A flicker of doubt crossed Elvira's face as she looked at Toby.

Seeing Toby lower his head with a hurt expression, Elvira turned back to me and snapped, "That's enough, Wallace. How dare you threaten my parents with divorce? Toby was just trying to help me get back at you.

"Besides, I have every right to do what I want with my body before marriage. My virginity is mine to give whoever I choose."

I cut her off calmly. "You're right—your body, your choice. You can give your virginity to anyone you want. I cannot and should not have any complaints. Similarly, I have the right to think whatever I want.

"I can divorce whoever I choose, and you're not allowed to have any complaints about that either."

Elvira froze, her face instantly turning pale. But she quickly rolled her eyes and snorted coldly.

"Wallace, our engagement was arranged by both our grandfathers. Don't you forget that it's only because I married you that you got to be the richest heir!"

Seeing that I remained silent, she softened her tone and coaxed gently, "As long as you stop going after Toby, I'll overlook what you said to my parents."

As I listened to Elvira go on—first claiming I owed her my position, then practically planning a life with Toby—I realized that my past affection and indulgence had simply given her the nerve to blackmail me.

Those two were really made for each other. One brazenly called me to flaunt their affair, while the other wielded our relationship like a weapon.

Whitney, who'd been listening nearby, finally couldn't hold back any longer and said with biting sarcasm, "Elvia, as a fellow woman, I'm truly ashamed of you. My parents only have one son, and that's Wallace.

"Even without you, he can still inherit the family business. Don't tell me you think I'd compete with Wallace?"

Elvira's expression faltered slightly.

I looked at her calmly and composedly. "Elvira, it's completely over between us."

After ending the video call, I couldn't help but feel dazed.

Back then, Britton Group was facing a financial crisis, and Elvira had cried herself unconscious in front of me, begging me to save her family business.

I'd knelt before my parents for three days and nights before they finally agreed to help Britton Group through the crisis.

But the ordeal took a heavy toll on me, and I fell seriously ill. It was Elvira who nursed me devotedly for three months, never leaving my side.

Never did it once cross my mind that she could also change.

I thought I'd made myself perfectly clear to Elvira.

Out of consideration for both our families' dignity, I simply asked her to come over and finalize the divorce.

I didn't want to make a big scene, but when Whitney and I arrived at the family estate, we found the entrance crowded with people.

"Toby is the one I truly love. So what if Wallace is wealthy enough to rival entire nations? So what if he's the richest man? Money can't buy my love.

"Besides, if my grandfather hadn't saved his grandfather back in the day, the Cochran family wouldn't even be where they are today."

Elvira's accusations spilled out endlessly. According to her, I'd somehow become the homewrecker who used money and status to come between her and Toby.

She also claimed that my family had built our fortune by leeching off Britton Group.

She even said, "I just wanted to give my virginity to the person I truly love. How can something like one's first time be treated as a bargaining chip? Isn't a woman free to do as she pleases with her body?"

Her words felt like a hammer pounding on my nerves, each blow sending a jolt of pain through me.

It sounded laughable, but more than that, it was heartbreaking.

Elvira kept proclaiming Toby as the love of her life, yet the man she legally married was me.

There was no way Whitney was going to let Elvira blabber on to the reporters. She immediately got out of the car and, cradling her pregnant belly, charged forward.

When the reporters spotted us coming back, all hell broke loose as they swarmed around us.

Wealthy families had always been a goldmine for secrets and scandals, and every reporter there was racking their brains, desperate to dig up something sensational.

"Mr. Cochran, is it true what Ms. Britton said—that you were the third party in their relationship?"

Before I could even respond, Whitney erupted with fury. "Did all of you skip ethics class? Whatever Elvira says, you just believe it? She's the one who cheated—"

Whitney's words were cut short by the sharp crack of Elvira striking her cheek.

Caught completely off guard, Whitney fell hard to the ground. Her face contorted in pain as a cry escaped her lips.

But Elvira, still seething with rage, continued her tirade.

"I am your sister-in-law and the future sole mistress of the Cochran family! Why do you insist on driving a wedge between Wallace and me? You even fabricated that video and uploaded it online!"

