Stephanie's face turned pale the moment she heard Edison's words.

"I refuse!" Jacob said flatly.

Edison struck him hard on the back with his cane. He was furious beyond belief. "You ungrateful child! You were the one who insisted on being with Lindy back then. You even swore in front of your parents' graves that you'd give her a happy life.

"And now look at you. You've delayed the wedding year after year. It's been five years! How much longer are you going to waste Lindy's time?"

Lindsey lowered her gaze. She suddenly recalled that she and Jacob had shared some good memories too. He was a decisive and ruthless man on the outside, but he had once been thoughtful and considerate for her sake as well.

Back then, just because Lindsey said she was afraid, Jacob spared the life of an enemy who tried to kill him. From that moment on, everyone knew he had a weakness.

Jacob had calmness and composure etched into his bones, but he stayed up all night keeping watch at her bedside on the third night of her persistent fever.

Lindsey had once casually mentioned liking magnolia flowers, and he had rows of magnolia trees planted all around the villa. But later, Stephanie's name was carved onto every single one of those trees.

Just like at this moment…

With just one teary-eyed look from Stephanie, Jacob was willing to go against the entire world for her sake.

"I won't marry Lindsey," he said. "She's not good enough for me."

He then took Stephanie's hand, his eyes seemingly crazed with reckless resolve. "The one I truly love is Stephie. I will marry no one but her. I can agree to pretend that Lindsey is my fiancee in public, but I can't do it if you want me to marry her."

With that, he fell to his knees with a thud.

Stephanie followed suit and kneeled before Edison. Her teary eyes were filled with stubborn determination. "Grandpa, please give us your blessing to be together!"

Edison was so furious that his breathing grew rapid, and his chest heaved violently. "Get out! Go and reflect on yourselves in the family chapel!"

Amid countless shocked stares, Jacob and Stephanie walked into the chapel together, hands tightly clasped.

Lindsey watched the entire scene expressionlessly. She couldn't help but feel how ridiculous this whole situation was.

She took out a wooden box from her bag. Inside the box was a priceless emerald bracelet, a family heirloom of the Whitaker family.

Edison froze for a moment. "Lindy, what are you…"

Lindsey stepped backward and nodded respectfully. "Mr. Whitaker Senior, thank you for taking care of me these past five years. However, I really can't stay by Jacob's side anymore."

Edison tried to persuade her otherwise, but Lindsey didn't hesitate. She placed the bracelet down and left without looking back.

As she passed the chapel, she heard kissing sounds coming from inside. She peeked through a crack in the door and saw Jacob and Stephanie's figures entangled intimately in a passionate kiss.

Lindsey didn't stop in her tracks. She turned around and left the Whitaker estate.

First, she went to a bank and transferred 2.5 million dollars to Jacob's account.

Next, she went to Whitaker Group and resigned from her position as Jacob's secretary. The HR manager was one of Lindsey's few friends. She said sincerely, "Lindy, congratulations on finally getting out of that nightmare."

Similarly, Lindsey felt as if a weight had been lifted from her shoulders. She owed Jacob nothing anymore.

She returned to the villa that evening. Suddenly, a glass of water flew at her. It shattered at her feet, and the flying glass shards cut into her leg.

Jacob stormed over to Lindsey and grabbed her by the throat. "Lindsey! Grandpa always treated you like his own granddaughter, and this is how you repay him? By pushing him down the stairs?" he demanded.

Lindsey's face turned red from lack of air, the veins in her neck swelling.

She slapped Jacob's hands desperately, trying to survive. "No, I didn't… It wasn't me!"

A pitiful voice drifted down from upstairs. "Ms. Johnson, Mr. Brown already confirmed that it was you who pushed Grandpa down the stairs. Are you still going to lie? Jacob, is this the woman you chose? She can't even admit what she's done. What a coward!"

Jacob pushed Lindsey hard into a corner. She coughed violently. Out of the corner of her eye, she caught a glimpse of the smug glint in Stephanie's eyes.

