Tears welled up in Ariel's eyes as she glared at Keith, who was still pressing down on her. A surge of resentment flooded through her chest.

She raised her scarred arm, deliberately showing the half-dried blood to cover the truth. "Have you forgotten how I lost my virginity back then?"

Her lips curved into a bitter smile as she pulled herself free and continued signing furiously. "It was because of you."

Keith was stunned. The memory of pain and guilt instantly replaced his joy.

"Are you blaming me?" he snapped. Her words had provoked him. "If you hadn't secretly come looking for me five years ago, you never would've been kidnapped, nor would you have been defiled by another man!"

The bedroom lights were so bright that they revealed every trace of disgust in his eyes.

Their gazes locked, and the atmosphere froze.

Ariel could see the mix of love and hatred in his bloodshot eyes. She wanted to guilt-trip him for failing to protect her back then, to punish him for not loving her now.

But the moment the sharp words left her hands, a deep ache tore through her numb heart.

After a long silence, her trembling fingers began to move again. "For the past five years, you're disgusted by me for being tainted, aren't you?"

The mansion was deathly quiet except for the ticking of the antique clock.

After several seconds, Keith finally spoke, his tone softer. "I didn't mean it like that."

Although he said that, Ariel smiled. Those few seconds of hesitation were his most honest answer.

She should've seen it clearly long ago.

Just then, Keith's phone rang. He picked it up with a frown. "Natalie?"

A tearful, pitiful cry came from the other end. "The doctor said the tendons and bones of my foot are injured… I'm scared of having surgery…"

"I'll come to the hospital right away," Keith replied.

His expression instantly softened. The anxiety in his eyes stabbed sharply into Ariel's heart, as that look of concern used to belong to only her.

But now, she was no longer his priority.

Keith swiftly straightened his clothes. "You're coming with me. I don't feel at ease leaving you here alone."

His current calm demeanor was a far cry from the man who had just pinned her down in a frenzy of desire.

But the moment they arrived at the hospital, Keith handed Ariel over to Natalie's bodyguard, Ron Walker.

"Be good and wait here," he said. "I'll be back in a short while."

Ariel stood there, watching as Keith crouched by the hospital bed. He carefully lifted Natalie's injured foot without the slightest trace of disgust as he examined the injury.

It turned out his so-called purity obsession was only directed at Ariel's imagined taint of her lost innocence.

As she stood dazed, someone suddenly covered her mouth and nose from behind.

The same terror from five years ago, the night she was kidnapped, swallowed her sanity whole. Her body went rigid when she was dragged into a dim specimen room.

Through the sliver of light seeping through the door, Ariel saw that the man who had taken her was Ron, the man Keith had assigned to protect Natalie.

"This is Ms. Green's order," Ron said coldly. Then, he hurled Ariel into a tank filled with formalin.

The stinging chemical flooded her mouth and nose as revolting human specimens floated around her. Her eyes stung, burning so fiercely that it felt like tears of blood might spill.

"You look absolutely pathetic right now."

Just then, Natalie, who was supposed to be in the operating room, walked in. Her steps were brisk and steady, nothing like someone with an injured foot.

"Mr. Ford went all the way to the south of the city to buy me cupcakes. He hasn't even realized you're gone."

She smiled slyly, not hiding her smug satisfaction.

"Just admit it. Your beloved husband has already fallen for me, someone cleaner, someone who can talk to him and keep him company.

"I'm not a filthy used-up woman like you. Who knows how many men have touched you? You should've given up your title as Mrs. Ford long ago!"

Natalie's beautiful face twisted with hatred.

Ariel's vision darkened.

She quickly clutched her ruby necklace, the one Keith had personally fitted with a miniature camera that streamed footage to the cloud.

He had once said he could only feel at ease if he could see her life at any moment. But now, with his heart belonging to someone else, he probably hadn't checked it in a long time.

"I didn't expect you to really be a mute," Natalie mocked.

Watching Ariel thrashed weekly in the chemical solution, Natalie lost interest and left with Ron. The heavy door slammed shut, cutting off the only source of light.

After what felt like an eternity, Ariel's skin was burning and peeling from the corrosion, and her consciousness was slipping away.

Just as she was about to faint, someone kicked the door open with a loud crash.

"Ariel!"

For the next three days and nights, Ariel burned with relentless fever, slipping in and out of consciousness.

In her delirium, she kept dreaming of the 18-year-old Keith.

