My heart hurt faintly. I pushed down the bitterness and still stubbornly said, “I already said I don’t push her. Why can’t you trust me?”

Jeremy’s eyes were steady and cold as he silently watched me act wildly.

At that moment, Jeremy seemed like a stranger. The gentle look he once gave me was gone, and the past care had vanished; it felt as if he was facing someone he did not know.

“Hurry and make it.” Jeremy’s tone held clear authority. “You also don’t want your parents’ ashes to lie there quietly and then be dug up again, right?”

My eyes shrank in shock as I looked at him in disbelief.

After the car accident, Jeremy was the one who stayed with me through the first seven days of mourning, and he was also the one who stood beside me while we personally buried my parents’ ashes together.

Right now, for the sake of his little childhood sweetheart, he even used this to threaten me.

A huge wave of shame rushed into my chest. My throat tasted bitter. In the end, I took a slow breath and said, “Okay.”

I had just gone into the kitchen.

At that time, Ophelia walked downstairs wearing the pajamas I liked best. When she saw me, she purposely lifted her long hair, revealing the unclear kiss marks on her neck.

Her eyes were full of pride, yet she said, “Sister, Jeremy says the grilled cheese sandwich you cook is very good. Sorry to trouble you.”

I ignored her and took out flour, mixing it with water. I began stirring, kneading the dough, and letting it ferment.

While I was rolling the dough, Ophelia suddenly pushed her way in again. She threw the object in her hand in front of me.

“Boil this animal for me. I want to have dog meat soup tonight.”

Seeing the familiar fur, my body froze completely.

Blood smeared the rolling pin in my hand and clouded my vision. I stretched out my trembling hand to touch it, only to find it was no longer breathing.

This dog was the coming-of-age gift my parents gave me. It had been with me for six years, but now it had died without any clear reason.

My body trembled all over. I used every bit of strength just to stand firm. “Ophelia, what right do you have to kill my dog!”

With Jeremy absent, Ophelia dropped the act. Wearing a cruel and proud look, she said, “It’s just an animal. If I want it dead, I kill it.”

“I am going to kill you!”

This was not only a present from my parents, but also my emotional support!

It had followed me through thousands of days and nights and had already become family to me.

In my anger, I grabbed the rolling pin and swung it at Ophelia. Ophelia screamed and stepped back.

The rolling pin did not strike her. Jeremy caught it firmly.

My voice shook with anger. “Move away! Jeremy, I am going to kill her!”

Ophelia shrank into Jeremy’s arms, her voice soft and sweet. “Jeremy, I don’t know why Sister is like this. Just now, the dog almost bit me. If the guard doesn’t act fast, I probably already…”

Jeremy frowned. “Corinne, stop being crazy.”

I stood frozen and demanded in disbelief, “Jeremy, she kills my dog! It has stayed with me for six years, it is already my family!”

Ophelia sobbed softly. “I… I just now know that it's Sister’s dog… I don’t mean to do it, Jeremy…”

While speaking, she slowly reached out and gently tugged his sleeve, appearing pitiful and delicate.

Jeremy’s face stayed cold. “It is only an animal. I buy another one to make up for you.”

His words felt like frozen blades, stabbing hard into my heart, cold and hurting.

My whole body turned freezing. Overwhelmed by anger, I fainted on the spot.

When I woke up again, I realized I was lying on the cold floor. My body could not move, and faint motion sounded nearby.

Listening closely, I realized it was Jeremy and Ophelia being intimate.

After reaching the peak once more, Ophelia wrapped her arms around his neck and asked, “Jeremy, you really aren’t worried Corinne wakes up and catches us?”

Jeremy’s actions were quick and rough, as if he wanted to pull her into his bones. “I told the doctor to inject her with sleeping pills. She doesn’t wake up anytime soon.

Soon after, he stopped moving. In a voice full of indifference, he said, “If she catches us, I'll throw her out. Anyway, the marriage certificate with her is fake. When the time comes, I bring you into the house openly.”

My vision blurred with tears. I forced my sobs down and could only lie still on the floor, watching the mattress beside me shake hard.

Because of the IVF treatments over the years, my body had built some resistance to medicine; even sleeping pills no longer affected me.

Having overheard the truth, my tears poured down, but I endured and stayed silent.

When the sky slowly brightened, I was finally able to “wake up.”

But the moment I stepped out of the bedroom, four or five bodyguards stopped me.

I panicked for a second. “Y-you… what are you doing?!”

The bodyguards looked at each other, then all lifted the rolling pins in their hands and struck my body hard. I heard the dull sound of wood hitting flesh.

The pain made me quickly curl into myself. Struggling to speak, I said, “What are you doing! I am Jeremy’s wife! I am his wife!”

In the middle of the mess, one bodyguard spat and mockingly said, “President Ramsey is the one who tells us to beat you. Who tells you to touch someone you shouldn’t touch!”

