“Xandra, hurry and get out of the car.”

Whitley reached out to help me, but I instinctively pushed her away. That one push drained all my strength, and I collapsed to the ground.

She fell in front of me, and tears welled up in her eyes.

Tyler quickly helped her up and shot me a cold look.

I started trembling uncontrollably. It was a deep, instinctive fear from within my soul.

It was the same look he had given me when that kidnapper dragged me into the alley!

“Ah! I didn’t mean to! I know I was wrong!”

In my panic, my dry throat produced a rough, strained sound.

I dropped to my knees with a thud.

“I’m sorry! I’m so sorry!”

Each time I apologized, I hit my head hard on the ground. I did not dare hold back even a little.

“Xandra!” my mom screamed and tried to stop me.

Tyler stared at me in shock.

“Xandra, what is wrong with you?!”

As soon as he grabbed my wrist, I screamed in fear. I knelt on the ground and desperately wiped the ground with my hands.

What was wrong with me?

I had been chained up and forced to eat scraps every day. I had been beaten too. I did not know if I had gone crazy, but I did learn one thing.

Only the living had dignity.

“I’m sorry! Please don’t hit me! I’ll clean it up! Please don’t hit me!”

My hands were scraped and burning with pain.

Actually, all ten of my nails had been ripped off. My fingers were bare and ugly, with fresh wounds that had just started to heal. But they were bleeding again.

However, I could not stop. If I did, the woman watching me would use hot tongs to hit me.

It really hurt.

“Tyler, what’s going on?!” my mom cried out in panic.

“You said Xandra was just throwing a tantrum and hiding to make us worry. How did she end up like this?!”

Tyler’s expression darkened. He suddenly picked me up and carried me upstairs.

If this had happened before, I would have been ecstatic. After all, he always avoided me. If I even brushed against his coat, he would throw it away.

Tyler laid me down on the bed. My body was stiff, and I just collapsed in the position he placed me in. I must have looked ridiculous.

“Xandra, what happened to you?”

His voice softened, which was rare, but I just curled up tighter. I was too afraid to even breathe.

Tyler pulled at his tie. He was frustrated.

It seemed like he finally realized how much his apathy had hurt me.

After trying to comfort me for a while with no success, he lost his patience.

“Alright, alright, stop acting like this. Once you’re healed, we’ll get married right away.”

He looked at me with a mix of helplessness and condescending sympathy.

He was certain that a marriage would fix everything. After all, it had always been my dream to marry him.

However, I could not bring myself to smile.

Was this compensation or just pity?

Whitley stood outside the door. She bit her lip and called out to him softly, “Tyler…”

He hesitated, just like I had expected. I suddenly raised my head and said in a rough but weak voice, “We’re getting the marriage certificate now.”

At the office, Whitley kept her arm linked with Tyler’s the entire time. The staff almost thought they were the ones getting married.

“Congratulations to you two.”

After I received the marriage certificate, Whitley whispered in my ear, “Even if you’re using this pity act to get what you want, how long do you think it’ll last? Tyler’s heart is mine. You’ll never take it from me.”

She looked all polished and glamorous, unlike me. My pale body was fragile, with burn marks still visible under my hair. It showed how broken I was.

I did not have time to deal with her because a voice suddenly rang in my head.

“Congrats, host! You’ve completed your mission. The Simp System is now deactivated.”

My sanity finally returned!