The loud noise startled everyone.

Damian's face immediately turned dark when he saw Cheryl lying in a pool of blood on the floor.

"Natalie Underwood! You're really asking for it this time!"

He then hurriedly picked Cheryl up in his arms and ran out the door.

The banquet ended on a sour note, and Damian's bodyguards brought Natalie along to the hospital too.

When Damian heard that Cheryl had lost a lot of blood and that she had the same blood type as Natalie, he immediately ordered that Natalie donate her blood to Cheryl without any hesitation.

Natalie needed to undergo a simple medical examination before she could donate her blood, and that meant her past surgeries and medical history would then be revealed. She couldn't possibly let Damian find out right now that she had donated a kidney to him in the past.

At this, though, she purposely put on a cold, indifferent look and said, "I'm not donating anything. It's not like her blood type is rare. Why are you insisting that I must donate blood to her?"

Damian then grabbed a thick bundle of cash and slapped it in her face.

"You love money, don't you? How much do you want? I'll pay you! Will you finally donate your blood now?"

She stared blankly at Damian, who was still throwing more and more banknotes in her face. She felt as though a knife was slashing right into her heart.

After Damian had impatiently slapped her with six or seven bundles of cash, Natalie finally crouched down and picked up all of the fallen banknotes on the ground. Then, she smiled and looked at him.

"You should have just given it to me earlier instead of wasting my time like that."

Then, she went straight to the blood donation center in the hospital.

After the medical examination, the doctor looked at the report and shook his head, saying, "This young woman has had surgery before and is missing a kidney. She also has a history of severe bleeding. It's highly recommended that she not give blood at all."

Damian frowned hard. "What do you mean by her missing a kidney?"

Before Natalie could say anything, he continued coldly, "What's the point? Are you going to try and lie to my face, saying that you're the one who donated your kidney to me after all, just so that you can try to extort more money from me?"

Natalie felt her heart clench in her chest. Yet, she forced a smile and nodded.

"Bingo. But I didn't think you'd see right through it."

Damian's face turned even darker than before. He grabbed the doctor by his collar and gritted his teeth in anger.

"I don't care how much she paid you to lie to me, but I will pay you double that amount. Draw as much blood from her as Cheryl needs."

The huge needle pierced into Natalie's vein, making her tremble involuntarily. Blood slowly drained away, and she could feel her body grow colder and colder.

Her vision began to blur. Natalie didn't know how much blood she had given, but she eventually couldn't hold out anymore and fainted.

When she finally woke up, the sun had already set, and it was dark outside. Yet, there was a warm chocolate chip cookie waiting for her next to her hospital bedside table.

In the past, Damian would always brave the wind and rain to buy her favorite chocolate chip cookies for her if she wasn't feeling well, just to cheer her up.

He once told her that he didn't have a lot and could only afford to buy her cheap cookies like these. However, he promised that he would buy her more premium and luxurious ones in the future when he could afford them.

Natalie recalled how he used to hug her and comfort her gently, and she felt her heart throbbing painfully in her chest. It hurt so badly that she could barely even breathe.

She reached up and took the cookie, biting into it robotically until she finished the whole thing.

When she went out, she happened to see Cheryl in the ward next to her, lying in Damian's arms while flirting and speaking coquettishly with him.

"It's too warm, Dam. Cool it off for me, please?"

Damian then brought the spoonful of soup to his lips, blew on it gently, and brought the spoon back to Cheryl's lips.

She took a small sip and pouted hard. "This tastes horrible."

Damian didn't look the least bit impatient or offended by her words. He just smiled at her and retrieved a piece of candy from his pocket. He tore off the wrapper and popped it into her mouth.

Cheryl blinked again and said, "This still tastes bad."

This time, Damian set down the bowl, cupped Cheryl's face in his hands, and kissed her softly and gently on the lips.

A short while later, they separated, and Cheryl leaned into his arms, speaking in a soft, coquettish voice.

"Dam, can't you stop loving Natalie and love me instead?"

Damian happened to look out at that moment and met Natalie's eyes outside the door.

There was a moment of silence in the air. He stared at Natalie, his eyes cold and indifferent.

"I won't love her anymore. Not for the rest of my life."

Natalie didn't say anything. She just smiled bitterly to herself and turned to leave.

During Cheryl's stay in the hospital, everyone was well aware of how much Damian doted on her and spoiled her to bits.

Yet, not a single person came to visit Natalie as she stayed alone by herself.

