Winona's lips curled into a nasty smile. "You saw my social media updates, right? And here I thought you would keep putting on that holier-than-thou act. You wanted me dead so badly in the past, yet here you are, putting up with anything just to marry into the Gray family."

Noelle kept her gaze on the necklace dangling from Winona's hand. She dug her nails into her palm and snarled, "Give me back my necklace!"

Winona shifted it a bit further past the windowsill. "Get on your knees and prostrate yourself before me if you want it. Admit you're a pathetic hypocrite."

"Never!" Noelle shook with rage. "Don't push me too far, Winona!"

Winona laughed meanly. "Is this the first time you've realized just how far I can push? That stubborn attitude of yours and your refusal to bend to anyone's will is what I hate most about you. If you'd just kneeled to me back then, I wouldn't have kept targeting you for years.

"You've seen how much I mean to Chester. Here's the deal—grovel at my feet and beg me for mercy. Not only will I return the necklace, but I'll also help you get a solid foothold in the Gray family."

"I won't kneel!" Noelle clenched her fists tightly and stalked toward Winona, one measured step at a time. "You couldn't break me before, and you never will! I will never bow to someone as vile as you!"

"You—" Winona barked out an irritated laugh. "Fine, then. Since you don't want the necklace, let's just toss it."

Her fingers flicked down. Silver flashed, and the necklace slipped, dropping fast.

"Give it back!" Noelle screamed, lunging to catch it.

But she was too late. The necklace fell from more than ten floors up as she watched.

Her eyes turned bloodshot. She whirled to run downstairs, but Winona yanked tight on her clothes, holding her back. She sounded like she was about to cry as she pleaded, "I'm sorry, Elle. I won't go near Chester again. Please don't push me off…"

At the same time, a chorus of furious voices erupted behind them. "Noelle Rutherford! What are you doing?"

A hand clamped down on Noelle's wrist, squeezing hard enough to crush bone. The next second, she was flung aside. Her tailbone slammed into the floor. Her face went white from the pain, and sweat poured down her back.

Chester and Simon rushed to Winona, scanning her anxiously. "Winona, are you okay?"

She wept delicately. "I'm sorry. It's all my fault. Chester, we should stop contacting each other from now on…"

"What are you talking about?" Chester pulled her into his arms. "Don't worry. I won't let you suffer in silence."

With that, he turned to Noelle, glaring at her with white-hot fury. "I can't believe you're still bullying Winona after all these years, Noelle!"

Noelle's face was ashen with pain. Sweat beaded on her forehead, and her voice shook as she protested, "I didn't… She threw my necklace, and I—"

"That's enough!" Chester cut her off with a roar. He stared at her, disappointment clouding his eyes. "Even now, you're making excuses. Winona has always been gentle and timid—how could she ever bully anyone? You're the one who's at fault! Someone else bullied you, yet you took it out on her!"

Noelle's eyes widened. At last, everything snapped into place. "I didn't! She's the one who's been bullying me! She's tormented me this whole time—"

A brutal slap cracked across her face before she could finish. Her right cheek went numb, and the metallic taste of blood flooded her mouth.

"You still won't see sense!" Rage and disgust burned in Chester's sharp eyes. "If you aren't taught a lesson now, who knows what you'll do? You'll push someone out a window today, so will you start committing murder tomorrow?"

He and Simon grabbed her by the wrists, one on either side, and dragged her out of the room.

"What are you doing?" Intense panic surged up inside Noelle. Her face turned white as she struggled.

No one answered. No matter how she fought, Chester and Simon just hauled her forward in silence, their tight jawlines carved with fury.

In one last glance back at the hospital room, Noelle met Winona's eyes. They were smug, vicious, and triumphant.

Noelle was led to a bungee platform at the mountaintop. The tower rose over 300 feet, and the cliff yawned beneath her feet. The second she stepped onto it, her face went chalk-white, and her legs started to shake.