Someone I shouldn’t touch…

Was it referring to Ophelia?

A heavy, suffocating ache rose from my chest.

I suddenly remembered the time I went for an interview and was accidentally bothered by a passing thug. Although the man’s dirty hands never touched me, Jeremy still stood up for me.

At that moment, he was like a hero, standing in front of me and teaching that thug a lesson. Afterward, he took off his coat and wrapped it around me.

His voice was unbelievably gentle. “Corinne, as long as I am here in the future, you can wear whatever you want. I am your strongest support.”

But now, my strongest support had become the sharpest knife aimed at me, stabbing my whole heart into shattered pieces.

A loud crack sounded as I heard the bone in my arm break.

At last, I could not stop myself from pleading, “Stop hitting, I am wrong! I know I am wrong…”

I did not know who delivered a hard blow to the back of my head. My vision turned black, and I fainted completely.

When I woke again, Jeremy was sitting at my bedside. Shock and confusion flickered in his eyes.

Then his tone turned cold with disgust. “When I am not beside you, you turn yourself into this miserable state?”

I stayed silent.

Since I had never treated him with silence before, a strange feeling crossed Jeremy’s heart.

His voice turned angry. “This weak look of yours, who are you pretending to be? If you do something wrong, you should say sorry and accept the punishment. Stop pretending to be pitiful.”

My current condition was all thanks to Jeremy.

The man who once said he would cherish me carefully now only showed disgust and dislike between his brows.

He was no longer willing to keep up any act. When he heard movement at the door, Jeremy suddenly stood and walked away, dropping a cold remark.

“With your miserable look, seeing you really ruins the appetite.”

At the not-yet-fully closed doorway, a beautiful figure rushed into Jeremy’s arms.

Through the narrow gap, I saw the victorious look in Ophelia’s eyes. She silently mouthed to me: You only deserve to be stepped on by me.

I picked up my phone and sent a message to the pinned contact.

[Come get me tomorrow, okay?]

The other person replied almost immediately. [No problem, waiting at any time.]

I set the phone down and, under the effect of the medicine, slowly fell into a sleepy doze again.

When I opened my eyes again, I discovered I was hanging over a cliff, with Ophelia next to me.

Jeremy stood not far away.

The kidnapper shouted loudly, “Jeremy, before you send me to prison. Today, you choose one of these two women; whoever is left, I'll break her legs!”

He stared at the kidnapper and said firmly, “Release Ophelia. Whatever you want, I can agree.”

My heart shook.

My lips lifted into a bitter smile.

In three years of our sudden marriage, he had never kept me in his heart.

After just one remark from him about having possible difficulty with children, I underwent IVF, endured more than three thousand injections, consumed countless herbal remedies and supplements, and my once healthy body became heavily worn down.

Each time I nearly could not continue, I always thought of him standing before my parents’ grave and sincerely making a vow. “Corinne, I swear in this life I stay loyal only to you. No matter what trouble we face later, even if I risk my life, I keep you safe and without fear.”

At this moment, the vow from the past was torn apart, and the final warmth I held for Jeremy was also put out.

The kidnapper, like he was watching a show, asked, “Corinne is your wife. Shouldn’t you rescue her first?”

Hearing that, Jeremy unconsciously looked toward me. Seeing my fresh wounds layered over the old ones, a complicated feeling crossed his heart.

Right after, Ophelia’s gentle sobbing sounded. “Jeremy, the kindness you have shown me these years is already enough. You don’t need to think about me anymore.”

“Corinne is still your wife. You should save her. I am willing to give you my blessing…”

The hesitation in Jeremy’s eyes completely vanished, replaced by firm determination.

He almost did not pause. “Let Ophelia go. Corinne and I are only a fake couple. We are never truly married. The one I care about from start to finish is only Ophelia.”

The kidnapper refused to believe it. “You and she even get a marriage certificate…”

Jeremy interrupted immediately. “The marriage certificate is fake. From the beginning until now, I never had true feelings for her.”

Jeremy’s words were no different from sharp swords, every word stabbing into my heart.

My eyes held only emptiness and lifeless calm as I silently waited for death.

The kidnapper let Ophelia go as promised, then pushed her over with force.

As Jeremy reached out to catch Ophelia, he briefly noticed my lonely look, and his chest felt tight for a moment.

Ophelia cried out in pain, and Jeremy’s attention was completely drawn away.

Soon after, I saw the kidnapper lift an iron stick and smash it harshly against my kneecap. The sound of my knee breaking echoed along with my sharp scream.

Just when I thought everything had ended, the kidnapper suddenly cut the rope. A faint look of relief passed through my eyes, and a freed smile appeared at my lips.

Leaving Jeremy in this manner… maybe was not a bad thing.

Out of the corner of my eye, I saw Jeremy’s shocked yet cold expression.

I slowly shut my eyes in relief.

Goodbye, Jeremy.