Before I could say anything, Lola grabbed my hair with a wicked glint in her eyes. Then she cut a large chunk of hair from my head.

When the blade edge scraped across my scalp, a sharp sting surged through me.

I tried to push her with all my might, but she was stronger than I was. With a few snaps, she had cut off most of my hair.

Lola grasped my hair with hatred in her gaze. "Mr. Lenart, weren't you just complimenting Miss Herrea's hair? How come it looks like dried grass? Even Jojo wouldn't like this style."

As she spoke, she casually tossed the hair into the nearby trash can.

Hudson helplessly patted her hand. "Alright, if you don't like it, we'll buy something better tomorrow."

I gasped as I looked at the two of them. With all my strength, I lunged forward, snatched the scissors from Lola's hand and stabbed her in the chest.

Blood instantly stained my hands crimson.

Lola staggered backward, clutching her chest before collapsing into Hudson's arms.

The hall immediately erupted into chaos.

"Murder! How could Miss Herrera kill someone?"

I was out of breath, trying to stop my body from shaking. "Hudson, I have my pride, too. Are you satisfied with this bet?"

For the first time, Hudson's composure broke and he looked genuinely panicked.

He hugged Lola, kicked me aside and shouted frantically, "Call 911!"

Then, he stared at me coldly. His eyes filled with disdain. "Rebecca Herrera, no wonder your father wanted to beat you to death and your mother had the heart to jump off a building. You're a heartless, vicious woman."

I instantly felt as if I'd fallen into an icy pond, my whole-body shivering with cold. He knew my weak spot, knew exactly how to strike where it hurt most. He was heartbroken over Lola's chest wound, so he bloodily tore open the wound in my heart.

With a mostly bald head, I could no longer support my weak body and slumped miserably onto the ground.

Soon, the doctor arrived and hurriedly carried Lola into the ambulance.

Before leaving, Hudson glanced at me coldly. "Rebecca, you've attacked someone with a knife in public. This matter is far from over."

All the guests shook their heads and sighed as they left and my tenth wedding ended with blood splattered on the spot.

I stood on the stage for a long time until the last person left and the police arrived.

"Are you Rebecca Herrera? Someone reported you for suspected intentional homicide. Please come with us."

I asked indifferently, "Was it Hudson Lenart who called the police?"

The officer nodded in response.

Therefore, I endured the trembling all over my body and swallowed the salty blood in my throat before getting into the police car.

When we got to the interrogation room, the police officer began to ask me in detail about the motive and process of the murder and I told him everything without any emotion.

Seeing my messy bald head and dried bloodstains, a female officer looked at me with a sympathetic expression.

"Miss Herrera, since he's already fallen for someone else, why limit yourself to just one option?" she asked.

I stared at the female officer in a daze. Why?

It's just because he offered me a piece of candy in the sea of suffering.

At that time, my parents' marriage was nothing more than a business arrangement. To rescue his collapsing company, my father abandoned his lover of five years and chose to marry my mother.

Shortly after the wedding, his ex-girlfriend secretly gave birth to his son and by the time my father found out, the boy was already six years old.

Feeling guilty and sense of duty, he began staying between our home and his ex-girlfriend's.

My proud mother quickly started a cold war and even threatened divorce, but the business between the two families was already tangled up and could not be separated at all.

In the end, when I was twelve years old, my mother committed suicide by jumping off a building due to depression and I instantly became a child without a mother.

Half a year later, my father remarried. From then on, they became a happy family of three, while my hatred for my father grew stronger by the day.

When I got caught skipping class to play games at an internet café, my three-year-older brother slapped me across the face and called me uneducated. I immediately picked up a knife, slashed his arm and told him that even though my parents were dead, being "uneducated" was still better than being a bastard like him.

That day, my father tied me up and punished me according to the family rules. He beat me until my body was covered in wounds and then locked me in the basement to "reflect on my behavior."

Once I was on the verge of death, it was Hudson who secretly carried me out. He comforted me, encouraged me and gave me the will to survive.

From that day on, Hudson entered my life and became my only support. My love for him also was not merely romantic affection; it was my sole source of strength.

A long time later, Hudson arrived while supporting Lola.

Facing the police officer's questions, that man looked at me with chilling indifference. "We will not accept mediation. She must be severely punished. She dared to attack people with a knife even when she was a child. If we don't teach her a lesson now, who knows what kind of trouble she'll cause in the future."

Lola also held her head high, her eyes filled with anger.

The police officer looked at me helplessly and called me out. "Miss Herrera, Mr. Lenart is still your fiancé, after all. Just admit your mistake and make amends and this matter will be over."

But when she saw my resolute gaze, she sighed again. "Miss Herrera, if you insist on being stubborn now and they sue you, you could face at least a year in prison. Are you sure you could survive that?"

As I saw the police officer's serious expression, I felt like my heart was being squeezed. Lola Reed, that high-level manipulative woman, was very capable of making that happen.

