Chapter 2

I was stunned.

He actually thought I was jealous!

Jealous because of what just happened?

True, anyone would say I was desperately in love with Bruno, what with how I was practically a doormat when it came to him. In reality, I would have treated my boyfriend all the same, no matter who he was.

Even Raine, who was simply watching this mess in the beginning, started to panic when she heard me say I was selling my shares.

"Ms. Lawson, if me being here bothers you, I can resign from the company. I promise never to show up in front of Bruno ever again. Will you be happy with that? Don't let jealousy cloud your judgment!"

Her words left me genuinely confused. I could understand why Bruno said I was jealous, but why would Raine say the same thing?

Hadn't I already told her I would swap with her at the wedding earlier? I even had the wedding dress urgently changed to fit her size.

She knew all of this.

But before I could give it a good thought, Bruno had already snatched my phone and put it in front of me. In a cold voice I had never heard him use, he demanded, "Delete the agent's contact, and I can still forgive you. If you don't, you can forget about the wedding!"

I reached out for my phone and looked at him with mixed feelings. Did he really think I wouldn't simply add the contact back after deleting it?

However, I couldn't afford to lose my temper because of my health.

And so, to keep Bruno under control, I forced myself to feign obedience and followed his demands.

Bruno heaved a sigh of relief when he saw how subservient I was. Finally, he softened his tone and said, "Aelia, don't overthink. If I didn't love you, why would I marry you? What you said today hurt me deeply."

He paused before continuing, "Raine and I are going to stay somewhere else for a while. Stay here and reflect on what you did. Don't do something like this again."

Raine followed him out.

Before leaving, she said to me in a mockingly charitable tone, "At least you know what's good for you."

The door creaked before closing, leaving me standing there alone.

I sighed. I should have known I could only count on myself in this world after my father died.

A night's rest later, I got in touch with the agency again.

I held a significant amount of shares. Not only were the other shareholders keeping an eye on them, but even those who weren't shareholders beyond the company wanted them as well. In just a few days, someone had already bought the shares at double the market price.

I could have waited longer and sold them for even more, but I refused to waste a second more. I didn't want to watch Bruno and Raine enjoying their affair again, not even for a minute.

As soon as the money listed on the agreement came through and paid the agent's fee, I immediately began the process of going overseas. While waiting for the approval to come through during the next week, I transferred all my assets abroad.

The entire time, Bruno didn't contact me at all. He made good on his threat to teach me a lesson.

Soon, came the day I was to leave. I packed up my things and then reached for my family photo. As I was about to put it into my suitcase, the door to my home was suddenly kicked open with a vicious bang.

Bruno stormed in, furious. Without wasting any moment, he exploded on me.

"You're really something else, you know that?!

"Fine, I've been ignoring you for a while, but is this the way you want to start a fight with me? Do you have any idea how humiliating it was for me to beg and borrow money this past week? At first, I thought the other shareholders were selling their shares together just to punish me.

"I never thought it would be you!"

His reaction caught me by surprise.

Still, it was true. If Bruno wanted to remain the chairman, he had to buy my shares. If anyone else got the shares, he would no longer have authority over the company.

Since I was leaving today anyway, I didn't want to make things worse.

And so, I tried to reason with him. "The shares and money have already changed hands, and you truly own the company now. Everyone got what they wanted, right? Besides, I need the money for my treatment."

Though my illness could be cured, I had always thought the company was doing badly, and that Bruno had to suffer for it. Thus, I never asked him for money to help cure my ailment.

Never had I imagined that to Bruno, everything I had belonged to him. He saw what was mine as exclusively his, no exceptions.

Even a stranger would worry about upsetting someone with a heart condition. Yet Bruno, despite knowing how ill I was, couldn't care less. He snatched my family photo from my hands.

"You're something else, Aelia!" he roared.

A loud crash followed.

Bruno smashed the photo frame to the floor, his face frosty. He even tried to pull the photo out of the frame.

My eyes went wide. That was the only photo I had of my parents and me!

My blood boiled as rage surged within me. I threw caution to the wind and lunged forward, grabbing his arm to stop him. "Are you mad, Bruno?!"

Yet, Bruno didn't even move. Instead, he took out an asset transfer agreement and a black pen and handed them in front of me. "Sign it!"

When I didn't respond, he scoffed.

"Looks like you won't behave unless I teach you a lesson!"

It wasn't that I didn't want to answer, but my throat had grown tight. Even breathing was becoming difficult. Despite this, Bruno tore the only photo I had to remember my family.

All because he wanted to vent his anger—to teach me a lesson!

I had little time to care about my grief; I collapsed at his feet, and my consciousness started to slip. My survival instincts were forcing me to beg him.

"Medicine… My medicine…"

Bruno remained heartless. He shoved the pen into my hand. I could vaguely hear his cold words.

"Sign this, and I'll give you your medicine."