Chapter 3

But I had no choice. A powerful force pulled me toward Ethan.

A dog lay foaming at the mouth on the ground.

Vivian collapsed into Mom's arms, sobbing. "Why did you all ask Sienna to come to my birthday party? She got so furious that she killed my dog."

Mom comforted her tenderly, "It's my fault, sweetie. Don't cry."

Dad was so enraged that he nearly passed out.

"When I find that ungrateful wretch, I'll beat her senseless with my cane," he spat.

Watching this scene unfold, Ethan angrily pulled his phone out to call me. But all he got was the automated message. He kept calling, but there was still no answer.

"Sienna must be hiding somewhere out of fear. She won't even answer our calls," my parents fumed.

Ethan promised them he would find me and make me pay for what I'd done.

Suddenly, Vivian looked at him. "But aren't you still working on that murder case?"

He froze for a moment and recalled that pitiful decapitated victim. Then, he said, "I have plenty of capable colleagues who can handle it. Today, I'm going to track down Sienna, no matter what."

He gently stroked Vivian's head and added, "Don't worry. I'll see this through for you."

Mom and Dad chimed in, "Once you find Sienna, you should just divorce her and marry Vivian instead. A cruel woman like her doesn't deserve you."

I looked at Ethan, trying to read his expression. But he didn't respond to my parents' suggestion. Instead, he silently buried the dead dog.

After dealing with that, he rushed to the law firm where I worked.

"Mr. Monroe, I was just about to call you. Sienna hasn't come to work for the past two days, and she's not answering her phone either. The trial starts tomorrow, and the whole team is panicking. Do you know what happened to her?" one of my colleagues asked.

Ethan gave a derisive snort.

"What could have possibly happened to her? Just this morning, she was busy poisoning her sister's dog."

After leaving the law firm, he went to check with some of my close friends, only to hear that none of them had seen me.

Faith Lowell, one of my best friends, even scolded him. "Can't you treat Sienna better? You've only been married a few years, and she comes to me in tears multiple times a month."

"She's getting what she deserves," Ethan retorted impatiently.

"If she hadn't been so ruthless during that lawsuit, the defendant's family wouldn't have been so resentful that they broke into my home and murdered my parents. I've been generous enough by marrying her as promised."

Faith was so angry that she snapped at him, "You're going to regret this sooner or later, Ethan!"

I hid in the corner and watched Faith, who was on the verge of tears. My own eyes stung as well. If it weren't for my friends supporting me all these years, I could never have held on for so long.

I watched the man standing in the middle of the street, lost and confused.

"You can stop looking, Ethan. I'm right where you work, on the cold autopsy table," I muttered.

Just then, his phone rang with a call from the lab.

Adrian said urgently, "Dr. Monroe, it's urgent. We've gotten the DNA results for the victim. You need to come back right away."

Ethan glanced at his watch and responded irritably, "I already told you I'm handing this case over to you. I have other things to deal with. Just report the findings to the police."

Without waiting for Adrian to respond, he ended the call.

Ethan returned home and tore the place apart, searching for my belongings until he finally found a bracelet.

My eyes widened as I recognized it as the gift he'd given me on our first date. I instinctively lunged forward to grab it.

But the next second, he broke it into pieces. The fragments passed right through my open palm.

I screamed, "No!"

I glared at Ethan with pure hatred, but his expression remained impassive. He calmly took a photo and sent it to me.

"If you don't come back and turn yourself in, I'll destroy everything you own."

"I'll ruin something every half an hour. This bracelet is just the beginning."

I stood frozen, as though something had been ripped out of me.

I was already dead. How was I supposed to show up in front of him?

I screamed at him and rushed forward, pounding my fists against his chest, but he couldn't hear or feel a thing.

All I could do was watch as he tore up my favorite dress and trampled the flowers I'd carefully tended to for years. At last, he walked slowly toward the kitten sleeping in the corner.

I shouted desperately, "No… Stop! Ethan, that's Bouncer, the stray cat we rescued together! You used to love him the most!"

He grabbed Bouncer by the scruff of his neck and typed out a final ultimatum.

"If you don't respond within ten seconds, I'll kill him."

Ten… nine… eight… seven… six… five… four… three… two… one.

Just then, the door was kicked open with a crash.

Ethan's lips curved into a satisfied smirk.

"Sienna, you've finally decided to come back," he said.

But when he turned around, Adrian knocked him to the floor with a single punch and hurled a lab report in his face.

"Ethan, how can you be so heartless? Do you know that the decapitated, battered body belongs to your wife?"

"Sienna?" Ethan asked, surprised.