Expressionless, I followed the officer back into the room with my head down. "I'm sorry, Miss Reed. I acted impulsively. I apologize for what I did. Please forgive me."

Lola looked at me disdainfully and said, "Miss Herrera, it's not that I don't want to forgive you. Someone as narrow-minded and vicious as you, if I don't teach you a lesson, might be able to kill someone in the future."

After a day of torment and stimulation, my stomach began to ache and sweat beads oozed from my face.

Seeing my pained expression, Hudson unexpectedly let me go. "Lola, I'll make her kneel and beg for your forgiveness. Then she'll swear on her mother's soul that if she ever targets you again, she and her mother can rot together in the eighteenth level of hell, burned in oil. Okay?"

He then shouted at me, "Kneel and apologize to Lola until she's satisfied."

The female officer immediately walked up behind me and pushed me hard until I fell to my knees with a thud.

Hudson quickly slammed my head against the floor, once, twice, three times ...

Soon, blood trickled down my forehead into my eyes, blurring my vision.

After countless bows, Lola's disgusted voice cut through the silence. "Enough, Mr. Lenart. I'll let it slide for your sake, but if this happens again, I won't spare her."

Hudson abruptly released me and reached out to support her. "Don't worry, Lola. With me here, I won't let her lay a finger on you again. Let me take you back to the hospital, the doctor said you need more rest. Leave these matters to me."

The two of them finally walked out, while supporting each other.

As they were about to leave, Hudson turned around and said, "Go home and reflect on what you've done. Once you realize your mistake, we'll hold the wedding. I've been working so hard and if you can't help me, at least don't drag me down. Sometimes, you really should learn from Lola's maturity, elegance and wisdom."

I sneered. He'd forgotten that five years ago, I was the one who stood by him through thick and thin, helping Lenart Corporation climb from the bottom to the top.

In those days, I let go of my resentment and begged my father for funding and support, even personally seeking help from my elder brother for an order.

Now, it turns out all of that was just dragging him down.

If I hadn't donated my kidney to him when his was damaged in that car crash, I'd be an amazing businesswoman dominating the corporate world right now.

Later, I walked out of the police station in a daze. As I turned the corner, a sack was suddenly thrown over my head and I was quickly dragged into an alley.

Countless kicks and blows from clubs suddenly rained down on me. The pain was so intense that my body became numb and my consciousness began to fade.

After what felt like an eternity, the beating stopped. Then, someone kicked me hard in the ribs while cursing, "Sickly thing, get the hell out of the Lenart Family while you still can. Next time, you won't get off so easily."

Their footsteps gradually faded into the distance. I lay there for an unknown time until rain began to fall. The cool, refreshing rain finally brought me back to my senses.

I slowly crawled out of the sack. It was already dark and the light from the street lamps cast a cold, dreamy glow through the rain.

I smiled bitterly and slowly stood up, clutching my aching stomach as I went to the hospital.

When the attending doctor saw my bruised and battered state, he couldn't help but scold me, "Why aren't you taking better care of yourself? After the transplant, you've already developed an inflammatory response and your heart is overworked. Why aren't you resting in bed properly?"

The doctor immediately wrote me a list of medical procedures and told me to get checked out.

I was gripping a stack of medical reports as I made my way to the third floor when two familiar figures suddenly came into view.

I found myself automatically following them into the hospital room, watching as Hudson carefully helped her lie down.

"Hudson, back then you deliberately faked a car accident to trap Rebecca into donating her kidney to you, then kept delaying our wedding date. You won't scheme against me like that in the future, will you?"

"Silly girl, how could I ever do that to you? You are the one I've been waiting for in my heart. You'll be my Mrs. Lenart from now on," he replied tenderly. "Back then, I lured her mother to the rooftop and pushed her off, just to break Rebecca's spirit so she'd have no choice but to depend on me."

"However, Daxton Herrera only has her as a daughter. No matter how angry he is, he'll eventually give her the shares. As soon as I get those shares, I'll definitely dump her and marry you."

It felt like a bolt of lightning struck my mind, leaving behind nothing but a deafening ring. My mother hadn't gone up to the rooftop on her own—Hudson had tricked her.

Tears instantly streamed down my face. I slowly leaned against the wall, moving back to my room step by step.

After staring at the ceiling for a long time, I finally made a phone call. "Sam, I agree to marry you abroad. My only condition is the Lenart Corporation must get bankrupt and Hudson must crawl back to the bottom where he belongs."

A deep voice immediately echoed from the other end. "Okay. I'm returning to the country right now. Wait for me."

The next morning, I woke up and opened my phone to find breaking news.

"Lenart Corporation's partners collectively terminate contracts, dropping the group into its greatest crisis since its founding."

"Lenart Corporation has been suppressed by the overseas JMS Group and its products have been rapidly removed from the market, causing concern about its stock price."

Just as I was wondering what was happening, the door suddenly swung open. An elegant but cold-looking man walked in quickly, bringing a blast of cold air with him.