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!