She dreamed of his rain-soaked shoulders, the way he always walked on the traffic side of the road to shield her, and the eyes that once reflected her every smile.

But in every dream, the warmth would always fade into nothingness. The 28-year-old Keith kept choosing Natalie, and their silhouettes faded farther and farther away as they walked side by side.

Ariel tried to call out to him, but no sound came from her throat.

When she jolted awake from the nightmare, Keith's furious voice echoed in her ears.

"Why isn't she awake yet?"

Through her blurry vision, she saw him standing at the hospital door, shouting at the hospital director with bloodshot eyes.

"If she doesn't wake up soon, you'd better shut this place down! I want you and your crappy doctors out of Zexville!"

Upon noticing Ariel's stirring, Keith instantly rushed to her bedside.

"Ariel, you're awake?"

Dark circles shadowed his eyes, and his voice was rough and low. "Why didn't you call for help?"

A tremor rippled through Ariel's chest.

For a moment, she thought back to when they were younger. Keith used to sit by her bedside when she had a fever, anxious yet gentle.

But that fleeting warmth was quickly shattered by the memory of what happened before she blacked out.

Struggling to sit up, she hastily signed, "Natalie ordered her bodyguard to kidnap me. I want to call the police."

"I know," Keith replied grimly. "But it was just a childish prank she took too far. She already knows she was wrong. She even asked me to apologize to you on her behalf."

His tone was calm and casual, as though he was talking about nothing more than a harmless spat between children.

Ariel's eyes reddened with fury. Her movement grew so frantic that she nearly ripped out the IV, blood flowing back into the drip bag.

"What if I insist on pressing charges?"

"I've already punished her." Keith frowned unhappily. "She acted out of line, so I confined her for a day to reflect."

Ariel froze for a moment. Then, a quiet, bitter laugh escaped her lips, making every wound on her body ache.

She signed, "She threw me into a vat of corrosive chemicals. My entire body is burned, and you're telling me the culprit gets one day of confinement? Is that a punishment? Or are you just protecting her from me?"

Her signing was frantic, like a trapped butterfly beating its wings in anguish.

Something in Keith's eyes flickered with guilt. He reached out and caressed her head gently. "Stay in the hospital and behave. Don't make trouble."

But there was a hint of warning in his voice. "If I give the order, no one in the country will dare to take your case."

Ariel clenched her fists so tightly that her nails cut into her palms, blood pooling in her hands.

He was blindly defending Natalie again.

Just then, Keith's phone buzzed.

Ariel glanced at his screen and saw a flood of unread messages. She didn't need to guess to know who they were from.

"There's an emergency at work. I'll come back later," Keith said flatly. But the flicker of desire in his eyes betrayed him as he turned to leave.

As soon as the door shut, Ariel smiled bitterly. The last trace of light in her eyes faded completely.

She checked her phone. Only three days remained until her fake death.

Natalie's latest post on her Instagram was uploaded three minutes ago. It was a series of snaps flaunting expensive gifts.

The caption read, "It feels so good to have someone to rely on. Thank you for your endless love."

In every photo, her hand was intertwined with a man's. Their matching wedding rings were gleaming for all to see.

Ariel knew the man was Keith and also understood that Natalie had posted it to show off.

The ring on Natalie's finger was identical to hers. She stared at the diamond on Natalie's ring for a long moment. To complete this charade, Keith had even commissioned two of the same wedding rings.

Perhaps his love had been divided between two women from the start. It was just that one got more while the other got less.

Ariel's mind drifted back to the day Keith had knelt before her. She remembered the words he had said to her. "Ariel, will you marry me? I'll love you with all my heart, for the rest of my life.

It turned out that the promise only lasted five years.

Her smile hardened. She slid off the multimillion-dollar ring and tossed it into the medical waste bin like it was nothing.

She was done with Keith Ford for good.

Keith never visited Ariel at the hospital again. He only sent her a meaningless message.

"I'm on a business trip. Tell my assistant if you want anything. I'll buy it for you as compensation."

Ariel didn't reply. Natalie kept posting stories of her vacation with Keith every day on Instagram. Even at this point, he was still lying.

Ariel stayed at the hospital alone. She had meals and applied her medication all by herself.

The day she was discharged happened to be her birthday. It was also the day she would stage her death.

…

"Get in the car. I'll take you to your birthday banquet," Keith said, standing straight next to a black Maybach. He was wearing a suit.

