Henry had been furious but froze at the question. He reacted to it reflexively. "Impossible!"

He could never have fallen for Tessa. It was easier to punish her and play tricks on her if he got into a relationship with her.

Henry loved only Serene. She was his fiancée.

He must have been playing the role of Tessa's wonderful boyfriend for too long, which was why he felt the need to protect her. That had to be it.

Henry kept repeating this to himself while wiping away any feelings he harbored for Tessa.

Everyone resumed their sniggering and jeering.

"I knew it. You'd never fall for anyone who's from the working class."

"Your engagement party with Serene is coming soon. There won't be much time left for us to punish her. I'm going to miss this."

The voices got further and further away until there was only silence left. A tear fell down Tessa's cheek as she lay in bed.

When Henry entered the ward and saw the empty look in her eyes, his heart thumped with fear. His hand trembled as he caressed her cheek. There was pain hidden deep inside his eyes.

"It's not that I didn't want to speak up for you, Tessa. You know I can go against my boss' daughter's wishes. That's why I…"

The first words he spoke were still lies.

Tessa pursed her lips. She felt nothing inside. They had been together for two years. Tessa did not believe that Henry was unaware of what kind of person she really was.

When she was bullied and humiliated by Serene, Henry stood and watched without saying a word. When she was beaten up by the crowd, he stood at the side and watched.

Tessa knew that the man who had once protected her two years ago no longer existed.

"How do you feel now? Does it hurt anywhere?"

The doctor walked in right after he asked the questions. He looked grim as he held the medical report in his hand.

"Tessa Shoreman, the results indicate that you—"

"I know my condition well, doctor. Please don't say anything more." Tessa quickly interrupted the doctor.

The doctor looked at the two people in the ward and sighed before leaving.

Henry suddenly felt panicked. "What's wrong with you? Are you sick, Tessa?"

He did not realize that his voice was trembling.

Tessa's lips tightened. "I'm fine. I just have low blood sugar and some physical wounds. Nothing serious."

Henry knew about her low blood sugar, so he sighed with relief when he heard that it was just that. He looked at Tessa lying in bed. Her face was pale and covered with scratches. He spoke up with great difficulty.

"Tessa, I'm sorry. I couldn't protect you today, and you got hurt. I wanted to pull you out of the crowd, but there were too many people. It wasn't easy for me to squeeze into the crowd to get you out."

He looked in another direction while he spoke. He was afraid to look into her emotionless eyes.

It did not matter if he knew about her thesis being reported. It did not change the fact that he had chosen to take Serene's side today.

Tessa suppressed the sharp pain in her heart. She pulled the blanket over her head. "I understand. You should go. Don't let your work get affected."

Henry felt guilty when he saw how Tessa was still thinking of him when she was so weak. He stood where he was and looked at her for a long time. In the end, he placed his warm palm on the blanket where her head was hidden underneath.

"I promise you'll never get hurt again, Tessa."

What a touching declaration. Unfortunately, it was a lie.

After settling the issue of her data being faked, Tessa managed to get her graduation certificate and arrange her studies overseas without a hitch.

Despite the doctor advising her to stay a few more days in the hospital, Tessa insisted on being discharged.

When she returned to her rental home, everything looked exactly as when she left. Henry had not been home for the past few days.

A notification appeared on her cell. It was a piece of news. Tessa clicked in to read it.

"Shocking news! The Jennings and Chords have announced their marriage alliance. The engagement party will be held in seven days."

Tessa held her breath.

Henry must have been busy preparing for his engagement.

She remembered hearing that her punishment would end when Henry and Serene got engaged, which was seven days later.

Tessa tapped on a ticketing app to check her plane tickets. Only six more days until she left. She would leave before their so-called punishment would end.

She sighed gently. She got up to pack up every matching item in the house—brushing cups, towels, keychains… Henry and she would not be needing those any longer. After packing everything into a box, she took it downstairs to be thrown.

She did not expect to see Henry at the door. He looked at the box filled with the various items they had picked out together and took a sharp breath. His voice trembled slightly. "Why are you throwing them away?"

"We don't need them anymore. Besides, these things can be bought again."

Henry and Serene would buy new ones once they got married.

After she was done throwing the box away, Tessa headed back upstairs. She heard Henry speaking in a low voice.

"Don't worry, Serene. I'll make sure she attends our engagement party."

Serene, on the other end of the call, sounded coquettish. "Hmph. I'd like to see the look on her face when she sees the man she has loved for two years become my fiancé. Doesn't she love the spotlight? I'll let her enjoy it as much as she wants on that day."

Tessa's nails dug into her palms. It took a long time for her to relax her hands. A forced smile appeared on her face. Too bad they were about to be disappointed because their plan was bound to fail.

Just as Tessa expected, Henry gave her an invitation card the moment she pushed the door open.

"There's an event seven days later that I'd like you to come with me, Tessa. You must come."

Tessa stared at him for a long time before she took the card from him. She said softly, "Alright."

Even if she could not attend his engagement party, she would remember to give them an engagement gift.

Henry had lied to her for two years. She had endured 108 punishments, and Tessa wanted to repay them with a memorable gift.

The next few days, Henry was always away from home with the excuse of work. Tessa used the opportunity to pack up her things.

On the second-to-last day before her departure, her university held a graduation party.

Even though Tessa moved out of the dorms very early at the start of her university days, she still had a close relationship with her roommates and classmates. She would be away from the country for at least two years, and she wanted to bid them proper goodbyes during their graduation party.

