Chapter 2

When I returned to my room, I unbuttoned my clothes and saw that my arms and thighs were already covered in massive red burns.

The servant who saw me gasped in horror and immediately wanted to call a doctor, but I shook my head to stop her. It was just a burn. In my past life, I had endured pain far worse than this.

I sat by the edge of the bed and slowly applied the ointment myself. There were no tears, nor any feeling of grievance. I simply stared out the window at the vast estate belonging to Ronan and suddenly found it all unfamiliar.

Once upon a time, I believed this place would become my home. Now, all I wanted was to leave as soon as possible.

While recovering from my injuries, I began packing my belongings. Clothing, jewelry, documents… I sorted through them little by little, and anything tied to old memories, I left behind.

Following my instructions, the servants cleared out everything I no longer wanted. However, I never expected that Ronan would appear at my doorway that afternoon.

In his hand, he held an old pocket watch. That was the very first gift I had nagged him to give me. Back then, as if brushing off a nuisance, he threw me that pocket watch that had accompanied him for years.

I had cherished it for so many years. Even when it broke, I couldn’t bear to throw it away. Yet now, it lay in a trash bag, retrieved personally by his own hands.

“You threw this away?” he asked, his voice deep as he stared at me.

I stood there in silence. He let out a sigh and shoved the pocket watch into my arms.

“Is this because of Susan and me? So now you’re throwing things away in a fit? You’re going to regret it later.”

My heart suddenly felt a little heavy, but I forced myself to speak through the pain. “I just felt that some things no longer need to be kept.”

Ronan looked at me, his lips pressed together.

“Riley, are you trying to distance yourself from me?”

He tossed a box right at my feet, and its contents spilled out across the floor.

A cufflink he had casually given me, a supplementary black card signed by him, a fountain pen he had used only once… Every item was a trinket I had begged from him over the years. I had once treated them as precious treasures, storing them in the deepest corner of my cabinet.

“All these things were taken from me, right? You’ve been secretly in love with me for a very long time, haven’t you?”

My face burned with shame as the feelings I had kept hidden for so many years were now laid completely bare before him.

“I always thought you knew your place. You should be well aware that you and I were never a good match to begin with.”

I understood exactly what he meant. My mother came from an ordinary family, and even though she had married into the Sorrento family, she had no real backing.

Susan was different. Her mother’s family was equal in strength and influence to the Sorrento family. A match between them was truly a perfect match.

Looking down at the scattered items on the ground, I answered him softly, “I know. I’ve always known my place. So rest assured, I will not get in the way between you and Susan.”

Ronan was visibly taken aback, and his brows furrowed slightly.

“You’d better mean what you say.”

With that, he turned and strode away, leaving behind a floor covered in mess.

I didn’t pick up any of the items scattered on the floor. They were just discarded old items; they weren’t worth holding onto.

After all, I had already booked my flight. As soon as my immigration paperwork was finalized, I would leave Twin City forever. I would leave Ronan and this place I had once desperately tried to live in.

One day, I made my way toward the estate’s vault to retrieve my mother’s sapphire necklace and her family crest. I used to carry them on me at all times, refusing to part with them even when taking a shower.

Later, Ronan placed them inside the estate’s vault, telling me with a smile, “There is no place safer in the world than the vault of the Haliday estate. Riley, now you can rest assured, right?”

Since I was leaving, I had to take them with me. However, as I approached the vault, the butler stepped forward and stopped me.

“Miss Riley, I am deeply sorry, but your access permissions have been revoked.”