Chapter 4: The Broken Promise

Marcus's POV

I sat at my large mahogany desk, staring blankly at the busy city below my office window. I was holding an expensive pen, but I could not focus on my work. My mind kept violently dragging me back to last night.

I had drank way too much whiskey at the bar. I needed a place to sleep, so I went to the Grand Plaza Hotel. The girl at the front desk saw the name "Collins" in the system and made a stupid booking error. She handed me a keycard to the wrong room.

When I opened the heavy door, the suite was pitch-black. Before I could even turn on a light, I heard a woman sobbing on the floor.

"Who is there?" I had muttered, my brain heavy and slow from the alcohol.

"You came," a soft, desperate voice whispered in the dark. "You finally came."

I walked closer and stepped on broken glass. I knelt down. She was bleeding. Her skin was so soft, but she smelled deeply of sweet champagne. I took a clean piece of cloth from my pocket and tied it tightly around her bleeding hand.

"Hold still," I told her, my voice rough.

"I knew you wouldn't leave me alone tonight," she cried, throwing her arms around my neck. "Make me feel wanted. Just for one night. Pretend you actually want me."

I was too drunk to think straight. She was begging me, practically climbing into my lap. She wore almost nothing. Just thin, cheap lace that drove my drunk mind completely crazy.

"You don't know what you are asking for," I had warned her, my breathing getting heavy in the quiet room.

"I know exactly what I want," she whispered hotly into my ear. "I want you to make me forget everything. I want you to ruin me."

I lost all control. I picked her up and threw her onto the large bed. I kissed her harder than I had kissed anyone in years.

"Tell me what you want," I growled against her neck in the pitch-black room.

"Everything," she moaned loudly, arching her back against my chest. "Give me everything. Tell me I am beautiful."

"You are beautiful," I breathed heavily, tracing my hands down her hot, shivering skin. "You are absolutely perfect. You belong to me tonight."

"Yes," she begged, pulling me closer. "Hurry."

It was the best night I had experienced in years. She was wild, hot, and completely desperate for affection. I made her feel wonderful, and for the first time since I took over the family empire years ago, I actually felt alive. The heat, the raw connection—it woke up a part of me I thought was permanently dead and buried. I left the hotel room before the sun even came up, never seeing her face in the dark.

Now, sitting in my office, I could not stop thinking about her body. I wanted to have her one more time. I needed to know exactly who she was.

My office door opened, and my assistant, David, walked in holding a tablet.

"Sir, you have a board meeting in twenty minutes," David said politely.

"Cancel it," I ordered flatly. "David, I stayed at the Grand Plaza last night. There was a booking error. Find out exactly whose room I was in."

David looked surprised but nodded quickly. "Yes, sir. I will have the name in an hour." He paused, looking down at his tablet. "Also, I need to remind you about the letters. You wanted me to deliver the new Vice President promotion letter to Mr. Liam, and the head hospital appointment letter to Miss Jia today."

I looked at the two thick envelopes sitting on the corner of my desk.

"No," I said, standing up and grabbing my suit jacket. "I will go by myself. I will give them the good news directly."

"Understood, sir."

I left the office and drove my car straight to Liam's luxury penthouse. The drive took thirty minutes. Just as I stepped out of the elevator and walked up to Liam's front door, my private phone buzzed in my pocket.

I pulled it out. It was a text message from David.

Sir, the room at the Grand Plaza was booked under the name Mrs. Jia Collins.

I stopped breathing. My feet froze entirely.

Jia. My younger brother's wife.

The heavy words hit me like a solid fist straight to my chest. The pieces crashed together in my mind violently. The crying in the dark. The smell of the champagne. The way she had whispered, "finally you came." The way she begged to be loved.

My God. I slept with my own sister-in-law.

Before my brain could even process the massive shock, a loud noise came from the other side of the heavy wooden door.

"I will not cook for your whore!" It was Jia's voice, full of angry tears.

"Keep your voice down!" Liam shouted back.

Then, I heard it. A sharp, brutal smack. The sound of flesh hitting flesh.

"Do not ever disrespect her like that again!" Liam roared loudly.

"I am your wife, Liam!" Jia sobbed.

"You are just a name on a piece of paper," Liam sneered coldly. "Do not forget who pays for your little sister's medical school."

Then, another woman laughed. A cruel, high-pitched giggle. "Look at you, Jia. You are an empty shell. You can't even get pregnant."

It was Mia.

Every single instinct in my body screamed at me to kick the front door completely off its hinges. I wanted to storm inside, grab my brother by his throat, and drag him away from her. My fists clenched so tightly my knuckles turned pure white.

But a colder, darker part of my brain forced me to stop.

If I storm in right now, furious and out of control, I will only make things much worse for Jia. Liam will know something is wrong. I cannot risk exposing what happened in the hotel room last night. Jia is clearly drunk and confused; she probably still thinks Liam was the man in the dark room.