Chester's and Simon's expressions remained icy. They took the safety locks from the staff and personally buckled them on her, forcing her to the edge of the jump platform.

Noelle stared into the abyss below, her whole body going rigid. All she could hear was the thundering of her own heartbeat. Her voice trembled. "Chester, you know I'm terrified of heights…"

"I know." He looked at her without a flicker of emotion. "Since you tried to push Winona out the window, I'll give you a taste of what it's like to fall. This is the punishment you deserve, Elle. The lady of the Gray household can't be a vicious woman. Learn your lesson today. If you're sincere about correcting your errors, we'll get married as planned."

Simon pressed his lips into a hard line, his gaze clouded over. "Don't be scared. You won't die."

With that, they reached out and shoved her over the edge.

The brutal drop seized her. Noelle's heartbeat stopped for a few seconds, and her chest ached. Terror beyond words sealed her throat; she couldn't even scream. All that came out were strangled whimpers and tears that scattered in the wind.

Her eyes held nothing but desolation and despair.

She was left hanging upside down over the cliff for half an hour. Only when her breathing faltered and her consciousness began to fray did they haul her back up.

Noelle collapsed on the platform, gasping for air, trying to ease the tingling in her limbs from lack of oxygen. The next second, a staff member stepped forward. "Ms. Rutherford, before Mr. Chester and Mr. Simon left, they ordered that you had to jump ten times before you could leave."

Noelle hadn't even processed the words when she was pushed off again. Once, twice, thrice…

Each time, she was left dangling over the cliff for half an hour. The brief breaks in between didn't ease the oxygen deprivation. As Noelle's mind grew fuzzier, the ten jumps were finally over.

The sky was already pitch-black. The platform's harsh white floodlights were all that held Noelle's last scraps of awareness.

Only one staff member remained on-site. He unfastened her safety rope. As he turned to leave, his pant leg was grabbed.

"Take me… to the hospital…" Noelle's voice was barely more than a whisper. It spent the last drop of her strength.

The staff member shook his head. "I'm sorry, Ms. Rutherford. Mr. Chester and Mr. Simon made it clear that no one is to help you. The Gray family owns this area, and I don't want to lose my job."

He left.

The glare of the floodlights stung Noelle's eyes, making tears slip down her face. She rested there for a while before forcing herself to stand and make her way down the mountain.

She was halfway down it when she came across a kind tourist who was also on the way back. They brought her back to the city.

Noelle didn't go back to the villa. Instead, she went straight to the hospital and, with a flashlight, started searching the lawn beneath the inpatient department for the necklace.

The branches in the hedges scraped her skin, and mosquitoes bit her until she was covered in welts. However, she didn't seem to notice. She combed the grass inch by inch.

As time dragged on, she grew more frantic. Tears shimmered in her bloodshot eyes.

Suddenly, a shout came from behind her. "Who are you? What do you think you're doing?"

It was a hospital security guard. With his help, she found the cleaner in charge of the lawn. "Yeah, I did notice a necklace. I figured nobody wanted it and tossed it into the trash."

Noelle pressed, "Which trash can?"

The cleaner shook his head. "It's already been cleared and sent to the dump. I'm afraid you won't be able to find it, even if you want it now."

Noelle's tears fell at once. "Which dump? That necklace is very important to me. I have to get it back!"

Noelle searched the junkyard for an entire day. The moment she found the necklace, the tears she'd been holding back finally fell.

But the next second, she realized the pendant was empty. The hair and ashes she'd stored inside were gone.

Her head buzzed, and she ran for the hospital with the necklace clutched in her hand. Just as she reached the entrance, she ran into Winona, who had been discharged.

Winona covered her nose and stepped back with exaggerated disgust. "Which dumpster did this piece of garbage crawl out of?"

Noelle stared her down. "Where are the things that were in my pendant?"

Winona glanced at the necklace in Noelle's hand and suddenly laughed. "You mean that filthy stuff? I dumped them in the toilet and flushed them away ages ago."

