Andon grabbed my wrist. He was surprisingly strong. He leaned so close that the tip of his nose almost brushed my neck.

Andon laughed coldly as his gaze locked onto my collar. "What is that smell?"

His voice was as cold as ice. "It's the smell of men's cologne. You're such a shameless woman, Elise. Have you found the next man already?"

His grip was hurting me, and I could not help frowning. "Mr. Garner, this has nothing to do with you."

His expression turned grim at once. There was a flash of aggression in his eyes, which I could not understand. "Who is it? One of the family's drivers? Or is it a gardener? That's the kind of person who suits your taste."

He looked contemptuously at me, his voice full of scorn.

Before I could retort, Sasha suddenly cried out delicately behind him. "Oh…"

Andon immediately let go of me and turned to help her.

She leaned against his chest, looking fragile. "Andon, I feel so dizzy…"

Andon immediately swung her up into his arms.

Sasha put her arms around his neck and pressed her cheek against his chest. She looked at me challengingly.

She had done that in my past life, too. She had deceived Andon for ten years by appearing frail and delicate to him.

Andon held her in his arms and turned to me. He said coldly, "Elise, since Grandma wants you to stay, then behave yourself. Don't even think about trying to get what doesn't belong to you."

His words pierced my heart like a poisonous thorn. In my past life, I thought that he had hated me because he loved Sasha.

Now, I finally understood that he merely enjoyed the rush of being superior to others and having the authority to decide whether they lived or died.

I answered in a low voice, "Alright."

In this life, I wanted to see how Andon and Sasha would end up without my interference, since they had been such tragic lovers in the past.

I lifted my hand and pressed my chest gently. The intense pain I had felt on the brink of death in my past life was no longer there. Instead, it beat strongly and steadily.

Seth was my trump card in this life, and he was stronger than I had expected him to be.

Mrs. Garner Senior was determined to have Andon marry me as a way of repaying the debt they owed me.

However, Andon announced the next day that Sasha was the woman he wanted to marry. He even gave the domestic staff special instructions, saying that Sasha would be his future wife and that they had to take good care of her.

I was instantly placed in an awkward position.

"Mr. Andon must really dislike that Fulton woman. He even disobeyed Mrs. Garner Senior and is determined not to marry her."

"I bet she's just a scammer who didn't actually save his life. She probably used some kind of despicable trick, and Mr. Andon must have seen through it."

"She doesn't seem like a good person at all. She always looks so cold and indifferent, as if someone owes her money."

The whispers of the maids buzzed like flies in my ears.

They found all kinds of ways to torment me in order to curry favor with Sasha.

As soon as my back was turned, someone threw down my freshly washed clothes and stepped all over them, leaving muddy prints on them.

The food delivered to my room was always cold.

Sasha held a cup of warm milk and walked over to me in a fake manner. "Did your clothes fall to the floor again, Ms. Fulton? The maids are so careless."

I looked at the undisguised glee on her face and bent down to pick up my dirty clothes. I turned and left without saying a word.

The rumors became more ridiculous. Some said that I had done everything I could just to curry favor with the Garners, and that I had knocked on the doors of the male domestic staff in the middle of the night.

They even embellished stories about the kinds of personal items that I had in my room.

"I heard that last night, she went to see the security guard at the gates again. Tsk. She must be desperate."

"Exactly. I saw her come out of the security guard's room myself. Her hair was all tousled."

I clenched my teeth and suppressed the disgust I felt.

They were trying to make me leave with all those rumors.

I was about to find Mrs. Garner Senior to explain myself, but I bumped into Andon at the study door.

He grabbed my wrist and dragged me into the storeroom beside us.

"Do you like being around men so much?"

He stared coldly at me, his eyes filled with contempt.

I struggled and tried to fling his hand away, but he was frighteningly strong.

"Mr. Garner, are you going to force yourself on me now because you believed the nonsense that the domestic staff have been spouting?" I retorted, sneering.

His hand tightened suddenly. "How dare a shameless woman like you talk about such things with me?"

I looked straight into his eyes without saying anything.

After a moment, he suddenly said, "I know that you did all those things to get my attention. If you obey me in the future, I can consider letting you be my lover."

