Chapter 3

My mood was pretty foul as I tapped into the message, but the moment I saw what Michael wrote, my face turned scarlet.

"You look gorgeous. The red dress suits you. Take off the heels and apply some ointment to your ankle."

I was startled. How did he know I'd sprained my ankle? And what ointment was he talking about?

I was caught up in my thoughts when a drone came in through the window. It had a box tied to it. I took off the lid to find a red dress and a tube of ointment.

From that, I realized Michael knew where Joshua's base had been all along. He merely chose not to take action. I'd done a good job selecting who to work with.

I applied the ointment to my ankle per the instructions that came with it. Just as I was about to shower and get ready for bed, Joshua came back to my room.

He carried me to the bed gently, and he also had a tube of ointment in his hand.

"It's okay. Don't be scared. I'll apply some ointment for you," Joshua said.

It must've been raining outside. Joshua was soaked to the skin. Even so, he cleaned his hands before carefully tending to my sprained ankle.

I used to have a woefully low pain tolerance. When I first started joining fights with Joshua, I would cry pitifully the moment I got a tiny scratch.

Back then, whenever I got injured, Joshua would stay with me no matter how battered and bruised he was. He would ask me to bite his arm to ease my pain.

While life was tough during those early years, I felt safe with him. Yet, at some point, I stopped seeing him next to me in my bed. From then on, regardless of how many times I endangered my life, and no matter how severe my injuries were, he didn't bother to even look at me.

I was no longer afraid of pain now, but here he was, hurrying over to take care of me. Did he finally regain his conscience?

"You've lost weight," Joshua said in an apologetic tone. "I've been neglecting you lately. I'm sorry.

"I was afraid you'd misunderstand things, so that's why I didn't tell you about the wedding. Abigail saved my life before. Others have put a hit out on her because of me, so I have to protect her. But don't worry. I won't touch her. You're the only one I love. Once I get rid of Michael, I'll get a divorce and marry you, okay?"

Joshua was gently massaging my ankle, but my eyes were fixed on the ring around his ring finger.

I looked at Joshua, and with a heartbroken gaze, I asked him, "Joshua, throughout all these years, have you ever loved me?"

Stiffening briefly, he got down on one knee before pulling me into a hug.

"I love you, Olivia. You're the only one I love," he declared, sounding like he had the utmost affection for me.

Then, as he stared at me lovingly, he fed me the glass of milk he brought with him.

"Come. Have some milk and get some rest. If you want to attend the wedding tomorrow, you may do so. I won't stop you."

Alas, I could tell that the milk had been laced with sleeping pills—enough to put me out for the entire day tomorrow.

My throat constricted. I could scarcely breathe.

He was still lying to me just so he could marry Abigail without any issues tomorrow. I now knew what he had intended to do when he said he would make sure I stayed quiet during the wedding.

After finishing the milk, I shed a tear. My heart was completely cold and still.

However, Joshua was smiling brightly. As he watched me tenderly, I closed my eyes. He had no idea that I'd developed insomnia after spending all these years fighting and risking my life for him. Sleeping pills no longer worked on me.

A few moments later, I heard Abigail's coquettish voice ringing out beside me.

"What's taking you so long, Josh? It almost feels like you intend to spend the night here."

Joshua held Abigail and kissed her fiercely before saying, "Why would I? She's nothing more than a meat shield to me. Michael has got me in his crosshairs right now. I need to keep her beside me. She's useful. Out of consideration for her, he won't kill me."

"Hey! What are you doing with your hands? You're such a beast," Abigail whined coyly.

"You're right. I'm a beast…" Joshua's voice took on a deep, husky tone.

I heard the rustling sounds of clothes being hastily discarded as they kissed urgently, a kiss given as if their very lives depended on it.

I felt as if I'd been stabbed in the heart. The pain was killing me. All along, I obeyed Joshua's every word and did everything he asked of me. However, he'd never shown me such adoration and fiery passion.

