Pain shook through my entire body, but I still laughed. "Christian, do you really think the world revolves around you?"

Christian's expression darkened at once. He shot me a cold look, then turned and walked out.

By the time the maids helped me back onto the bed, I could barely stand. Blood had seeped from the wounds on my back and soaked through my clothes.

As I drifted in and out of sleep, I felt someone spreading cold ointment over my injuries. It stung.

Half-conscious, I thought it was Virgil. The words slipped out before I could stop them.

"Babe... it hurts..."

The hand applying the ointment stilled.

I forced my eyes open and saw Christian standing beside the bed, a tube of medicine still in his hand. He stared at me, his expression dark.

"Looks like you're not hurt that badly after all. Even now, you're still acting." His voice was cold enough to freeze. He tossed the ointment at me and turned to leave.

I let out a weak laugh and sank back into sleep.

Because of the whip wounds, I had no choice but to remain at the Winslow residence. I stayed in my room, yet I could still hear the Winslows and Fairmonts downstairs, discussing wedding arrangements day after day.

Lately, they seemed to be choosing a venue for the engagement party.

I heard Jessica ask, surprise in her voice, "Even if my sister always picks on me, is this really okay?"

"Why wouldn't it be?" Christian replied gently. "Think of it as getting even for you."

I assumed "getting even" meant he would keep making things difficult for me.

I was wrong.

I had never imagined he would lay a hand on my mother's grave.

My mother had gone into the sea and never returned. There had been no body to bury.

When I was still with Christian, he had told me he felt sorry for me. He had personally set up a memorial grave for my mother on the back hill behind the Fairmont family's suburban estate. He had even had a headstone made.

It was the only place I had left to visit her.

The moment my injuries healed enough for me to leave the Winslow residence, I went straight up the mountain.

I had wanted to bring my mother's keepsake with me. Now all I had was a bouquet of flowers.

But when I arrived, I saw several workers prying at my mother's headstone with crowbars.

Jessica stood nearby with a set of design drawings in her hand, directing them as if she owned the place. "Once this is cleared out, level the ground and sow grass seed over it."

My vision went red. I dropped the flowers and rushed over, shoving the workers aside."Stop! That's my mother's grave. Who gave you permission to tear it down?"

Jessica looked at me without a trace of urgency. "Obviously Chris did. He said the view here was nice, perfect for the engagement venue, and told me I could change whatever I wanted. Julie, your mother's grave is taking up space."

Then she signaled for the workers to drag me away.

I wrapped both arms around my mother's headstone and refused to let go.

The standoff lasted less than a minute before Christian arrived. He took one look at the scene and frowned. "What's going on?"

Jessica hurried over, looped her arm through his, and spoke in a wounded tone. "Chris, my sister keeps interrupting our wedding plans. I'm really worried she'll cause trouble at the engagement party in two days."

Christian's brows drew together, but his eyes showed he believed he understood everything. He shot me a cold glance, then said to the bodyguards behind him, "Lock her in the storage room at the estate. You lot, keep tearing it down."

Two bodyguards stepped forward, seized my arms, and dragged me downhill. I struggled and shouted for them to stop, but no one listened.

The storage room was pitch-black. I curled into a corner, bitterness filling my chest.

By then, my mother's memorial grave had probably already been destroyed.

Tears slid down my face. "I'm sorry, Mom. I couldn't protect your keepsake. And now I couldn't even protect your grave…"

I didn't know how much time had passed before I heard Christian on the second-floor balcony, speaking on the phone.

Jason's voice came through the phone. "Chris, why have you been going after Pigliana so hard lately? You care this much... Don't tell me you actually fell for her. Weren't those five years in the church supposed to convince your family to let you marry Jessica?"

"Fall for her? Impossible." Christian's tone dripped with mockery. "Juliana turned down my proposal and left without a word. Then she comes back whenever she feels like it and says she regrets it. What does she take me for? If I don't do something, how does that make up for the whole year I forced myself to date her through sheer disgust..."

I almost laughed. "So that's the truth behind his five years in the church. How ridiculous."

Everyone had assumed he had shut himself away because I had broken his heart. Everyone believed I had come back to steal the groom and win him back. Even Christian believed it so completely that he kept punishing me for it.

But I had already told him the truth. I was married and had a child.

The thought of Virgil and Anna warmed me. By my count, they would return in three days.

I had expected them to keep me locked up until the engagement party was over. Instead, they let me out on the morning of the party.

Christian stood in front of me, his expression cold. "Jessie wants your blessing. That's the only reason I let you out. Behave yourself. Don't try anything again."

I said nothing. My gaze drifted to where my mother's memorial grave had once stood. It was gone. They had torn it down and replaced it with a sea of flowers.

The party buzzed with life. Perfume and champagne filled the air. Guests clustered in small groups, admiring the scale of the event.

"I heard Mr. Fairmont spent tens of millions on this engagement party."

"No kidding. He even invited Virgil Carrington. Mr. Carrington lives in Goldridge now and almost never returns to Imperius. If Mr. Fairmont managed to bring him here, it shows how much he values Jessica."

Virgil Carrington?

My heart jumped. I took out my phone to message him, but before I could open the chat, a hand closed over mine.

"Juliana, what are you trying to do now?" Christian looked at me with open suspicion. "I just told you. Don't pull anything."

"I'm not." I met his gaze. "I've said this so many times. I didn't come back for you, and I'm not going to do anything to stop your engagement."

Something shifted in his expression as he looked into my eyes. For the first time, a flicker of unease crossed his face.

Could it be true? Could Juliana really have come back for reasons that had nothing to do with him?

His breathing deepened.

Then the entire venue erupted. We both looked up at the same time.

A slideshow played on the giant screen at the front of the venue. It was filled with intimate photos from when Christian and I were dating.

In every picture, I weighed over 200 pounds, dressed in loose clothes, leaning against him with a naive, trusting smile.

The guests burst into chatter.

"Oh my God, that's Juliana? She used to be that fat?"

"I already heard she came back to steal the groom, but this is shameless even for her. Playing these photos at someone else's engagement party?"

"No manners at all. Figures. A girl like that was obviously not raised right."

Their mockery cut into me like blades. My body locked in place.

I had not even managed to speak in my defense when Jessica's sobs rang out nearby. "Julie, I know you still haven't let Chris go, but you shouldn't humiliate me like this at my engagement party. If you had just told me, I would have given Chris back to you!"

Crying, she gathered her skirt and ran out.

"Jessie!" Christian shouted. He started after her, then stopped when he saw me still standing there.

In the next instant, his hand struck my face.

Pain flared across my cheek.

Christian's eyes were bloodshot with fury, yet for one strange moment, I had the sense he felt relieved.

"Juliana, so this is what you meant when you said you wouldn't do anything to stop my engagement? You planned this from the start." He glared at me as if he wanted to burn straight through me. "I'm telling you now, this engagement will go on. You won't get your way."

He shoved past me and ran after Jessica.

Then a small, childish voice rang out across the venue. "Don't bully my mommy!"