These two accusations from Elvira struck like thunder, sending shockwaves through the gathered reporters.

The reporters' eyes went wide as they surged toward Whitney and me, firing off questions.

"Mr. Cochran, is what Ms. Britton said true? Did Ms. Cochran really upload that video?"

"Is this over a fight for the family fortune? Ms. Britton claims that without her grandfather, the Cochran family wouldn't be where it is today.

"And now Ms. Cochran uploads a video to sabotage the marriage between the two families—does she have her own ambitions regarding the inheritance? Mr. Cochran, what's your take on all this?"

Whitney was jostled by them until she collapsed to the ground, blood quickly pooling beneath her.

But Elvira still made a move to strike her.

I was practically spewing fire as I roared, "Elvira, if you so much as touch a single hair on Whitney's head, I'll destroy your entire family!"

I glared fiercely at all the reporters, my emotions running high. "I don't care what nonsense you want to report, but the consequences of slandering or harming my family are something even the Britton family cannot bear.

"If anything happens to Whitney because you're blocking the way here, my family and I will never let you off!"

At these words, the reporters were greatly startled and hastily made way.

But Elvira still stood in my way.

"Move!" I roared, shoving her aside.

Seeing Whitney trembling in pain, I quickly pulled out my phone to dial 911.

Elvira, however, knocked the phone right out of my hand. Then, in a tone as arrogant as ever, she said, "Wallace, you can't leave. You and Whitney must apologize to Toby today!"

A towering rage blazed in my eyes.

"Get out of the way!"

Toby, emboldened by Elvira's presence, chimed in to taunt me, "Wallace, Elvira is giving you a way out here. Don't be so ungrateful—"

But before he could even finish his sentence, I had already summoned my bodyguards.

I then pointed at Toby and commanded with an icy glare, "Beat him to a pulp! Every single injury Whitney has suffered, I want them returned a hundredfold upon him!"

At the sight of Toby at death's door, Elvira rushed over like crazy and tightly hugged him. Even as the bodyguards' batons struck her, she refused to let go.

I smiled bitterly to myself.

For someone so terrified of pain, Elvira had actually gone to such lengths for Toby.

Mr. and Mrs. Britton rushed over frantically as soon as they got wind of what was happening.

"Wallace, Elvira is still young and foolish—please forgive her just this once," they pleaded. "If you can't stand that good-for-nothing Toby, I'll personally ship him abroad. How does that sound?"

When Elvira saw Mr. Britton groveling before me, she immediately flew into a rage.

"Dad, Toby hasn't done anything wrong!" She shot me a vicious glare and hissed through gritted teeth, "Wallace, you're going to regret humiliating my parents like this for that little tramp."

Mr. and Mrs. Britton's faces went pale with terror as they trembled and looked at me.

Seeing that my phone had been smashed, I hurriedly gathered Whitney into my arms and headed for the car.

Right before leaving, I hurled one last icy barb at Elvira.

"Elvira, I won't forget this."

Elvira shot me a hateful glare in return, then dragged the whimpering Toby and her panicked parents away.

I rushed Whitney into the examination room. The doctor said she'd just suffered some pregnancy stress, and only then did I finally breathe a sigh of relief.

But in the short time it took to go out and buy chicken soup, Whitney—who should've been resting in the hospital bed—had vanished without a trace.

Just as I was frantically searching for Whitney throughout the hospital, Elvira was the first to find me.

She shoved her phone in front of me, looking smug. "Are you looking for that little tramp?"

On the screen, Whitney had a time bomb strapped to her chest. The countdown numbers on the display were ticking down, frame by frame.

00:59:59

00:59:58

00:59:57

Terrified and enraged, I began trembling violently and shouted, "Elvira, have you lost your mind?"

"Wallace, you'd better tell me where Toby is," Elvira replied with a look of disdain and her usual condescending tone. "Otherwise, Whitney and the baby she's carrying will be blown to bits because of you."

My eyes turned bloodshot as I screamed hysterically, "How would I know where Toby is?"