All he ever did was ask, "Olivia, can you take the fall for me?"

"Olivia, I'm in a shootout with Michael. Come help me."

I would always agree to all his requests, even if it meant risking my life.

At last, Joshua and Abigail left. I didn't sleep a wink that night.

Early the next morning, I got my bag and left the room. The island seemed deserted. Everyone was busy with the wedding ceremony.

I handed the permission slip to Frank Gibson, the guy who was in charge of overseeing the dock.

"Get me a speedboat," I said.

Frank looked taken aback.

"There are too many eyes out there right now, Olivia. What if someone catches your tail if you leave the island? Joshua has instructed us not to let you leave the island alone. In any case, if you're not on the island, what if something happens because no one else is overseeing things here?"

Joshua had once promised me that the moment he took control of Belcove, he would make me his wife. So that I could marry him as soon as possible, I spent my nights leading his men and engaging in turf wars. During the day, I handled all of the day-to-day affairs that came with running the island. I was basically working around the clock.

Alas, if Joshua truly loved me, why would he allow me to slave away to the point of exhaustion and ignore all of my sacrifices?

He didn't love me, so everything I did was in vain.

"Does Joshua know you're leaving the island?" Frank checked again.

He was one of the few who knew about my true relationship with Joshua, and he also knew how important I was to Joshua.

When we were in front of all his subordinates, Joshua never made it seem like I was special to him. He never treated me in a way that implied I was anything but a subordinate, too. In fact, to assert his dominance, he even thrashed me to within an inch of my life in public before.

Nevertheless, Frank felt the need to confirm it anyway. The fact that I was leaving on Joshua's wedding day gave him a sense of unease.

"He knows. He signed the slip himself."

Frank was doubtful, but at my insistent urging, he gave me a speedboat.

As I drove off in the speedboat, I felt the chilly, salty wind whipping against me. It finally seemed real to me that I was leaving. I was utterly betraying Joshua. After all, I was joining forces with Michael, his nemesis, and I had his secrets with me.

I wonder what the look on Joshua's face would be when he found out. I couldn't help but indulge in that vindictive thought.

After a while, I came across a massive yacht that was anchored out in the water. A wedding ceremony was being held on the deck. Drones had scattered rose petals all across the sea.

The speakers were so loud that even though I was some distance away, I could hear Joshua's heartfelt confession of his love for Abigail.

"Abigail, you once said that people in my line of work should never get involved romantically. Because of that, I buried my love for you deep down in my heart. I was afraid that you'd be my weakness. I didn't want you to get hurt," Joshua said.

"But now, I want to tell you this. You're my weakness, but you're also my armor! In order to marry you, I spent seven years waiting and carefully planning everything. And now, my wish is finally coming true…"

That made perfect sense. Joshua loved Abigail, so he hid his feelings from everyone, including me. The love he displayed toward her now turned all the promises he once made me into nothing more than a mockery.

When I looked over, I saw a man and a woman standing on the deck of the yacht. It was a sweet, romantic sight.

Across the distance, Joshua caught my eye and stiffened. "Olivia?"

His heart clenched as an overwhelming wave of unease washed over him. He felt like he was about to lose something extremely important.

Abigail clutched his hand. With a tender smile, she said, "You must've been mistaken, Josh. Olivia is still asleep after drinking the milk you laced with sleeping pills."

The doubt in Joshua's expression slowly dissipated. He secretly decided to do his best to console me once the wedding was over. Abigail was just his savior because she'd saved his life before. Once he divorced her, he would use the rest of his life to make it up to me.

Alas, he had no clue I was heading off on a speedboat, leaving him behind.

"Mr. Harding, do you take Ms. Mauser to be your wife, for richer—"

The officiant's words were cut off by a voice shouting, "Something terrible has happened, boss!"

Zeke Shaw, one of Joshua's foot soldiers, came running in. "Boss, Ms. Cassidy is gone!"