Natalie was sitting in the passenger's seat, wearing a red dress. She had red lipstick on. It made her smile look especially alluring.

"Ariel, I'll be relying on you today," she said. "Even though I'm your stand-in, it's still my first time attending such a fancy event."

When Ariel saw her, she looked down at her white dress and realized something. Keith prepared the same dress for her, but Natalie's dress was bright red. Even on her own birthday, she had to stand on the sidelines and act as "Natalie".

…

Priceless gifts filled the lavishly decorated ballroom on the cruise ship. Love letters Keith had written for her were displayed on the big screen, but Ariel was numb to it all.

Using her name, Keith had made her the perfect princess of a fairy tale and married her. But in the end, she was nothing but a prop.

Throughout the banquet, Ariel stood quietly in a corner like an outsider. She watched Keith and Natalie welcome the guests as husband and wife, just as Keith and Ariel had at their engagement party.

While she was lost in thought, a waiter carrying a tray bumped into her shoulder when he passed by. After returning to her senses, Ariel found a note in her hand.

The handwriting on the note was familiar yet strange. It read, "I'll whisk you away at 8:00 pm tonight."

"What's wrong?" Keith suddenly appeared behind her. He frowned, displeased. "What did that waiter do to you?"

His words were tinged with jealousy.

Ariel shook her head and discreetly hid the note in her fist.

Keith looked at her skeptically. He thought she seemed different somehow.

But before he could question her, the guest behind him greeted him. Keith had no choice but to leave after saying, "There are too many people here. Be good and stay in this corner."

Ariel glanced at the clock on the wall. In ten minutes, she would jump into the ocean and fake her death. She slipped out to the empty deck and waited for the right time to jump into the ocean.

Suddenly, someone called her name from behind.

Natalie walked up to her with a smile. "Since today's your birthday, I prepared a gift for you."

At her words, a few notorious playboys showed up behind Natalie and pretended to grab her.

"I don't know you! Let me go!" she yelled.

Keith, who rushed to the scene at the sudden commotion, saw what was happening.

Natalie threw herself into his arms, her voice trembling, "Ariel, I'm really sorry about last time. You've suffered through this before, so why are you punishing me in the same, horrible way?"

Keith's eyes darkened. He looked at the men before him and saw that they were all playboys who were notorious for toying with women.

Thinking that Natalie never had the chance to get to know any guys from the upper class, Keith believed her words. The way he looked at Ariel immediately turned cold and distant.

"Are you jealous?" he asked. Complicated emotions filled his eyes. "I'm happy that you care about me, but doing something like this is simply disgusting. You should reflect on your actions."

With that, Keith grabbed Natalie's hand and left without another glance.

"Will Ariel be alright if we leave her back there by herself?" Natalie asked with fake concern.

"What's going to happen to her?" he replied dismissively. "She brought them here. They won't lay a hand on her."

Watching Keith's back as he left in determination, Ariel curled her lips and said, "Keith, you'd better not regret what you did today."

Her soft voice was carried away by the wind.

Keith's footsteps slowed. For some reason, he felt a strange sense of unease. But upon remembering that Ariel was mute, he dismissed it as his imagination and walked on.

After Keith and Natalie returned to the ballroom, the group of playboys grabbed Ariel and leered at her. "You've got such a sexy body. How many men have you slept with?"

Ariel fought back desperately. The ruby necklace she was wearing snapped in the struggle and scratched her neck.

The necklace fell to the floor. Flashing red, the hidden camera inside the pendant recorded everything.

Seeing that Ariel was fighting back, the group of playboys cursed. "You're just a secretary who slept her way up to the top. What are you acting all innocent for? Mr. Ford's already sick of you!"

Right then, the clock struck eight. It was time for her to jump into the ocean and fake her death.

Ariel bit the man who was holding her down as hard as she could and ran to the railing when his grip loosened. Spotting the lifeboat hidden in the dark, she threw herself into the ocean without hesitation.

The group of playboys stumbled backward and ran away in fear.

"Holy shit! She jumped into the ocean!" one of them shouted.

…

Fireworks were going off in the sky.

However, Keith was distracted. His eyes kept searching for Ariel to check if she had returned to the ballroom.

When he swept his gaze across the windows, he saw the exact moment a figure in white jumped into the ocean. His heart sank at the sight.

His breathing hitched. The glass of wine he was holding crashed to the floor, splattering its contents everywhere.

Did Ariel just jump into the ocean?