Elvira flew into a sudden rage. "Who else but you would lay a hand on Toby? Are you so jealous that you'd actually resort to kidnapping him?"

With that, she put the phone to her ear and commanded the person on the other end, "Speed up the time."

She thrust the screen toward me again with a smirk.

00:09:59

00:09:58

00:09:57

The incessant beeping of the bomb's countdown kept fraying my nerves.

My eyes wide with rage, I broke down sobbing and screaming, "It really wasn't me!"

But Elvira didn't believe me. She grabbed an ashtray nearby and slammed it viciously against my forehead.

"Are you that jealous of Toby?"

A sharp pain shot through my forehead, and bright red blood trickled down my cheek, blurring my vision.

For Whitney's slim chance of survival, I didn't dare fight back. I was terrified that in her rage, Elvira would hurt Whitney again.

With a thud, I dropped to my knees before Elvira.

"Elvira, I really didn't kidnap Toby. Whitney is my sister, the most important person in my life. I'm begging you, please let her go," I pleaded desperately.

But this didn't arouse Elvira's sympathy at all. She crouched down and patted my cheek.

"I don't believe you. When you kidnapped Toby, did you ever think about how important he is to me? You're not going to hand him over, are you? Then, I'll just—"

Before Elvira could finish, my bodyguard entered, dragging Toby along.

"Mr. Cochran, this guy was sneaking around at—"

Elvira shoved me aside and rushed forward to embrace Toby.

"Toby! I was so worried about you. You—"

Ignoring the sharp pain in my head, I grabbed hold of Elvira's hem and interrupted, "Where is Whitney?"

Looking at the blood streaming down my face, Elvira was about to speak when Toby suddenly kicked me away. His leather shoe ruthlessly ground against my fingertips.

"Wallace, you must be pretty pleased with yourself today. It's all your fault I'm injured so badly. Shouldn't you be apologizing to me first?"

I jerked my head up to look at Elvira, only for her to say dismissively, "Do as he says, or else."

For Whitney's sake, I gritted my teeth and prostrated myself toward Toby.

"I'm sorry."

Toby was insufferably smug.

"Then are you still willing to marry Elvira? Do you still care that I took her virginity?"

My heart clenched violently, wracked with sudden, excruciating pain.

But Whitney was still waiting for me.

The words spilled from my lips, laced with humiliation. "I don't care anymore. You two can do whatever you like."

After hearing this, Elvira smiled with satisfaction before speaking as if bestowing a favor, "That little tramp is at the Eastern Suburb Villa. Now get lost!"

I scrambled to my feet and rushed out of the hospital.

By the time I reached Whitney, the countdown on the bomb strapped to her had dwindled to just 50 seconds.

Amid Whitney's sobbing screams, I lunged forward, frantically trying to untie the ropes. But no matter what I did, the bomb wouldn't come off.

00:00:30

00:00:29

00:00:28

Consumed by despair, I broke down and called Elvira for help.

"Elvira, which wire do I cut to save Whitney?"

"I was just messing with you. That bomb is fake," Elvira snapped impatiently and hung up with a bang.

"It's real! The bomb is real! Elvira, don't hang up! Don't hang up! Elvira! El–"

The timer hit zero, and a deafening explosion tore through my body before I could even react.

The bomb on Whitney detonated in an instant.

Shockwaves rippled through my vision as I screamed, "No!"

The next second, I was sent flying by a tremendous force.

The world around me fell instantly silent. I drifted in an endless darkness, dizzy and disoriented, for what felt like an eternity.

When I finally regained consciousness, battered and bloodied, the smoke in the warehouse had long since cleared.

All I could see was Whitney's torn remains, sprawled chaotically in a pool of blood.

I scrambled over and gathered her into my arms, letting out a desperate, guttural wail.

The next moment, my phone automatically connected, and Elvira's detestable voice came through again.

"Wallace, the press conference is about to start. You promised you'd come and clarify the whole virginity thing. You'd better not go back on your word. Get over here now!"

I stared fixedly at the blood pooling beneath Whitney, the fury in my eyes blazing as if it'd burn everything to ashes.

"Fine. I'm coming right now," I said emphatically through gritted teeth.