At that moment, her scalp tingled with fear. She didn't need to think twice. Stephanie was the one who pushed Edison down the stairs.

Suddenly, an urgent ringing sound was heard. Derek's voice rang out. "Mr. Jacob, Mr. Whitaker Senior is losing blood quickly, but the supply at the hospital's blood bank is critically low…"

Lindsey couldn't catch whatever he said next, because Stephanie added fuel to the fire. "Jacob, I remember Ms. Johnson has the same blood type as Grandpa, right?"

A bone-chilling fear surged through Lindsey's body, from her head to her toes.

A second later, Jacob forcefully dragged her to the hospital and brought her into the emergency room. "Draw her blood. I don't care if she dies as long as Grandpa survives!"

Lindsey was then bound with thick ropes as the cold needle pierced into her veins. Her eyes filled with despair.

"Jacob, I'm willing to donate my blood to Mr. Whitaker Senior even if you hadn't asked," she said. "But I didn't push him down the stairs! You can't just trample on my dignity like this!"

Jacob sneered. "Still lying? Grandpa treated you so well, and this is how you repay him? You'd better pray that he lives. Otherwise, you'll pay for his death with your blood!"

Anger, grief, humiliation, and despair swirled within her chest. Lindsey could feel her blood draining away, and her body temperature was plummeting. It felt as if she were standing at death's door.

Did her mother also suffer in pain like this when she had no one to turn to for help?

Dazed, Lindsey smiled through her tears. In her half-conscious state, she seemed to hear her mother calling her.

"Mom, are you coming to take me now?" Lindsey thought.

Lindsey had a very long dream.

In her dream, Stephanie hadn't yet returned to the country. She and Jacob were still a couple deeply in love. He would take her to hang out with his friends, proudly showing her off like she was his entire world.

Jacob would also accompany her to visit Jenny at the hospital. He tried his best to win her mother's favor and cautiously hoped that Jenny would acknowledge him as her son-in-law.

He had done so much for her and given her countless memories of heart-pounding moments. Lindsey truly believed they would have a future together.

Her dream was finally shattered when she was abruptly woken up by a bucket of ice-cold water dumped over her head. Her thin clothes were completely soaked, and a cold gust of wind pierced her body with unbearable pain.

Jacob sat in a chair and looked down at her with a cold gaze. "You should be grateful that Grandpa pulled through. Otherwise, you would've lost your life on the operating table. However, you're going to stay here to reflect on your actions until he wakes up. Be ready to donate blood at any time."

A loud explosion went off in Lindsey's mind, and goosebumps appeared all over her body.

This solitary chamber was where Jacob dealt with his enemies. Countless lives had ended in this place. It hadn't seen daylight in years, and the air in the space itself reeked of blood.

Once, Lindsey had asked teasingly, "If we ever become enemies in the future, would you lock me in here and torture me too?"

Back then, Jacob had promised her with conviction. "No, that would never happen to us."

But now, he had personally thrown her into this abyss full of bones because of a lie riddled with holes!

Lindsey was utterly heartbroken. She felt as if her heart was being cut open bit by bit with a blunt knife.

She looked up at Jacob and spoke clearly in defense of herself, "I did not push Mr. Whitaker Senior down the stairs. I'm innocent, and I won't reflect on something I never did."

She scrambled to get up, but her whole body felt like it was falling apart. She simply couldn't stand on her feet.

Jacob let out a cold laugh. "Lindsey, you've perfectly mastered the act of playing innocent, but I'll never believe a word you say ever again!"

With that, he turned and left.

The lights in the room went out completely. Lindsey was plunged into the pitch-black darkness, thick with the stench of blood.

A suffocating fear engulfed her. She broke down and screamed at the top of her lungs. It wasn't until her voice had turned hoarse that the door to the solitary chamber was flung open.