Instead of kicking the door down, I pressed the call button on my phone. I dialed Liam's number while standing exactly two feet away from his door.

I heard his phone ring inside.

"Hello, Marcus?" Liam answered, his voice breathless and panicked.

"I am on my way to your house right now," I said flatly. My voice was pure, cold ice. "I have business to discuss. Be ready."

I hung up the phone before he could reply.

This bought Jia some time. Time for Liam to panic, step away from her, and clean up the mess. And it bought me time to master my own face before I looked at them.

I turned around, took the elevator down, and walked out to my car.

I sat inside the dark car for nearly a full hour. My jaw was locked so tight my teeth hurt. Guilt and extreme rage tangled together inside my chest like venomous snakes.

I replayed the sounds I heard through the door. Mia's cruel laughter.

Mia is married to Jack, our youngest brother. But I never liked her. She used to work as an assistant in my own office five years ago. I remembered how she stayed late, undoing her top buttons, trying multiple times to seduce me for my money. When she completely failed with me, she immediately turned her attention to Jack. Jack fell for her blindly. He defended her against all my strict warnings. I let them marry to keep the peace.

But now, seeing her in Liam's house, I finally understood the truth. She never wanted Jack. She only wanted power and money. Liam was the second-in-command to my company, so he was the better opportunity. She abandoned Jack without a second thought.

Jack hasn't returned to the city in six months. Now I finally understand why he is hiding. His heart is broken.

Then, the worst guilt of all hit me. The memory that truly tore my chest open.

I closed my eyes and pictured Jia's parents. Years ago, I stood beside their hospital beds right after their terrible accident. As they took their dying breaths, I held their cold hands and made a solemn, sacred vow.

I promised her died parents that I would not let Jia cry ever, and that I would take care of both their daughters. I failed as a man to keep my words, and thought my reckless brother Liam would be a perfect match for her. I thought that by giving her the Collins name, the Collins wealth, and the total protection of my empire, she would be completely safe forever.

I was so incredibly wrong.

I failed. I handed a beautiful, innocent girl directly over to a brother who would destroy her. I promised her parents she would never cry, and today, I stood outside a door and listened to my own blood slap her across the face.

And then, unknowingly, I compounded my failure in the absolute worst possible way by taking her to bed myself. The image of her sobbing on the floor in the dark hotel room, bleeding and begging me to call her beautiful, layered itself directly over the sound of her crying inside that penthouse.

I did this. I put her in this hell. The guilt sat heavily on my chest like a massive stone.

I took a deep breath. I forced my expression back into the cold, controlled, ruthless mask the Collins family knew and feared. I got out of the car and walked back up to the penthouse.

Liam opened the door quickly. He looked nervous.

"Marcus," Liam said, forcing a fake smile. "Please, come in."

I walked into the large living room. They were sitting at the dinner table. Mia was sitting far too close to Liam.

But my eyes immediately found Jia.

She was standing near the kitchen counter. Her eyes were looking down at the floor. The entire left side of her face was bruised, and there was a fresh white bandage on the side of her head. The sight of her broken body made my blood boil with pure violence.

"Sit down, all of you," I commanded sharply.

They all sat at the table quickly. The room was totally silent.

"Marcus, it is so wonderful to see you," Mia smiled sweetly, trying to act innocent.

"I did not speak to you, Mia," I snapped coldly, not even looking at her. "Keep your mouth shut."

Mia's face instantly went pale. She looked down at her empty plate.

I reached inside my suit jacket and pulled out the two thick envelopes. I placed the first one in front of my brother.

"Liam," I said sternly. "This is your official promotion to Vice President of the company. Do not disappoint me with this new power. Your behavior reflects on my entire empire."

"Thank you, Marcus," Liam nodded quickly. "I will not let you down."

You already have, I thought with pure disgust.

Then, I looked across the table at Jia. My cold eyes softened slightly. I handed her the second envelope.

"Jia," I said softly, making sure my voice held total respect. "This is your official appointment letter. You are now the Head Surgeon at the city hospital. You earned it with your own hard work."

Jia looked up at me. Her beautiful, sad eyes were filled with unshed tears.

"Thank you, Sir," she whispered quietly.

"You deserve only the best, Jia," I told her, holding eye contact for a second longer than normal.

I finished the dinner in total silence. I watched the way Liam ignored his wife. I watched the greedy way Mia looked at Liam's new promotion letter.

Internally, as I ate my food, my mind was running a thousand miles a minute. I had already made a firm, unshakeable decision.

I am not going to let this stand.

I am going to completely destroy Liam. I am going to ruin Mia for what she did to my brothers. And I am going to fix the terrible mistake I made. I broke my promise to Jia's parents, but I will make it right. I put her in this awful house, and I am going to be the man who takes her out of it.