I almost laughed out loud when I saw how conceited he was. "I don't want that."

He gave me a resounding slap in the face.

"How could that man of yours be better than me? Don't get too big for your boots, Elise!"

He had hit me so hard that I saw stars, and there was a faint taste of blood in the corner of my mouth.

His gaze stopped on my red and swollen face for a moment, and his tone actually softened slightly.

"Don't be so willful. If you break things off with him, you'll have everything that Sasha has, except for the fact that she'll be my wife."

I laughed coldly. "I told you that I don't want that."

He was provoked by my attitude. He grabbed a stack of documents from the table and threw them hard at me.

"Then get out of the house! We don't need a promiscuous woman like you!"

I didn't even bother to look at him and just turned and left.

It would be better to leave now instead of continuing to be an eyesore around the place.

I had just walked out of the storeroom when I saw Sasha standing at the door, staring maliciously at me.

"Elise, why do you keep pestering Andon?"

I snorted. "Andon is just trash, and you're the only one who sees him as a treasure. I don't want him."

I passed her and walked straight over to the stairs.

"Aargh! What are you doing, Ms. Fulton? Don't push me!" Sasha suddenly screamed shrilly behind me.

I turned in shock and saw her fall down the stairs.

My eyes widened, and my mind went blank.

The domestic staff heard the noise and rushed over. Andon charged out of the storeroom and threw himself madly at Sasha.

"Sasha!"

He picked up Sasha, who was covered in blood, and his voice trembled with pain and heartache.

Sasha leaned into his embrace, looking piteous. Her voice was barely above a whisper. "I-It's not Ms. Fulton's fault. I was careless and made her angry…"

She looked tearfully at Andon. "But I can't live without you…"

"Elise!"

Andon looked up and glared at me, his eyes reddening with anger. He looked like a wild beast that was about to devour me whole. "How dare you treat Sasha so violently? Get her!"

A few strong bodyguards came up to me at once. They pinned my hands roughly behind my back and pushed me down on my knees in front of Sasha.

My knees crashed heavily on the marble floor, and I turned pale with pain at once.

"Which hand did you use to push Sasha?"

Andon towered over me as he looked down at me, and there was no trace of warmth in his voice at all.

"I didn't push her," I forced the words out through gritted teeth.

"You can check the security footage."

Sasha huddled in Andon's arms and began crying even harder. "Don't look at it, Andon. It was all my fault. I fell on my own, and it has nothing to do with Ms. Fulton."

"Sasha, you're just too kind."

Andon wiped her tears away gently. "Venomous women like her aren't worthy of you pleading on her behalf."

I laughed self-deprecatingly. Andon never believed me, neither in this life nor in the last.

Andon said coldly, "Since you won't say which hand it was, then I'll maim them both."

My heart sank. I was a law student. My life would be ruined if my hands were crippled.

"N-no!"

I shook my head in terror. "You can call the police on me, but don't touch my hands!"

Andon smiled cruelly. "Do you care about your hands that much? Well, I'll make it even more painful for you.

"Go and bring me the gardening shears that the gardeners use to prune the roses."

Sasha shot me a gleeful look as she nestled in Andon's arms. I trembled all over with hatred.

I could not understand it. I hadn't done anything wrong. Why did I always have to suffer such disasters for no reason?

Andon took the gleaming shears and walked toward me step by step. He crouched down and pinched my little finger.

"This is the consequence of not obeying."

He spoke in a low voice in my ear, his voice as soft as the murmur of the devil. "You loved me so much in my past life and were so meek. In this life, why—"

I did not hear the rest of it clearly, but I understood at once. He had been reborn, too.

All my hatred for him surged up in my chest. I stared fixedly at him, wishing that the look in my eyes could make him die a slow, torturous death.

Andon raised the shears once more. "Beg me. If you beg me, I'll let you go. Alright?"

"No!"

I clenched my teeth. "Andon, I am telling you right now. I will fight you to the death in this life!"

Andon was furious, and he raised the shears high up in the air.

At that moment, a cold but slightly weak male voice rang out at the door. "Stop!"

