Hedy’s POV

After arranging my mom’s funeral, I returned to the villa, pale-faced, clutching that small urn.

I set her urn down carefully, took up my documents, and was just about to leave when the bedroom door slammed open with a violent kick.

“Hedy! Where did you take Debbii?!”

I didn’t even look at him. My voice came out flat, numb.

“I don’t know. I didn’t.”

Bryson clearly didn’t believe me. Without a shred of mercy, he yanked me out of the room.

The moment I saw who was at the villa entrance, my expression finally cracked.

“Trevor!”

My brother was gagged, tied to a chair, surrounded by Bryson’s bodyguards.

For a second, I couldn’t even tell what Bryson was planning to do.

Then, his bloodshot eyes flashed. He gestured sharply to the men behind my brother.

They nodded, then suddenly raised thick batons, as wide as an arm, and brought them down on my brother’s body.

“Ahhh!”

He convulsed, blood already smearing across his clothes.

In an instant, my vision went red.

“Bryson! What are you doing?! I already told you—I didn’t do it! Why won’t you believe me?”

My voice rose to a near-scream.

But Bryson didn’t spare me a glance. He stared at my bound brother, his tone like ice.

“Hedy, from this moment on, I’ll count down from ten. With every number, your brother will take ten strikes. The doctor said his body is already very weak. If you don’t want him to die, then tell me where Debbii is.”

I shook with rage, glaring at my brother’s bloodied form, wishing I could tear the two of them apart right then.

“Bryson, I told you—I didn’t lay a finger on Debbii! I’m begging you. I’ll kneel if I have to! You know I’ve never lied to you! Please, believe me. Don’t hurt my brother!”

As I said this, I moved to kneel.

My brother was already coughing up blood. He was all I had left. I couldn’t lose him either!

But my pleading and my kneeling didn’t stir Bryson in the slightest.

He watched me sink to the floor and still began to count.

“Ten.”

Hearing that familiar countdown, I felt myself unravel.

“No! Stop! Bryson, you can’t do this! You’ll regret it!”

The batons fell again. Ten strikes. My brother’s mouth poured blood without pause.

“Nine.”

Seeing the guards raise their weapons once more, I wrenched free of Bryson’s grip and threw myself over my brother.

The batons crashed onto me instead. Pain ripped through my stomach, and a warm trickle of blood ran down my thighs.

The crimson seeped into my black dress, but all Bryson saw was my ashen face.

At last, his brows drew together.

“Stop!”

He strode forward, reaching to lift me, his eyes flickering with a trace of pain.

“Hedy, I…”

But before his apology could leave his lips, his secretary rushed up, thrusting a phone into his hand.

“Bryson, I’m in so much pain… Hurry up… Save me.”

Bryson’s outstretched hand froze.

He looked at me—nearly unconscious on the floor—as Debbii’s sobbing voice poured from the phone.

“Sir, we’ve found Miss Debbii’s location. The police are still handling the scene. She still needs your presence.”

Hearing that, Bryson finally made his choice.

His voice came out hoarse. “Take Hedy to the hospital. Get the best doctors for her. As for her brother, if anything happens to him, she’ll hate me forever. I’ll take care of Debbii’s situation first, then I’ll come right away.”

After saying that, he turned without hesitation and stepped into his car.

I could no longer hold on. My eyes fluttered shut, and the world went dark.

Hedy’s POV

When I woke up in the hospital ward, I ignored the pain coursing through my body and forced myself up, rushing to check on my brother’s condition.

Seeing him still lying unconscious, I could no longer hold back my tears.

From the moment I opened my eyes, I had already sensed it—the emptiness in my belly.

My child… I had only just learned of its existence, and before I could even embrace the thought of it, it had slipped away from me like the wind.

My hands trembled as I pulled out my phone. Forcing my raw throat to make a sound, I whispered hoarsely.

“Book me two plane tickets. Tomorrow, I’ll take my brother and leave this place for good.”

As for that press conference, I would make sure Bryson walked away from it with absolutely nothing!

The words had barely left my mouth when the door of the ward was shoved open.

Bryson stood at the entrance, his expression unreadable.

“Hedy,” he asked, voice low, “where are you booking tickets to?”

Half his face was swallowed in shadow, making it impossible for me to see him clearly.

I hung up the call, meeting his gaze with an icy expression.

“It has nothing to do with you.”

His brows furrowed, and after a pause, he extended his hand toward me.

“Hedy, I know you’re still upset about yesterday, but I had no choice. Debbii was badly hurt, too. And your wounds haven’t even healed yet. Please, don’t run around recklessly, alright?”

His tone was gentle, coaxing—pretending as though he wasn’t the one who had caused these injuries in the first place.

I let out a sharp laugh.

“Relax. I won’t delay tomorrow’s press conference.”

The mockery in my voice darkened his face in an instant. He clearly hadn’t expected me to twist his so-called kindness.

“Hedy,” he said coldly, “stop being childish. In the end, it was you who made the first mistake. If you hadn’t sent people to kidnap Debbii, I never would have touched your brother. You wouldn’t have been hurt either.”

The way he pushed all the blame onto me as if it were the most natural thing in the world made me sneer.

“Since you’ve already decided not to believe a word I say, then why bother putting on this false show of pity? Do you even know—”

Before I could finish, before I could tell him about the child, Debbii burst into the room.

She rushed forward, throwing her arms around his waist, her face pale with panic.

“Bryson, where did you go? I was so scared when I woke up and didn’t see you. I had another nightmare. I dreamt that you didn’t come yesterday, that those men—”

Her voice broke, and tears streamed down her face.

At once, Bryson’s eyes filled with heartache. He gathered Debbii gently into his arms, stroking her back as though she were the most fragile thing in the world.

When she finally calmed, his gaze snapped back to me, sharp and furious.

“Look at what you’ve done! Debbii nearly died because of you!”

I let out another cold laugh.

The moment Debbii’s eyes landed on me, she let out a sharp scream.

“Hedy, I’ll leave right now! Please don’t send anyone to kidnap me again! I swear I regret what I did…”

As she spoke, she made a motion to kneel before me, her pitiful act tugging at Bryson’s heart until he was beside himself.

But I only stared at them with a blank face, giving them nothing.

Finally, Bryson’s expression hardened completely.

“You still refuse to see the mistakes you’ve made, Hedy. Stay here in the ward. After the press conference, I’ll be reconsidering our marriage. My family has no need for such a cruel matriarch like you.”

Without another glance at me, he supported Debbii and walked out decisively.

And in the corner of the room, where he could not see, Debbii cast me a triumphant look.

Her lips moved silently, as if saying, “This time, I won.”

I didn’t even spare them a glance. I closed the door in their faces.

The next day, I set every instruction I had given earlier into motion.

There were three hours left until the press conference began. That was when the Lundebergs’ stock would start plummeting.

All the resources, projects, and partnerships I had once handed over to the Lundeberg Corporation—I would reclaim every last one of them.

And everything Bryson and Debbii had done to me, I would return to them in full!

Blocking both their numbers from my phone, I boarded the plane with Trevor.

Oh, I could not wait to see their downfall!