An intern thought that Natalie was single and brazenly asked her for her contact number one day. By sheer coincidence, Damian happened to witness it when he asked.

He glared at the two of them and didn't say another word. However, the look in his eyes was frighteningly frigid.

That night, Natalie saw the fireworks show that Damian set up for Cheryl.

The bright fireworks display lit up the entire night sky, and everyone in the hospital couldn't help but come out to admire the show.

Natalie stood under the fireworks, admiring the display of beauty that bloomed, though it wasn't for her.

The fireworks were fleeting, just like her happiness.

After that, she realized that the intern who had been attending to her previously had disappeared. She never saw him again, even until the day she was discharged from the hospital.

On the day Natalie was discharged, Cheryl insisted on bringing her back with them.

"Let's just bring Natalie back with us, Dam. It's going to be very inconvenient for her to get a cab on her own."

Damian just glared at her and said in a hostile manner, "Don't be too kind to her, Cheryl. People are only going to step all over you if you keep doing that.

"Also, she's an expert at seducing other men into doing her bidding, too. There are plenty of men queueing up to bring her home."

Natalie didn't say a word but still got into their car anyway.

Halfway home, Damian suddenly got a work call. He said that he had to attend an important networking lunch that he'd been putting off for far too long.

When Cheryl heard that, she immediately begged him to bring her and Natalie along as well because she wanted to see what these networking events were like. Also, she claimed that she was bored to death after staying at the hospital for days.

Damian didn't reject her suggestion, so the three of them ended up attending the networking lunch together. When everyone saw him entering the venue holding Cheryl's hand, they naturally assumed that she was his wife instead of Natalie.

The businessmen's eyes immediately shifted to her.

"And who may this be, Mr. Abbott?"

Damian barely glanced at Natalie before answering coldly, "Her? She's our nanny, here to take care of Cheryl."

Natalie felt her heart shudder, but she didn't fight back.

Some of the businessmen tried talking to her and offering her drinks, and Damian just coldly beckoned Natalie toward them.

"Go ahead and keep them entertained. You're not here for leisure. But don't worry. You'll get paid for this as well."

Natalie smiled and immediately accepted the drinks from the businessmen, finishing glass after glass of alcohol.

When the crowd realized that Damian didn't seem the least bit interested in her, they began coming over to her and pouring out more and more drinks for her, urging her to finish every drop. Meanwhile, Natalie didn't refuse any of their requests either.

Somewhere along the way, one of the middle-aged businessmen began groping Natalie in secret. She pushed him off a few times, but he got even more brazen and draped an arm right around her waist in public.

Damian watched everything from a dark corner. His gaze was dark and thunderous.

After her umpteenth glass of alcohol, Natalie felt dizzy and nauseated and could barely even walk in a straight line.

She excused herself to the washroom to freshen up. When she came back out, she saw the middle-aged businessman from earlier taking slow, sure steps toward her.

At once, her guard went up as she had a bad feeling about this. She hurriedly backed away from him, but he was quicker as he grabbed her and covered her nose and mouth with a towel soaked in a solution.

Natalie felt her body becoming heavier and heavier. Her blood seemed to begin boiling at that instant as well, and she struggled hard as she was dragged away into a secluded corner.

Just before she was forcefully dragged into a room, she used the last of her strength to kick the man in the balls. Then, she took advantage of the moment he loosened his grip in pain and shoved the man off her body before staggering out toward the door.

She found a random room to hide in, feeling her body heat up quickly as the drug began taking effect. She knew then that the drug from earlier must have been an aphrodisiac, and she was now suffering from it.

In her haze, she saw the room door being pushed open as a tall man walked into her field of vision.

She couldn't see his face clearly because of the backlight and assumed that he was just a waiter. So, she hurriedly rushed toward him and grabbed him by the arm, crying, "Quick, get me a man!"

The "waiter's" voice was cold and indifferent.

"Do you even know what you're saying?"

Natalie bit down on her lip, forcing herself to stay sober.

"I… I can't die… Please, you have to help me…"

The man laughed coldly again and said, "Why are you asking me to look for a man for you when I'm already standing right here?"

The voice was very familiar to her, and Natalie suddenly sobered up a lot more after recognizing him. She forced her eyes wide open and saw that it was Damian. Then, she pushed him off with whatever strength she had left in her body.

"You… You won't do… I can't…"

Damian's face turned dark and thunderous again. He rushed up to her in fury and grabbed her by the neck, choking her hard.

