Carrie remained calm. "No matter what, she’s the mistress, Jared. We’re about to get engaged—shouldn’t you take responsibility for me?"

Jared let out a cold laugh and smashed the custom-made cup she had spent half a month crafting just to please him. He had once cherished it.

"Engagement? The only person I love is Karin. What kind of engagement could there possibly be?"

"Carrie, since you enjoy throwing coffee on Karin so much, why don’t I let you experience what it feels like?"

His expression darkened, returning to that terrifying, ruthless look he had when she first met him—like he wanted to grind her to dust.

Moments later, a group of bodyguards swarmed in, gripping her hands and feet, rendering her immobile.

Jared’s voice was like a devil’s whisper from hell. "Karin, how should we punish her?"

Carrie struggled, but it was useless.

Karin feigned generosity. "No need, Jared. I’m not that fragile. It’s just a cup of coffee. When I worked odd jobs abroad, I was often beaten and scolded by customers. I’m used to it."

Jared’s face grew even darker.

"It’s not your place, Carrie, to bully someone under my protection."

"Bring me ten cups of boiling coffee."

Carrie’s heart pounded. "Jared, what are you trying to do to me?"

She didn’t want to risk her life—she still wanted to see Art awake and healthy.

Jared’s lips curled into a smile as he held a cup of steaming coffee. "I’ll repay you tenfold for what you did to Karin."

The next second, scorching liquid splashed across her face.

A searing pain shot through her, and she thrashed against the bodyguards’ grip, but she couldn’t break free.

Jared nodded in satisfaction. "Karin, I won’t let anyone hurt you."

Then, more cups followed—burning coffee drenching her hair, her collarbone, her stomach, her thighs…

Agonizing screams filled the office.

Karin clung to Jared’s arm, laughing wildly.

Jared’s voice was sharp. "Carrie, apologize to Karin. Now!"

She spat on the ground. "I’m right. As long as I’m here, she’ll always be the mistress!"

Without a word, Jared struck her across the face.

"You have no shame."

Then, he handed the last cup to Karin. "Finish it."

Karin hesitated. "Jared, I don’t want to treat Carrie like this. She’ll hate me forever."

He gently ruffled her hair. "You’re too kind, which is why people take advantage of you. With me here, she won’t dare hate you."

With that, Jared guided Karin’s hand, and together, they poured the remaining coffee over Carrie, who was already soaked through.

Her exposed skin turned red and swollen, angry blisters forming before their eyes. The sight was horrifying.

One could only imagine the pain.

No matter how furious Jared had been with her in the past, he had never gone this far.

He had always been gentle to her—once, when she cut her finger on a sharp page, he rushed her to the hospital, refusing to let her touch water until it healed.

Now, to protect Karin, he acted as if he wanted to rip her apart, tendon by tendon, bone by bone.

With one final push, he sent her crashing to the ground.

"Don’t do it again," he warned coldly. "Today was just a small lesson."

After being mercilessly thrown out of the office, Carrie returned home.

She wasn’t sure how much longer she could endure this before she collapsed completely. If things continued like this, would she even live to see Art wake up?

But she had no choice—she had to do what Jared’s mother wanted.

She found the burn ointment and applied it to her skin, the searing pain spreading through her body like wildfire.

Ever since Karin came back, she had seen a side of Jared she had never fully known—cold, distant, and ruthless.

She had once gone to great, foolish lengths to make him acknowledge her, to make him look at her in the eye.

She had saved his life when he was drunk and nearly hit by an out-of-control vehicle. She had thrown herself forward, pushing him out of harm’s way, only to have her own calf dislocated in the process. She had spent a month in the hospital recovering.

When Jared once mentioned wanting to see the sunrise at Golden Mountain, she had climbed a snow-covered peak with a high fever just to capture the perfect, breathtaking footage for him. He had scolded her for an hour afterward.

But after that, he had started treating her better. He had even stopped calling her Karin so frequently.

For a moment, she had believed that even if he didn’t love her, at the very least, he saw her as a person.

Now she knew better.

To Jared, the world was divided into two categories—Karin, and everyone else.

Fortunately, she didn’t love him. It had all been an act.

She skillfully logged into the account with the ID "Wait for him to wake up" and habitually posted some complaints. This account used to record her love with Art, but later it became a place to scold Jared.

Her only dream was to marry Art and live a peaceful, happy life.

Thinking of him, she took out her recorder and started speaking to Art.

This was a habit of hers—whenever Jared wronged her, she recorded her thoughts, as if confiding in Art.

A deep male voice suddenly interrupted her. "Leaving? Reunion? What are you talking about?"

Carrie quickly turned off the recorder and looked at Jared. "Nothing. Just watching a video."

Her face was still covered in ointment, and the sight startled him for a moment.

But then, as if remembering why she was in this state, his expression hardened.

"This is what happens when you hurt Karin—it’s your own fault."

His voice was sharp. "Do you finally understand your mistake? Can’t you tolerate Karin?"

"I let you stay, so you should be grateful. A stand-in should know her place. Do you understand?"