Stephanie gave Lindsey a condescending look and spat with contempt, "You hussy! If it weren't for the fact that your face resembles mine, Jacob wouldn't spare you a second glance! But it doesn't matter. As long as I ruin this face of yours, you won't be able to seduce him ever again!"

Stephanie approached menacingly with a knife. Her eyes were filled with jealous rage and madness. She slashed the blade toward Lindsey's face.

Lindsey's survival instincts kicked in, and her eyes turned bloodshot. Instinctively, she raised her hand to block the attack. However, the pain she expected never came.

Suddenly, a thunderous roar came from the doorway. "Lindsey!"

A second later, Lindsey was shoved to the floor by brute force, and her forehead slammed into a corner of the wall. What was worse, she fell directly onto a pile of bones. The crunch of bones cracking under her weight made her scalp tingle, and she screamed in fear.

But what truly shocked her was that Stephanie actually stabbed the knife into her own left shoulder. She collapsed into a pool of blood. "Lindsey, I came to save you… but you tried to kill me…"

Lindsey panicked. She wanted to explain to Jacob that she didn't hurt Stephanie. However, Jacob was more panicked than she was.

He carried Stephanie, who was covered with blood, in his arms and rushed to the hospital. Then, he gathered the most experienced doctors for Stephanie's surgery.

His white shirt was stained with blood, his arm was bleeding from scraping against a rusty metal door, and his eyes were bloodshot. Jacob looked frantic, vulnerable, and on the verge of breaking down.

He even yelled angrily at his friends who came to console him.

"Get lost!"

Finally, Jacob fell to his knees in front of the hospital window and prayed to the skies with reverence, "If Stephie dies, I won't live either!"

This was a side of Jacob that Lindsey had never seen.

The doors to the operating room suddenly burst open, and a nurse rushed out in a hurry. "The patient is experiencing massive blood loss, but the hospital blood bank is running low…"

Jacob rolled up his sleeves without hesitation. "Take my blood! I have the same blood type as Stephie. I can save her!"

Jacob's friends were shocked and tried to stop him. "Jake, have you gone mad? She's just a woman. No matter how much you love her, she's not worth you going this far!"

However, Jacob's eyes were terrifyingly cold. "Stephie is the love of my life, and she's my everything! Without her, I can't go on living!"

The surgery lasted for a whole day and night. Stephanie finally made it through. Although Jacob had lost a dangerous amount of blood, he was overjoyed with the results.

He cleared out the entire hospital and called in all the doctors to serve Stephanie alone. He also never took one step away from her bedside.

Everyone was praising the greatness of their love, but Lindsey couldn't help remembering the terrible state Jenny was in before she died. It turned out that Jacob had the final say over someone's life and death.

How ironic was it?

Stephanie was hospitalized for two weeks, and Jacob stayed by her side the entire time.

During those two weeks, Lindsey packed up her luggage and moved out of the villa that had imprisoned her for five years. She rented a small apartment with the little savings she had left and returned to work at the bar where she used to have a part-time job.

She had to endure these last two weeks before she could officially return to the National Institute of Research. However, she hadn't expected to run into Jacob again so soon.

To celebrate Stephanie's discharge, he booked out the entire bar and invited all the rich young scions of Janderville for a party all night long. The lights in the bar were dim, and the music boomed as loud as thunder.

Meanwhile, Jacob took great care of Stephanie the whole time. His friends surrounded her and fussed over her as well.

Lindsey didn't want to be involved with any of them, so she texted her boss to request leave.

However, Stephanie called out to her just as she was about to leave, "Lindsey, you've done such horrible things to me, yet you don't even have a single word of apology? Now you're trying to run away too?"

Her teary eyes aroused the pity of everyone who saw her, but Lindsey merely cast her a cold glance. "I'll say it one more time. I didn't do any of those things. If you keep spreading lies, I'll sue you for defamation."

With that, Lindsey turned to leave. However, Jacob ordered his bodyguards to block her path.

