The very next second, a sweet voice rang out. "Lucian, why are you here? Oh my! Why are you all wet?"

I turned my head to look at Natalia, the woman whom I had almost married. Bitterness filled my heart instantly.

So she still cared about me, didn't she? A tiny bit of warmth returned to my drenched body, which felt cold from being soaked through.

Just as I was about to speak, Natalia suddenly slapped me hard across the face. "Did you think turning yourself into this pathetic mess would draw my attention to you? Don't be ridiculous! How dare you stir up trouble at my wedding? I won't let this go so easily!"

As her words fell, she grabbed my neck forcefully and pressed my upper body over the railing.

A crushing sense of suffocation closed in, but I didn't struggle at all. I thought that maybe dying like this wouldn't be so bad.

Hence, I closed my eyes, ready to accept death calmly.

That was when Natalia panicked. She noticed something was wrong with me. Alarmed, she took a step back and stared at me in shock.

"Why aren't you struggling? And why aren't you explaining yourself? Do you really want to die?" she demanded.

If I explained, would she believe me?

I had explained myself countless times before. But every single time, she thought I was just making excuses. All it ever did was push her closer and closer to Irving.

I gave a hollow smile, my voice tinged with a quiet sense of resignation. "Either way, I've lost everything. I might as well die."

The color drained from Natalia's face. She grabbed my collar tightly, and there seemed to be tears shimmering in her eyes.

She hissed, "Your life belongs to me. You're not allowed to die!"

When I had first become engaged to Natalia, her family had looked down on me and insisted that she break off the engagement. For my sake, she had endured who knows how many rounds of punishment from her family.

Even when she was beaten until her entire body was covered in bruises, she refused to give in. After I found out, I went to the Stone residence and took the punishment in her place.

When I was beaten to the brink of death, she held onto me in terror and made me a promise. She had said that without her permission, I was absolutely not allowed to die.

I looked up at Natalia. But before I could speak, a petite, cute young woman rushed in front of me.

This was Shiloh Quale, my second target of affection. She was originally my best friend in this world.

Ruthlessly, she stepped on my face and flung a stack of photos onto my body. "Lucian, since you dared to ruin Irvy's wedding, there's no need for me to care about your dignity anymore!"

In the photos, I was tied up and beaten mercilessly. There was someone pinning me down and riding on me. One even showed me stripped naked with the word "trash" written all over me.

Every single one of those photos had been taken by Shiloh herself. She had carefully chosen the angles to make sure that my face was captured with brutal clarity.

She had done all of this just because I exposed Irving's cheating during a photography competition. Because of me, he was humiliated.

Amid waves of mocking laughter, Shiloh sneered and raised her camera to snap photos of my current miserable state. In an inconspicuous corner of the camera, there was a tiny line of words engraved—Shi & Luc.

The camera was a gift I had once given her.

Shiloh had lost her mother at a young age. Her father constantly brought different women home and took pleasure in letting them torment her.

By chance, I became friends with her. To protect her from being abused by the lecherous old men her father brought back, I had been beaten so badly that I lost my sight for some time.

To comfort her, I gave her a camera and asked her to help me capture all the beautiful sights I couldn't see. After my eyes recovered, she retained the habit of taking photos.

Later on, I discovered that more and more of her photos had Irving's figure in them.

"If you don't kneel down and apologize to Irvy, I'll upload all these photos online. Let's see how you'll show your face in public when that happens," Shiloh sneered.

When I didn't respond, her voice turned even colder as she grabbed my collar and yanked me up gruffly. Weak as I was, I fell to my knees with a cry of pain.

Seeing this, Natalia frowned. She wanted to help me, but Shiloh blocked her way.

Shiloh said, "Ms. Stone, don't be fooled by his act of pity. Back then, I trusted him too much. That was how I ended up ruining Irvy's ability to take photos ever again."

She paused and continued indignantly, "In order to compete with Irvy for first place in the photography competition, you hired those darned thugs to force Irvy into taking obscene photos! You even framed him for cheating in the contest!

"If I hadn't arrived in time, Irvy would've almost… He almost killed himself back then!"

When Natalia heard this, her gaze instantly turned glacial. "Get lost! If you keep disrupting my wedding, I'll make sure you experience everything Irvy suffered. I'll make you—"

Before she could finish speaking, I staggered to my feet and ran straight toward the road beside us.

A massive truck came roaring toward me. Just as I closed my eyes and waited for death to claim me, someone shoved me hard out of the way.

Natalia dragged her injured leg as she rushed in front of me to grab my collar forcefully. "Who are you putting on this suicidal act for? Do you think this will make me go easy on you?"

At the same time, the system reminded me, "Lucian, Natalia's affection points are going up. Do you wish to continue the mission?"

I stared at Natalia in shock, only to see her instructing her assistant to cancel the wedding. She seemed to sense my gaze and looked up at me. I calmly looked away.

In my mind, I replied, "No."

All I wanted now was to go home.

After the driver sent me back, I realized I had several abrasions all over my body. There was mud and blood everywhere. I was absolutely filthy.

I found some medicine and was about to clean myself up when someone suddenly kicked the door open.

Shiloh stormed in furiously and kicked me hard in the stomach. "Where did you take Irvy? If anything happens to him, I'll make sure you suffer a fate worse than death!"

Natalia and Mavis rushed in right behind her. Both of them shot me hostile glares.

"So that's why you kept staging those pathetic performances again and again. You did it to cover up your crimes. Let me tell you this. If anything happens to Irvy, I'll make you pay with your life!"

But how would I know where he had gone this time?

Still, their words served as a reminder. If they cared about Irving that much, maybe his disappearance really would drive them insane to the point of killing me.

When I didn't respond, Natalia shot me a hateful, vicious look. "Looks like you won't talk if we don't make you suffer a little."

She grabbed a bottle of alcohol nearby and poured it directly onto my wounds. A sharp, searing pain tore through me. Cold sweat instantly broke out all over my body.

But the women were far from done. They ordered their bodyguards to pin me down.

Shiloh picked up a pair of fireplace tongs, while Natalia kept pouring alcohol onto my wounds.

I panicked in earnest. I did want to die, but I didn't want to be tortured to death!

So, I struggled desperately. Suddenly, a wooden stick slammed hard into the back of my head.

Blood streamed down my forehead. My body trembled, and I no longer had the strength even to scream. "Just… kill me…"

Seeing that I was still stubbornly refusing to speak, Natalia picked up a knife and walked toward me. The cold gleam of the blade stopped less than an inch from my left eyeball.

"Do you think putting on such an act will make us go soft on you? I'll ask you one last time. Where is Irvy?" Natalia asked menacingly.

I raised my pale face, exhausting every ounce of strength to force out a smug smile. "Irving? I killed him. I threw his body into the sea to feed the sharks.

"Aren't you all in love with him? Don't you all want to marry him? Too bad for you. Your wish will never come true. Come on! Kill me and avenge him!"

Natalia's eyes turned bloodshot. She drove the knife straight into my chest.

I collapsed limply onto the floor.

Just as my consciousness was about to fade, I heard Irving's voice coming from the front garden. "Why is everyone here? What perfect timing. I bought some pastries. Ah! Why is there so much blood here?"