Andon paused abruptly, and the shears remained frozen in mid-air. There was a flash of panic in his eyes, but it was soon replaced by ferocity.

"Why are you here, Seth? This woman is venomous. She pushed Sasha down the stairs—"

Seth's appearance was like a light in the dark to me.

I endured the intense pain in my knees and fingers and shouted in a hoarse voice, "I didn't… I didn't push her! She fell down the stairs herself—"

Andon glared at me. "How dare you argue when Sasha is hurt so badly! Look at her, Seth! How can a woman like her stay in our home?"

I laughed scornfully and retorted, "Andon, you're becoming better at twisting the truth.

"I didn't push her, and the security footage will prove it.

"Also, what gives you the right to touch my hands? Who do you think you are? You're using extrajudicial force, and it's illegal!"

Sasha looked tearfully at Seth and said weakly, "Mr. Garner, I'm fine… It's not Ms. Fulton's fault. I was just careless—"

Seth slapped Andon hard in the face.

Seth was as pale as a sheet, but there was an icy, sharp glint in his eyes. No one dared to meet his eyes.

"Is this the way I taught you? Are you going to use force on a woman without even asking about what happened?"

His gaze alighted on my finger, which had turned bright red from Andon's grip on it. His brow furrowed tightly, and he helped me up from the floor and pulled me into his arms.

"Call a doctor, hurry!"

Sasha was still sniffling piteously beside us. "Mr. Garner—"

"Shut up!"

Seth's gaze swept imperiously over her. "How dare you call me that? You're an insignificant woman who popped up out of nowhere, and you need to remember your place!"

"Seth! Sasha isn't an outsider. I'm going to marry her!" Andon shouted furiously.

Andon received yet another fierce slap in the face.

"Andon, you're getting too big for your boots. Toss this lying woman out of here!"

Seth was frail because of his condition. However, he had been in charge for many years, and it showed at that moment. He was so intimidating that Andon stepped backward involuntarily.

Two bodyguards stepped forward at once and began dragging Sasha out as she continued to sob.

"Don't be afraid. With me around, no one will be able to hurt you again."

Seth looked down at me with a tenderness in his eyes that I had never seen before.

I leaned into his embrace and finally let a tiny sob escape. "My hand hurts… My knees hurt too… I'm so glad you came…"

Andon stared fixedly at us as we embraced each other. He completely ignored Sasha's screams as she was dragged away.

"Seth, you're being too affectionate with Elise. It's not appropriate. I was wrong. Put her down."

"What's inappropriate about it? Elise and I will be getting engaged next month. In the future, she'll be your sister-in-law."

"What? I won't allow it!" Andon shrieked.

"You have no right to interfere in my affairs." Seth looked menacing.

At that moment, the doctor arrived. Seth carried me in his arms and strode over to the east wing.

Before leaving, I turned and looked at Andon, who looked lost and helpless. The thrill of revenge rose in my heart.

In my past life, all I knew was that mentions of Seth were taboo in the Garner household. What I hadn't known was that he always had feelings for me.

When he passed away, I tidied up his personal belongings and discovered an entire room full of portraits of me that he had drawn.

It turned out that I resembled the first love of his youth, whom he had loved but lost in the end.

That was why I had grabbed hold of him as my trump card in this life without any hesitation at all.

On the way, Seth looked at my knees and my hand, his eyes full of heartache.

"It's my fault. I should have told everyone earlier about our relationship so that you wouldn't have had to suffer this."

I shook my head and just leaned into his arms weakly without saying anything.

The doctor said that my knees were bruised and that my finger would have been crippled if Andon's shears had cut further down.

Seth looked even more menacing when he heard this.

"You can deal with that woman however you want, Elise. Just say the word."

I was as pale as a sheet, but I said softly, "I'm not a vicious person. I just want justice."

He caressed my face with a faraway look in his eyes, as if he was looking through me at another person. "Don't worry. I'll make sure to clear your name."

I leaned in his warm embrace and laughed coldly to myself.

That wasn't all I wanted.

I wanted Sasha and Andon to have their reputation ruined, and for them to wish that they were dead!