Chapter 3

Kevin raised his hands and rubbed his temples.

"Laura, you handle this. My head hurts."

Then came the sound of his footsteps as he turned around and went upstairs.

Laura admired the ring on her finger with delight. I recognized it right away. It was the one Kevin had never taken off.

Seeing that ring was like seeing the Godfather of the Hemsworth family himself, Kevin.

She casually picked up a torture device from the table and handed it to a guard.

"Anna, so what if you stayed by Kevin's side for ten years? The one he's going to marry is me. That wedding dress that was originally made for you? I'll be the one wearing it."

The excitement in her eyes was impossible to hide, but she suddenly remembered that I had been the one to choose the dress. The look of jealousy on her face was obvious.

"You're such an eyesore."

I struggled while trying to shout upstairs for Kevin, but Laura ordered the guards to drag me and my parents to a warehouse outside the estate.

She sealed our mouths shut with layer after layer of tape.

Smiling, she placed a knife against my dad's plastered leg.

"Take a guess. Do you think I can stab through this cast?"

"No!"

I screamed in terror as she raised the dagger high and stabbed down.

Although it didn't pierce through, the unhealed flesh beneath the cast was still hurt by the pressure.

Afraid I would worry, my dad endured the pain without making a sound.

But I still saw the large beads of sweat on his forehead.

Seeing my anguish only made Laura smile wider.

She retrieved a vial of poison and had a guard pry open my mother's mouth.

"You made me watch Kevin love you for ten years. Now I'll make you watch your parents die right in front of you.

"I'm being merciful, really."

They forced an entire bottle of poison down my parents' throats before Laura called George over to the warehouse entrance.

"Not satisfied, are you? I'll give you one last chance.

"I'll ask George to pass a message to Kevin. Let's see if he'll send someone to save you."

Outside, after speaking with George, she used his internal line to call Kevin.

"Kevin, this maid keeps crying and saying she wants to talk to you. It's kind of pitiful. Do you want to hear her out?"

She pressed the receiver to my ear. I could hear his breathing grow heavier.

Desperate, I shouted into the phone, "Kevin! You said I should never leave you, and I agreed! I'll marry you! Please remember me! Please save my parents!"

My parents lay on the ground. Their faces were pale, and they foamed at the mouth. Their bodies were trembling all over.

Tears streamed down my face as I panicked. My heart felt like it was about to explode.

"Did you think I lost my memory?"

I froze completely. His cold voice pierced through me.

"Tricking me once wasn't enough? Are you trying for a second time?"

The call ended. My parents stopped moving.

I felt like a puppet with no soul. In fact, I even forgot how to breathe.

Laura pulled out a syringe and injected a sedative into my arm.

When I woke up, I couldn't move at all.

I was surrounded by flowers and the sound of guests offering congratulations.

I saw Laura in a white wedding dress. She walked step by step toward Kevin, who was in a tuxedo.

The wedding was luxurious yet romantic. Every detail exactly as I had once described to him.

Almost every important figure connected to the Hemsworth family was there.

Yet now, he held the ring we had designed together while gently taking Laura's hand.

I lowered my gaze. Below me was a bottomless cliff.

My fingers had been broken. I couldn't even make a sound.

From afar, Laura met my eyes. Hers were filled with triumph and provocation.

She mouthed to me, "You lost. Go to hell!"

The wind on the mountain grew stronger. A slight shift of my body would send me falling to my death.

My parents were dead. I was crippled and could no longer hold a scalpel.

I knew Laura would stop at nothing to kill me.

It was better to end it myself.

I closed my eyes. Tears slipped silently down. I leaned back ever so slightly.

As if driven by instinct, Kevin suddenly looked toward me. His pupils dilated uncontrollably.

He blurted out my name.

"Anna!"