Izzy’s POV

Before I could even reach out to stop him, a sharp scream suddenly came from inside the office.

“Gavin! Something happened to my sister!”

The moment he heard that, Gavin’s expression changed drastically. He turned and was about to rush inside.

I grabbed his arm tightly. “Sign it first. Then go.”

He stared at me coldly, his eyes cold.

“Izzy, when did you become like this?”

Seeing that I absolutely wouldn’t let go, Frankie’s sister started shouting even more urgently.

Gavin’s face darkened.

Without even looking, he signed both documents, then turned and headed straight for the office.

I looked down at the divorce and resignation papers in my hands and finally let out a breath I’d been holding.

When I went through the resignation process, the HR staff kept looking at me like she wanted to say something but couldn’t.

As I turned to leave, she finally couldn’t hold it in anymore.

“Ma’am, Sir Gavin is just temporarily confused by that woman. At a time like this, you should stay with the company.”

I tugged at the corner of my lips in a faint, bitter smile.

Temporarily confused?

Gavin wasn’t fucking confused at all. His entire heart already belonged to Frankie.

For her, he’d killed my parents.

For her, he’d killed our baby.

But in the end, I still didn’t say a single word. I turned and left.

As soon as I reached the first floor, the elevator beside me suddenly opened. Gavin’s bodyguards surrounded me in an instant.

The man in front said expressionlessly, “Ma’am, Sir Gavin wants to see you.”

My heart dropped.

I turned and ran.

The next second, they pinned my arms, ignoring my struggle, and dragged me back to the office without mercy.

Gavin sat behind his desk, staring at me coldly. The veins on the back of his hand bulged violently.

“Izzy, I know you’re unhappy with Frankie. But you shouldn’t have hired people to kidnap her—let alone arrange for her to be assaulted…”

And then, he added, “Tell me where Frankie is right now, and I can still forgive you.”

He grabbed my chin hard, his presence terrifyingly cold.

My whole body trembled. My throat felt completely blocked; I couldn’t get a word out.

“I didn’t do it!” I forced out hoarsely.

His face darkened to something frightening. Then he suddenly let out a soft laugh.

“You’re still being stubborn, Izzy. Frankie’s sister is panicking right now. You and Frankie used to be so close. If you just say it now, she won’t blame you. You were just confused for a moment. Now, be good. Tell me the truth.”

His grip tightened even more. My jaw felt like it was about to crack.

“I told you I didn’t do it! Believe me or not, I didn’t! This was all staged by Frankie herself! You—”

“Enough!”

Before I knew it, he had slapped me hard across the face, the sound startling me.

I stared at him in disbelief.

He pushed his phone in front of me and said calmly, “Izzy, if I pull the plug on your parents’ ventilators, then you’ll understand how it feels, right?”

“I’ll give you three seconds,” he warned. “If you don’t tell me where Frankie is when the countdown ends, the hospital staff will unplug your parents’ life support.”

Seeing my parents on the screen, I shouted hysterically, “Gavin! Are you insane?! Those are my parents! How could you—”

“How couldn’t I?!” he roared. “You went after Frankie, so I go after your parents. That’s only fair!”

I stared at him, suddenly finding the whole thing absurd.

“Gavin… Do you even remember that I am your wife?”

He froze for a moment, then expressionlessly began counting down.

“Three.”

“I told you I don’t know!” I grabbed his arm, trying to stop him.

“Two.”

“Gavin…” My voice was so hoarse it barely sounded human. “I’m begging you... Please go investigate it first... It really wasn’t me.”

With my parents’ lives hanging in the balance, I finally lowered my head and begged him.

He leaned forward slightly, looking at my pale face, his lips moving without a trace of mercy.

“One. Do it.”

The countdown ended. On the other end of the call, the bodyguard received the order and immediately pulled the plug.

“No!” I screamed, my eyes widening in horror.

I lunged forward, trying to stop it, but Gavin shoved me violently aside.

On the screen, my parents convulsed a few times. The machines beside them began to beep in mournful alarms!

Tears streamed down my face in panic.

At that moment, Gavin’s phone rang. His expression instantly lit up with joy.

“You found her? I’m on my way right now!”

Just like that, he grabbed his coat and rushed out to look for Frankie.

My tears. My desperation. My parents’ lives. None of it mattered to him—not compared to a single word from Frankie.

Thinking of my parents, who could stop breathing at any second, I no longer had the strength to stop him.

After he left, I staggered to my feet, ready to rush to the hospital.

But before I could step out of the office, his assistant blocked my path.

With a look full of pity, he said, “Ma’am, I’m so sorry. Sir Gavin ordered me not to let you leave.”

“Get out of my way!” I shouted. “My parents are still in the hospital! Move!”

My cries were raw with grief, but I was still blocked, helpless, until I collapsed to my knees.

Frankie’s sister stood nearby, watching me smugly.

“So you dared to kidnap my sister. Look how that turned out. My sister’s fine, but your parents paid with their lives instead. If you want to blame someone, blame the fact that Gavin doesn’t love you. Your parents were just unlucky!”

Watching her laugh like a maniac, I couldn’t hold it in anymore.