Tessa did not expect to see Serene and Henry at the party. Serene was holding onto Henry's arm with an innocent smile on her face.

"I gave your boyfriend a special day off to congratulate you at the university because I knew you were graduating today, Tessa."

Tessa knew that behind that beautiful, friendly face was a woman with cruel, malevolent intentions for her. She backed away slightly to distance herself from Serene.

Serene pretended not to notice this and came closer to Tessa.

Tessa did not know that a tower of champagne glasses stood on the table behind her.

A look flashed in Serene's eyes. She suddenly exclaimed loudly and lunged at Tessa.

Tessa instinctively moved back even more and ended up knocking into the tower of glasses. They came crashing down on the two women, spilling champagne everywhere.

Henry did not even think twice as he quickly pulled Serene into his arms to protect her.

Tessa fell heavily to the ground. Numerous shards of glass pierced her flesh. There was blood and champagne all over the ground. Her wound, which had yet to heal, was drenched in alcohol and started bleeding again.

Tessa's face became even paler than before. She watched as Henry carefully checked Serene for any wounds.

All of a sudden, she seemed to see that figure from two years ago. Her trembling hands, which were covered in blood, reached out. She wanted to grab the only moment of warmth she had experienced.

However, she was no longer able to, and her arm fell heavily to the ground.

When Tessa opened her eyes, she found herself wrapped all over in bandages.

The doctor looked at her with pity when she woke up. "There were too many shards in your body. It took five hours of surgery to remove all of them.

"Your wounds are considered minor, and they'll heal after a while. But there's a deep scar on your face. A piece of flesh was cut out when you arrived at the hospital. We treated it with a simple stitch, but it'll leave your face with a scar. You need reconstructive surgery to remove the scar.

"The surgery will cost ten thousand dollars. You can pay the bill at the counter."

Tessa was left with only a thousand dollars from the remaining two thousand she had. She did not have enough for the surgery.

She said with great difficulty, "Doctor, I… I don't want the reconstructive surgery."

The doctor frowned. "Are you sure? The scar is on your face."

No woman would want her face disfigured. However, Tessa did not have money for the surgery. She was silent for a while before nodding.

"Well, you can be discharged from the hospital. Be careful not to let your wounds come into contact with water."

A notification rang on Tessa's phone, and she tapped on it. It was a message from Henry.

[My boss' daughter is hurt, Tessa. I have to stay with her at the hospital. You should go home first.]

He had not realized she had fallen on the glass shards and gotten hurt. That should be expected. Henry only cared about Serene, whom he had protected in his arms. Tessa had no place in his heart at all.

Tessa got out of bed with great difficulty. She was hurting everywhere, but she dragged herself to the counter to settle the discharge documents.

When she got to the stairs, she saw Serene crying pitifully while covering her face. "I can't be disfigured. I can't have a scar on my face. I can't! We're getting engaged tomorrow."

Henry cajoled her patiently, "Don't worry, Serene. I won't let your face be scarred. I'll get the best medication and doctors for you."

A doctor next to them spoke up. "There's a very effective scar-removing cream available, but it's quite expensive. It's eight thousand dollars a tube."

Henry took out his black card. "Serene's face is the most important thing right now. Money is no issue. Get me ten tubes. I won't allow Serene to have any marks on her face."

Serene finally stopped crying and smiled. She wrapped her arms around Henry's neck. "It's good to have you by my side, Henry."

When she released her arms, Tessa finally saw Serene's 'disfigured' face. There was only a tinge of blood on it. It was so minor that no one could see it unless they really focused on it.

Henry took such a small injury seriously. He did not even think twice when paying 80 thousand dollars for her medication.

Tessa touched her face gently. She could feel the stitches through her bandages. She could imagine how horrible her scar was.

Eighty thousand dollars…

It was more than the 60 thousand she had spent four years saving up. It was way more than the ten thousand dollars she needed for her surgery.

They really did live in different worlds.

After Tessa completed the discharge procedure, she returned to her rental home. Less than four hours were left before she was due to board her 3:00 pm flight. Everything that belonged to her had mostly been packed away.

Henry and Serene's engagement party was the next day. It was time for her to prepare their gift.

She started sorting out all the gifts Henry had given her. She decided to send them back.

The free lipstick Henry gave her two days ago.

A hair band that cost 0.5 dollars. Henry got for her on their hundredth day anniversary.

The plastic flower he bought from a roadside stall for her 21st birthday.

A ring worth 2 dollars that Henry got her for their first anniversary.

There was also the most expensive gift she got from him—a silver bracelet worth about 15 dollars that he got for their second anniversary together.

She filled the box with every gift he had given her for the last two years. It soon became full and was pretty heavy. However, the full box was not worth even 50 dollars.

She was just a plaything in his eyes. He probably felt that these cheap items were all she deserved.

Tessa wrote something on the back of the invitation card. "Wishing you a blissful life together. Let's never meet again."

She placed the card at the top of the box. After that, she engaged a delivery company to deliver the box at noon the next day to the address printed on the card.

A reminder popped up on her phone. Only three hours were left until her boarding time.

Tessa grabbed her suitcase. She took one last look at this house, which used to be her prison, and left for the airport without looking back.

When the plane took flight in the air, Tessa had left behind everything in Capital City. From now on, everyone's life would be back on track.

Henry would return to his superior status as the rich heir to Jennings Corporation, and Tessa would continue her studies overseas. They would no longer cross paths.