Chapter 3

Taking advantage of the fact that the Rivera family members were busy arguing downstairs, I managed to obtain the irrefutable evidence that I wanted.

Curiously enough, the ever-cautious Scott had left such important documents lying openly in the cabinet this time. He hadn't even locked it.

As I was exiting the study, I bumped headfirst into Johan.

He reached out to steady me, then glanced down at my legs. He frowned. "Why are you running around when your legs aren't fully healed yet? Just stay put and don't cause trouble for me."

In a flash of panic, I hid the documents behind my back before balling them up and stuffing them in my pocket.

After dinner, I followed Johan back to his residence in the suburbs.

For so many years, Scott had planted me next to Johan to spy on him under the guise of cultivating our relationship for the engagement.

Johan had caught on to this many times, and because of that, he became increasingly disgusted with me.

He once glared at me, yelling, "Are you Grandpa's lackey or something?"

He would never understand that some things were beyond one's control when living under someone else's roof.

Over the next few days, I was busy running myself ragged in preparation to expose solid evidence against Rivera Group.

Johan noticed something was off with me. He confronted me as I was about to leave the house for the third time today.

"What have you been so busy with for the past few days?" he demanded. "You're rarely home."

I originally wanted to gloss over the topic, but Johan didn't appreciate my evasive attitude and glared sternly at me.

"What mission has Grandpa given you this time? Aren't you going to continue spying on me as my annoying stalker anymore?"

I understood the implication behind his words. He was accusing me of neglecting him recently.

I looked at him and smiled. "You don't need to concern yourself with my affairs, Mr. Rivera. You should hurry up and prepare for your wedding in half a month."

Johan frowned and said unhappily, "My affairs are none of your business. Also, I honestly didn't expect you to be such a generous woman. Your fiancé's about to marry another woman, but here you are, still making sarcastic remarks with such composure."

I sneered at him. "What else did you expect? Am I supposed to cry, throw a tantrum, and beg you to marry me?"

Johan felt speechless for a moment, his expression turning dark and unreadable.

Just then, his cell phone rang. He looked down and saw that it was Lucy calling him.

He clenched his fists, exhaled, then walked past me to answer the call.

Seeing that he was no longer standing in my way, I walked toward the door without a backward glance.

Johan yelled angrily at me, but I pretended not to hear him.

I would also no longer listen to anything he had to say in the future.

My days of being dependent on others and allowing myself to be manipulated by them were almost over. Once I made the truth public, I would truly begin a new chapter of my life.

By the time I finished my preparations, it was already late at night and raining heavily. I hailed a taxi, thoroughly exhausted. I was soaked to the skin the moment I got out of the car.

Johan was standing in the doorway, looking at my miserable appearance.

I hadn't brought an umbrella, so I shielded my head with my hands and ran toward the house.

When I reached the door, I entered the password for the door lock over and over again, but the door remained locked.

I could see Johan's smiling face reflected in the windows—he was making fun of me again.

Every time I got on his nerves, he would always come up with ways to humiliate me.

This time, however, I did not cower and beg for mercy.

Instead, I turned and ran back into the rain.