My eyes red with tears, I charged at her.

The next second, Gavin’s assistant knocked me unconscious.

The last thing I saw before everything went dark was the blurry image of my parents walking farther and farther away...

Izzy’s POV

When I woke up again, I was tied up in an office.

Gavin was sitting in front of me, holding Frankie in his arms.

She was crying her eyes out. When she saw that I was awake, she shrank back into his chest like she was scared of me.

“Gavin, I really don’t know what to do anymore,” she sobbed. “Even though you saved me this time, what those monsters did to me… I’ll never be able to forget it. Never….”

She cried uncontrollably, her tears falling nonstop.

He lifted his hand and gently wiped away her tears, his eyes filled with pain and pity.

“Stop crying. I’ll get justice for you. This time, Izzy was the one who did wrong. You can decide how you want her to apologize.”

Frankie shot me a smug look, then pretended to be innocent as she said, “I want her to kneel down and apologize to me… a hundred times.”

Gavin glanced at me and frowned slightly.

“Frankie, apologizing is fine, but kneeling is unnecessary. And doing it a hundred times is too much.”

Her eyes instantly turned red.

“I knew it—you still care more about her. I almost got assaulted. When those men touched me, I wanted to die right there. I only asked her to kneel and apologize. Is that really worse than what I went through?”

“If you’re going to take her side,” she added, “then we shouldn’t see each other anymore. Otherwise, she might hurt me again.”

With that, she stood up and acted like she was about to leave.

He immediately pulled her back into his arms, helplessness flashing in his eyes.

“Alright, alright. I’ll do whatever you want.”

The bodyguards moved fast, forcing me down onto my knees. I stiffened my neck, refusing to bow my head, refusing to apologize no matter what.

Gavin only glanced at me coldly and said in a flat voice, “Izzy, if you’ve done something wrong, you should apologize. For every apology you skip, your parents will suffer one more minute.”

The moment I heard that, all the strength drained from my body. I let the bodyguards slam my head down hard against the floor.

Frankie gave the bodyguard a subtle look. He understood immediately and pressed down even harder on my head.

After only a few blows, my forehead split open, blood pouring down my face.

As I stared at Gavin’s indifferent expression, his past words suddenly echoed in my ears.

“Baby, even the smallest injury to you breaks my heart. You have to protect yourself, and I’ll protect you, too. No one is allowed to hurt you.”

Those promises still rang clearly in my ears.

Yet the man who said them… was now the one hurting me the most.

I lowered my head weakly, my ears ringing.

Blood covered my face. I had already lost count of how many times I’d begged for forgiveness.

When the bodyguards finally let go, I couldn’t hold on anymore and collapsed to the floor.

Just before the world went completely dark, I heard Gavin’s assistant shout in panic.

“Sir! Something’s wrong! Ma’am Izzy’s parents… They’ve stopped breathing!”

Gavin’s eyes widened. His grip on Frankie’s hand tightened unconsciously.

She cried out in pain, but he didn’t notice. His eyes were locked on the assistant.

“Keep this quiet. Don’t let Izzy find out. If anyone tells her, don’t blame me for what happens next.”

Frankie opened her mouth, wanting to say something, but she immediately fell silent under Gavin’s dark, threatening stare.

I weakly reached out, trying to stay conscious.

But in the end, I was swallowed by endless darkness.

Izzy’s POV

When I woke up again, I went to the hospital without telling anyone.

The entire place had already been completely locked down by Gavin. Even though I was my parents’ biological child, I still wasn’t allowed to see them.

But I knew the news I heard before I passed out couldn’t possibly be fake.

And everything Gavin was doing now only proved it.

My parents’ smiling faces… The birthday gifts they prepared for me every single year.

No matter what I did, they supported me without hesitation.

Scene after scene from the past flashed through my mind.

And yet now, I couldn’t even properly take care of their final arrangements.

At that thought, my tears burst out uncontrollably.

After contacting Gavin’s sworn enemy, I secretly made my way into the hospital.

When I saw the two familiar, pale faces in front of me, I collapsed to my knees and cried until I lost consciousness.

When I woke up again, everything had already been reduced to ashes by the fire.

Holding my parents’ ashes, I swore that I would make Gavin and Frankie pay for what they’d done!

By the time I returned to the villa, it was already deep into the night.

The villa was still brightly lit as always. Only now, the silence was terrifying.

I didn’t call Gavin like I used to, asking him where he was.

Just then, I heard the sound of a notification.

At the same time, my phone buzzed.

Frankie had sent me another taunting message.

[Gavin won’t be going back anytime soon. We’re traveling together. You take good care of the house. When I get back, I’ll have Gavin toss you a bone to chew on. Hahaha!]

Below the message was a photo of the two of them embracing, basking under blue skies and white clouds.

Calmly, I blocked her, then deleted every single way to contact Gavin.

After that, I placed the divorce certificate, the cremation documents, and all the recordings that exposed the truth onto the coffee table in the villa.

Then I took my luggage—and my parents’ ashes—and left this place that used to be my home.

One week later, at the Armantrading Group project signing ceremony, Gavin would finally receive the punishment he deserved.

From this moment on, I swear—he would never see me again.