are you crazy? When did I hurt her? Let me go!"

But he exuded a violent aura and wouldn't listen to anything I said. He dragged my wrist painfully into the garage.

"Mr. Wellington, Miss Whitmore didn't do anything!" Uncle Sam rushed forward to stop me, but unfortunately, he was kicked to the ground by the bodyguard. He could only watch helplessly as I was roughly shoved into the car and sped away.

As soon as we entered the hospital, a bodyguard ran over in a panic.

"It's terrible! Miss Brielle cut her wrists! She's bleeding a lot!"

Victor's body stiffened abruptly, and the next second, a vicious slap landed on my face.

"If anything happens to her, I'll make you pay with your life!"

Then, without looking back, he ran towards the ward.

The man who once valued me more than his own life now said he would take my life for another woman…

Tears rolled down my face numbly.

Fine! I'll grant your wish, you two!

I was wheeled into Brielle's hospital room by bodyguards. There, Victor was holding Brielle, whose hands were covered in blood, his voice trembling.

"Save her! If you can't save her, I'll make your hospital pay!"

In a daze, it felt like I was back many years ago, when the boy, severely injured, kept crying out with red eyes, "Doctor, save Bella first!"

But he's grown up, changed and the person he deeply loved was no longer me.

The medical staff anxiously treated Brielle's wounds. She weakly opened her eyes, saw me and her expression was terrified.

"No, don't come any closer! I won't dare to fight you for Victor anymore. Please don't let them hurt me again!"

These words were like a bucket of ice water poured over my head, my blood froze.

###Chapter 6

Victor turned his head, his eyes as cold as a poisoned knife.

“You actually let those beasts kidnap Brielle while I wasn’t looking, almost ruining her reputation and nearly causing her to miscarry.”

“I didn’t…” The bodyguard beside me interrupted my explanation. “Those people have confessed that the person who ordered them was Miss Bella.”

Victor walked up, roughly grabbed my hair and dragged me in front of Brielle.

“Apologize to Brielle!”

I didn’t try to struggle anymore, just stared numbly at Victor. “If I say I didn’t do it, will you believe me?”

“How can you expect me to believe you?!”

He kicked my knee, and with a cracking sound, I uncontrollably knelt down at Brielle’s feet in excruciating pain.

"Kneel and apologize to Brielle!"

I gritted my teeth. "Don't even think about making me apologize to your mistress!"

Brielle's wound had stopped bleeding. She struggled even more pitifully in Victor's arms. "Victor, I know it's all my fault. I shouldn't have fallen in love with you! Those dozen men brought by my sister today treated me so bad. Yeah, it’s all my own fault. I'll give you back to her, okay?"

Victor's expression became even more terrifying.

He grabbed my hair and slammed my head against the cold ground!

Bang!

One slam.

Bang!

Then another.

Until the ground was stained with my blood.

Fine, Victor, you gave me a life and now I repay you. From now on, we owe each other nothing.

Tears of blood streamed down, dripping into the dust.

I saw Brielle give me a triumphant smile.

"So, now you know that you were wrong?" Victor asked in my ear.

Now I understood something. When the heart is broken to the extreme, and when the pain reaches its end, it truly can't hurt anymore.

"Yeah, I was wrong."

I looked at the face I had once loved with all my heart, then I laughed.

I was wrong, Victor. Only wrong in my deep affection for you.

"Is that enough, Victor?" My voice was as soft as a wisp of smoke about to dissipate. "If it's not enough, then I'll give my life for your beloved darling."

Hearing my words, a flicker of panic crossed Victor's eyes. He suddenly pulled me into his arms, his fingers trembling as he wiped the blood from my face.

"Bella, I know you made a mistake because you were overly jealous. As long as you promise me you'll never hurt Brielle again, we can go back to how things were before, okay?"

No, Victor. It was too late.

I couldn't stop laughing, tears of blood streaming down my face again. "Let me go, Victor."

Victor held me even tighter.

"Don't talk nonsense. We're destined to be together in this life. No one can separate us."

Years ago, he swore the same thing at my mother's bedside.

"Auntie, even death cannot separate me and Bella. If I ever betray her, may I be struck by lightning and die a horrible death."

I thought his vow was as weighty as a mountain, but it felt as light as a feather.

He's long forgotten. And I should have forgotten too.

I slowly closed my heavy eyelids.

Bastian, why haven't you come yet to take me away from this hell?