Carrie let out a cold laugh. "I don’t understand. All I know is that you’re still my fiancé, and we’re about to get engaged. Yet here you are, fooling around with your secretary."

Whatever flicker of hesitation had been in Jared’s eyes vanished instantly.

"You?" he scoffed. "You’re not even worthy of carrying Karin’s shoes."

He turned sharply, knocking into a vase on the table. It wobbled, then toppled over.

Carrie instinctively stepped back, but before it could hit the ground, Jared reached out and caught it.

The vase shattered against the corner of the table, and shards of glass sliced through her calf.

But Jared’s hand was injured even more severely.

Without thinking, he blurted out, "Are you okay? I’ll take you to the hospital and get it bandaged."

Carrie was about to tell him she was fine when Karin’s voice rang out from his phone.

"Jared, there’s a power outage in my building. Someone’s been knocking on my door, and I’m scared. Can you come over?"

Jared glanced at Carrie for only a second before answering.

"Don’t be afraid, Karin. I’m coming right now. Just wait for me."

He barely spared Carrie another glance before saying perfunctorily, "Go get it treated yourself. I don’t have time for you."

Carrie wasn’t surprised.

She made her way to a roadside clinic and got the wound bandaged.

While waiting, she absentmindedly scrolled through social media and saw Karin’s latest post.

Jared—who had an obsessive dislike for anything unclean—had actually changed a lightbulb in her apartment.

The caption read: "After all these years, you’re still the only one who truly cares about my safety."

A second later, Jared’s comment appeared below it.

"As long as it’s you, I’d walk through fire and cross mountains of swords."

They were truly in love.

Then, her phone rang. It was Jared’s mother.

"Carrie, Jared says he’s going to marry Karin. This time, he insists on marrying her no matter what. I won’t rely on you anymore."

Her voice turned cold.

"Since you failed to drive her away, just wait for the contract to expire and leave quietly. I’ll keep my promise and arrange the surgery for Art—but as for the follow-up expenses, you’ll have to figure that out yourself."

The call ended.

For a long moment, Carrie just stood there, letting the words settle.

She only had to endure it until the contract expired, and she would be free.

After everything she had suffered, that day had finally come.

Carrie wanted to play it cool and leave on the exact day the contract expired, but Jared unexpectedly approached her again.

Tomorrow was his friend's wedding, and he had the audacity to ask her to dress up and attend with him.

She rejected him outright. "Just take Karin with you. I don’t mind."

He froze for a moment, clearly surprised by her response.

In the past, she would never have given up an opportunity like this to someone else.

Then, realization dawned on him—she was playing hard to get. He smirked. Who knew what kind of trick she was trying to pull this time?

After all, a person’s nature didn’t change overnight, especially not someone like Carrie, who had once been willing to go through fire and water for him.

"You still need to come as my date," he insisted. "We don’t want people gossiping about Karin. It wouldn’t be good for her reputation."

Carrie laughed inwardly. He was really careful when it came to protecting Karin.

She shot back, "Aren’t you planning to marry her anyway? This would be the perfect chance to make an official announcement."

Maybe she could use this as an excuse to leave early, finally escaping this place where she could no longer bear to stay.

Jared’s tone was cold. "Carrie, I need to make sure you don’t harm Karin. That’s the only reason I’m bringing you along. Don’t fool yourself into thinking it’s anything else. Know your place."

Anger flashed through her eyes, but she didn’t argue. Instead, she turned and stormed back to her room.

At the wedding banquet the next day, Jared held her arm for a few minutes before letting go, leaving her to socialize on her own.

While on her way to the restroom, Carrie unintentionally overheard a conversation between Karin and her friends.

"That Carrie is nothing compared to our Karin. It’s disgusting that she’s still clinging to President Dalton!"

"Obviously, Karin is the future mistress of the Dalton family. We should make sure Carrie is humiliated tonight."

"I’ll slip something into her wine later and send her to the old man’s room. Once she’s caught in the act, everyone will see her as a cheater."

"That way, Jared can break up with her cleanly and be with me. I won’t be labeled as a homewrecker, and I’ll finally get rid of this eyesore. It’s the best of both worlds."

"Are you sure President Dalton is okay with this?"

"Don’t worry," Karin sneered. "He can’t wait to make things official with me. If he wasn’t okay with it, he would’ve stopped me by now. He doesn’t love Carrie."

Inside the restroom stall, Carrie clenched her fists.

Now she understood why Jared had insisted on bringing her tonight.

They were willing to ruin her reputation just to clear the path for Karin.

If she were really caught in bed with another man, the stain on her name would never wash away, no matter how much she tried to explain.

But she couldn’t afford to let them succeed. She had to protect herself—she had to protect Art.

When Karin finally came over to toast her, Carrie smiled sweetly, pretending to chat as she subtly switched their glasses.

Later that night, when Karin was taken to the designated room, her so-called "sisters" hurried off to inform Jared, leaving her behind.

She barely had time to process what was happening before her legs gave out, and she collapsed.

Carrie, standing in the shadows, smirked.

She had already switched the drinks.

Now, watching Karin slump onto the bed, Carrie walked over, dragged her closer to the drunk man, and slipped out of the room without looking back.