"Winona Johnson!" Noelle shook with fury. Her ears buzzed, and her eyes blazed with hatred.

She lunged forward, grabbed Winona by the collar, and slapped her hard across the face with all her strength.

Winona staggered backward, clutching her cheek. She fell into Chester's arms.

Noelle looked up, meeting his icy, murderous gaze. "You still haven't learned your lesson, Noelle."

Her eyes were bloodshot, and her voice trembled as she said, "She flushed my grandma's ashes down the toilet—"

"That's enough!" Chester's disgust deepened. "I can't believe you're even cursing your own grandmother to hurt Winona. You make me sick."

The next second, he seized her wrist and shoved her hard.

The driver of a speeding cab blared the horn, unable to brake in time. He slammed into Noelle. She was sent flying before landing in the flowerbed.

Agonizing pain tore through her chest; thick blood spilled from the corner of her mouth. She instinctively looked toward Chester, only to see him shielding Winona with heartache in his eyes. He ushered her into the car Simon had brought around.

From beginning to end, he didn't spare Noelle a single glance. She blacked out.

…

Noelle lay in the hospital for two days. Through Winona's social media updates, she saw Chester escorting her to banquets and public events. With the wedding so close, he couldn't hold back anymore. He didn't even bother putting on an act.

Noelle made her own preparations for the wedding day.

The afternoon before the wedding, Chester came to pick her up from the hospital. He brought her favorite bellflowers. "I was too impulsive the other day, so this is my apology. But you need to stop targeting Winona, too. Tomorrow is our wedding. I've prepared a surprise for you."

Noelle looked at him quietly for a few seconds. Then, she suddenly smiled and took the bouquet from him. "Perfect. I've prepared a surprise for you, too."

Chester paused. A flicker of awkwardness flashed in his eyes before he smoothed it over.

On the drive back to the villa, the weather turned, and there was a torrential downpour. When thunder cracked, Chester grew restless and on edge.

He kept one hand on the wheel while dialing Winona over and over again with the other. The calls went unanswered.

He abruptly slammed on the brakes, pulled over, and grabbed an umbrella from the car. He handed it to Noelle. "I've got something to deal with. You should grab a cab back."

With that, he unfastened her seatbelt and leaned over to open her door.

Noelle didn't take the umbrella. She simply gave Chester an unreadable look before stepping out without a backward glance and shutting the door.

He hesitated and stared at the umbrella in his hand. An odd feeling flickered through him. He moved to open the door again to bring Noelle the umbrella, but Winona's call came at that moment.

She sounded like she was on the verge of tears. "Chester, I'm scared… Hurry up and come to me…"

Chester blanched. His hand moved away from the door handle, and he immediately drove off.

Noelle stood there, only just realizing that she'd carried the bouquet Chester had given her out of the car. As she watched the taillights vanish into the rain, she set the flowers on a trash can and hailed a cab.

Back at the villa, she received a message from Chester. "I've got some urgent matters to deal with, so I won't be home tonight."

She didn't reply.

Maybe it was because she'd been in the rain, but she ran a low fever that night, drifting in and out of dreams. One moment, she saw Winona beating her up until she couldn't stand. Then, she pressed a foot to her face to humiliate her.

The next moment, she saw Chester soothing her, cooking for her, and watching movies with her. Lastly, she saw the first time they'd slept together and the countless times after.

Tears slid from the corners of her eyes. When she woke, her gaze was nothing but ice.

It was her and Chester's wedding day, which happened to fall a week after Marie's death. At first light, Noelle took her suitcase to the cemetery.

After leaving the gravesite, she grabbed a cab to the hospital to join the group departure. On her way there, she checked her WhatsApp to confirm every detail and contingency for the wedding with the team.

Then, she found a livestream channel she'd bookmarked and tapped in.

On camera, a glamorous influencer greeted the audience. "Hello, everyone! Today, by the bride's invitation, we're attending a wedding and broadcasting it live…"

Noelle stared at the phone screen, a cold, dark light glinting in her eyes.