5

Ayana’s POV

When I returned to the villa, the weight of everything that had happened in the past few days crashed down on me.

I buried myself under the blankets and cried until my chest ached.

Only when the storm of tears finally subsided did I drag myself upright.

Now was not the time to wallow in grief. My younger brother and my mother were still waiting for me.

I would never let Stellan and Zella get away with what they had done. I would make them pay, no matter what!

I gathered my documents, stuffed two changes of clothes into a bag, and then picked up a hammer as I made my way to the living room.

The next moment, the hammer came crashing down on the wedding portrait hanging on the wall.

One by one, I destroyed everything completely: the handmade crafts Stellan and I had once put together, the porcelain figurines he had given me as symbols of our love, the jewelry and gifts from each anniversary, even the countless paper cranes he had folded for me.

I reduced every last token of our so-called love to dust and shards.

By the time I finally stopped, the villa was nothing more than a wreck.

That was when Stellan came home.

He froze in the doorway, his brows knitting together at the sight of the chaos. And then, when his eyes landed on me standing in the middle of the ruin, his expression softened with what looked like heartache.

He stepped forward without hesitation and pulled me into his arms.

“Ayana,” he murmured, “I know you’re hurting. Cry in my arms if you must. It’s my fault. I don’t even know when those photos were leaked, but if you refuse to withdraw the lawsuit, Zella might use even harsher methods. I’m so sorry.”

The scent that clung to him made bile rise in my throat.

That faint perfume wasn’t mine. It was Zella’s! Worse—it was the limited-edition fragrance I had given her as a birthday gift!

And on the back of his neck, I could see it clearly: the fresh, unmistakable marks of another woman’s kisses.

They thought I was a fool. They had been playing me for a very long time.

Disgust boiled up inside me, and I shoved him away with all my strength.

My voice dripped with scorn as I said, “So there’s actually someone in Alabama with more power than you? If I’d known you were this useless, I would never have married you in the first place! At least then I wouldn’t have ended up like this. You’re pathetic, Stellan!”

I spat out each word slowly and deliberately.

His face darkened at once, his features twisting in shame and anger.

Seeing him squirm in pain brought me a bitter thrill. After all, every cruel thing that had happened was orchestrated by him and Zella together.

And yet he still dared to put on an act in front of me, pretending to be innocent!

To say he was disgusting was even an understatement.

I opened my mouth to say more, but his phone rang. The moment he saw the caller ID, his eyes lit up, and without a second thought, he answered.

It was Zella.

He didn’t even bother to lower his voice as he spoke with her. Then, without sparing me another glance, he turned toward the door.

“Ayana,” he said coldly, “calm down. Contact me again when you’re ready to withdraw the lawsuit. Otherwise, who knows what might happen in four days? You don’t want more private photos being leaked, do you?”

His words were laced with threat. And with that, he walked away straight back to Zella.

Before he reached the front door, my voice broke into a scream.

“Stellan! If you leave now, I’ll never forgive you! I’ll hate you for the rest of my life!”

His body stiffened for a moment at the doorway. But still, he left without hesitation.

I couldn’t help but chase after him.

But just as I stepped outside, a masked figure rushed at me.

“Stellan!” I cried, calling his name in desperation.

But he left without looking back.

The last thing I saw before the world went dark was his retreating, cold and unfeeling.

6

Ayana’s POV

When I opened my eyes again, I was already tied up inside an abandoned factory.

The masked man from earlier stood with his back to me, speaking into his phone.

From the other end came a voice I knew all too well—Stellan’s.

“President Breitbart, we’ve done exactly as you asked. The woman’s here. Don’t forget to transfer the five million to our account.”

Stellan’s reply was cold and cutting.

“I already wired you the money. Remember this—if she refuses to withdraw the lawsuit or record a clarification video in advance, keep her there for three days. I’m taking Zella on a trip. During that time, you can do whatever you want with Ayana.”

Without hesitation, he hung up after saying that.

In an instant, my vision blurred red with rage.

All for Zella… Stellan was willing to drive me into a corner without mercy, as if determined to destroy me.

I began to struggle, twisting against the ropes, desperate to free my bound hands.

Just then, footsteps sounded at the door.

The next second, Zella herself strolled in—brazen and unhurried.

She glanced at my pitiful state, and then she smiled in delight.

With mock pity, she reached out and brushed my cheek.

“Ayana, my dear best friend, how did you let yourself become such a mess? You must have heard everything just now, haven’t you? The one who ordered your kidnapping… was your husband. Or rather, the man who’s been covering me up all along has always been Stellan.”

She leaned closer, her voice dripping with cruelty. “He’s the one who gave me the power, the confidence to torment you without restraint. If you still refuse to withdraw the lawsuit, I can’t guarantee what will happen to you, your brother… or that comatose mother of yours.”

Her laughter was sharp and unhinged.

“Why are you doing this?” I glared at her, hatred searing through me.

I had truly believed once that she and I were close, that we had shared something real.

At my words, her expression twisted hideously. Suddenly, she struck me hard across the face.