"Why won't I do? Weren't you the one who said that you'd never leave me as long as I was rich? I'm rich now! So, why won't I do?"

Natalie was stunned for a while. Tears began falling from her eyes a short while later. Her voice shook as she said, "Because… Because you're Damian… Because you're my Damian…"

Her words were like a tidal wave, making Damian completely lose his control as he forced her back against the wall and kissed her deeply.

Natalie and Damian ended up rolling in the sheets for the entire night. When she woke up again, it was already the next day.

Natalie looked at the hickeys and bite marks all over her body and felt her face heat up.

Damian, who was lying next to her, had also woken up. His gaze was unreadable, and he looked like he had a ton of things he wanted to say to her. However, he ultimately only said in a cold voice, "Watch your mouth and don't you dare gossip about this to Cheryl."

Natalie forced a bitter smile on her face. She was his rightful, legal wife, and they were supposedly just doing what regular spouses did. And yet, she was not allowed to let Cheryl know about this.

Was there anything even more absurd than this in the world?

Natalie laughed out loud and said, "Sure, but you're going to have to pay me. I won't say a word about it if you pay me enough."

Damian turned purple in the face as he grabbed a wad of cash from the side and flung it at Natalie in great disgust. Then, he got up, got dressed, and walked out the door without even looking back.

After going back to the mansion, Natalie learned that Cheryl would be moving in with them on that day itself.

Cheryl's things and suitcases took up almost all of the space in the living room, and the maids were all helping her sort them out.

When Cheryl saw Natalie, she greeted her like she was the lady of the house instead of Natalie.

"You're back. I've already told the maids to move all of the stuff in your room into the guest room. You don't mind that, do you?"

It didn't matter whether Natalie minded it or not. Nobody would ever care about her feelings anyway, and it wasn't like she was also going to be staying in this home for long.

…

Ever since Cheryl moved in, she and Damian began acting even more like a lovey-dovey newlywed couple who couldn't bear to be apart from each other for even a minute.

At meals, Damian would keep looking out for Cheryl, cut up her steak for her, and even blow on hot foods to cool them down before spoon-feeding her himself.

When Natalie walked by the living room, she would almost always catch sight of the duo hugging each other or engaged in intense make-out sessions with each other.

Even though her room was now the guest room, she would still hear lewd, sticky, slapping noises coming from their room every time she walked down the hallway at night.

They had basically set up an intricate web and trapped her within it, slowly cornering her until Natalie was completely bruised and battered.

Damian even tormented Natalie on purpose by making her "stand guard" at the door while he was sleeping with Cheryl inside.

"You love money, don't you? Then, stand guard at the door for us the whole night. I'll pay you ten grand per night. What do you say?"

Damian looked handsome and alluring when he spoke to Natalie. His thin lips were slightly upturned in a cold, aloof smirk.

Natalie stared at him for a long time in silence. Finally, she replied, "Make it 20 grand."

Damian's face twitched slightly. The bulging veins on his forehead looked particularly frightening as he glared at her.

He gritted his teeth and grabbed another stack of hundred-dollar bills from the side and flung them in her direction.

"Get out."

Natalie then picked up all of the fallen bills before leaving the room, not forgetting to carefully close the door behind her.

Damian's endless torment and humiliation didn't just stop there. He forced Natalie to decorate the bedroom at night with petals, buy seductive lingerie for Cheryl, wash up Cheryl's spent body in the bath, and even clean up the aftermath of their intense lovemaking in the bedroom.

Every time Natalie was done doing everything he told her to, he would then fling a stack of cash in her face.

Natalie never refused to do anything he told her to do. She also remained exceptionally calm every time she was told to do something.

She didn't look indignant, dissatisfied, unhappy—nothing at all.

Instead, she would just calmly pick up all of the money on the floor before doing everything she was told, just like a robot. It felt as though she had absolutely nothing to do with Damian after all.

She didn't care about him. She didn't care that he slept with someone else. She also didn't care that he might have fallen in love with someone else.

Damian, however, was driven mad by her indifference. In the dead of the night, when nobody else was around, he grabbed her by the waist and pinned her against the wall, demanding an explanation from her.

"Why are you acting so cold and indifferent toward me? Why don't you care? Why aren't you the least bit jealous at all?

"Did you ever love me at all, Natalie Underwood? Who the hell am I to you?"

Natalie maintained her composure, and her gaze was devoid of any affection for him at all.

"I only care about money. If you want me to show the emotions you just mentioned, I will gladly do that, but you're going to have to pay me more."