A glass of strong liquor was dumped all over Lindsey's head, and a wave of humiliation overwhelmed her like never before.

The loud, jarring music was cut off instantly. The group of wild partygoers fell silent at that moment and stared at her gloatingly.

Jacob sneered. "Trying to run away after what you did? Lindsey, why haven't I ever realized what a vicious woman you really are? First, you hurt Grandpa. Now, you dared to lay a hand on Stephie. What's next? Planning to turn me into a puppet and keep me by your side forever?"

His face looked a little pale from days of exhaustion, but his gaze was locked onto Lindsey. His eyes were as sharp as a blade.

Lindsey felt mentally drained from repeating herself. "I've already told you. I didn't push Mr. Whitaker Senior, and I didn't hurt Stephanie either."

Nonetheless, Lindsey knew she sounded unconvincing and powerless even as the words came out of her mouth. The surveillance cameras were broken, human witnesses had been bribed, and Jacob was blinded by love.

She said, "I swear on my life that I didn't stab Stephanie. If I'm lying, I'm willing to be cursed with a terrible death. But Stephanie, do you dare to swear on your life? Do you dare swear that this whole thing wasn't an act you set up?"

"That's enough!" Jacob snapped and shielded Stephanie behind him. "Lindsey, you still show no remorse! Then, don't blame me for disregarding our past and teaching you a lesson about our family's values!"

Lindsey's legs buckled, and the bodyguards forced Lindsey to her knees in front of everyone. She struggled violently, but the threat of death filled her with fear.

Jacob took a leather whip from one of the bodyguards and approached her slowly. "Are you scared now? Did you ever think about how heartbroken Grandpa and Stephie were when you hurt them?"

With that, he swung the whip with a crack. The first blow landed square on her back.

Lindsey's body jerked violently like she had been electrocuted. The pain was so intense that she couldn't speak.

"Speak!" Jacob raised his voice, filled with fury. "Do you admit your mistake?"

"I won't…" Lindsey's voice was weak but stubborn.

Jacob laughed in exasperation and raised the whip again. "You won't? Do you think you could avoid responsibility just by refusing to admit your fault? You're a criminal, Lindsey!"

The sound of the cracking whip and the crowd's jeering laughter suffocated Lindsey, and she found it hard to breathe. But the more they crushed her, the more defiant she became.

Lindsey suddenly burst into laughter. She laughed so hard that tears appeared in her eyes. "I didn't do anything wrong! Why should I admit to something I didn't do? My biggest mistake in this life was getting involved with a beast like you! Jacob, you're the real heinous villain here!"

Stephanie furrowed her brow. "Lindsey, I won't let you insult Jacob like that—"

"And who do you think you are? Do you think you're any better?" Lindsey cut her off coldly, shouting like a madwoman. "You're just a pathetic parasite leeching onto others! What right do you have to order me around?"

Jacob was beside himself with anger. He cracked the whip and struck Lindsey's body ruthlessly.

"This is for Grandpa," he said after the first blow.

"This is punishment for daring to harm Stephie," he growled on the second blow.

And on the third blow, he shouted, "This one is a warning. Don't even dream of becoming the mistress of the Whitaker family!"

…

All 64 lashes seemed to land squarely on Lindsey's heart. A sweet, metallic taste rose in her throat. She spat out a mouthful of blood and fainted on the spot.

Lindsey found herself in a hospital room when she woke up once more. The television in the room was looping a live video of her being whipped. Her agonized screams of pain seemed to spur on their drunken revelry, and her bloodied back was doused repeatedly with liquor by malicious bystanders.

She lay there like a piece of ragged cloth, forgotten and discarded in a corner. Lindsey was finally saved when the bar owner came to check the place and found her barely alive.

There was no sorrow greater than a broken heart.

Despite her sadness, Lindsey couldn't even shed a tear.

Suddenly, a voice called out, "You're awake?"