“At the start, I only wanted Stellan to toy with you a little. I never meant for him to take you seriously! But he fell for you! And you—how dare you two get married? How dare you carry his child? Stellan is mine. Mine! Don’t you understand?”

Her eyes burned with poisonous jealousy, as if every fault in her life belonged to me.

She stared at my pained reaction, and suddenly, she burst into another cruel laugh.

“Oh, that’s right. There’s something you still don’t know, isn't there?”

“Do you know why Stellan married you back then?” She bent down, her lips brushing close to my ear. “Because I casually told him not to pester me anymore. And the reason he stayed with you afterwards? Because that wretched mother of yours overheard our conversation.”

She sneered, her tone gleeful and mocking. “She was about to run off and tell you everything, so I slammed down the accelerator and sent her flying! I didn’t expect her to survive, though. Tough woman, your mother.”

I froze, eyes wide, unable to breathe. The truth I had never known… finally revealed.

Zella’s gaze glittered with wicked delight.

“After I hit your mother, Stellan handled all the cleanup. Everything he’s done for you since? It wasn’t for you at all. It was for me. Ayana, look at yourself. Know your place. Withdraw the lawsuit. Record the clarification video. Then leave Stellan. That’s the only chance you’ll ever have to walk away alive.”

She tapped my cheek again and again, as though I were nothing but a toy in her hands.

My eyes burned.

So that was it. From the very beginning, I had been nothing but Zella’s chosen plaything!

My love, my marriage—everything I thought precious—was nothing more than mud under their feet, something to be trampled and defiled!

The fury in me boiled over. With a sudden snarl, I lunged forward and sank my teeth into her finger.

My gaze locked onto hers, feral, my growl echoing like that of a cornered wolf.

Zella shrieked in shock, thrashing as pain coursed through her hand.

“Damn you, Ayana! You filthy animal!”

The next instant, she kicked me away with all her strength.

7

Ayana’s POV

The kidnapper shoved me hard to the floor. The coarse floorboards scraped across my cheek, splitting the skin open in an instant.

Zella glared down at me with hatred burning in her eyes. Her finger—barely clinging on by a thin layer of flesh—was mangled from my bite.

If I’d just sunk my teeth a little deeper, I could have bitten it clean off.

I kept staring at her, my gaze sharp and unyielding.

That look drove her into a frenzy.

Blinded by rage, she lunged at me. Her legs kicked at me again and again, each blow filled with manic fury.

“Die! Die! How dare you bite me?! Go to hell!” she shrieked.

By the time she finally stopped, panting heavily, my body was already battered, and my breath faint.

She let out a cold, triumphant laugh.

“Break one of her legs!” she ordered casually. “I want to see how long you can keep up that tough act, Ayana.”

The kidnappers obeyed without hesitation.

A moment later, white-hot pain shot up my leg as the sound of bone cracking filled the air.

A scream tore itself from my throat.

The agony was unbearable. Darkness swallowed me whole, and before I slipped under, the last thing I saw was Zella’s savage, gleeful smile.

I was imprisoned in that abandoned factory for three whole days.

It wasn’t until the sixth day that they finally released me.

I knew why—tomorrow was the deadline. I had promised Stellan to withdraw the lawsuit and record a video clarifying the truth.

Zella was about to graduate with her master’s degree. If she were caught and thrown in prison at such a critical time, her reputation would be ruined, no matter if she was released later.

During those days, I thought about everything.

My mother. My younger brother. Both had suffered because of me.

And my child…

Just then, my phone rang.

It was the hospital calling to remind me about the medical fees.

Instinctively, I recited my card number. But in the next second, I froze; Stellan had already emptied that account.

My wounds burned so badly I could barely stand.

But the thought of Mom, still unconscious in the hospital, filled me with dread. If Zella targeted her again, my mother had no way to defend herself.

I immediately called my father.

After I explained everything, he agreed to transfer my mother somewhere safer at once.

Only then did I breathe a little easier. Summoning what little strength I had left, I dragged myself to the hospital.

When I arrived, I was stunned—Mom had already been moved to a general ward. She was lying there with no one by her side!

As I handled the discharge papers, I couldn’t hold back anymore. My voice cracked as I asked the doctor what had happened.

The doctor gave me a pitying look.

“Your mother was transferred to the general ward seven days ago. It was your husband who signed the papers. I warned him that her condition was too fragile, that moving her so suddenly could be dangerous. But he still insisted and even had her medication stopped.

“Seven days… Honestly, it’s a miracle she survived this long.”

His words tore at my chest. My vision blurred with hot tears.

So it was never about the lawsuit.

No matter what I did, Stellan would never spare my mother!

At that moment, hatred consumed me. I wanted nothing more than to drag Stellan and Zella to hell with me.

But I couldn’t. My brother was still waiting for me to save him.

Biting back my despair, I bandaged my wounds as best I could, and then, I returned to the villa.

I gathered all of my documents and sat down to print a divorce agreement.

Just as I held the papers in my hand, Stellan’s voice rang out behind me.

“Ayana? What are you holding?”