Chapter 6

Shards scattered everywhere. The last thing my mother left me was gone just like that.

I couldn't hold it in anymore. The humiliation, the grief, and the rage all crashed together. I pushed myself up off the floor and slapped Lindsey across the face.

Doug stared at me, stunned. "Have you lost your mind?"

Before he even finished, I swung back and swung at him, too. My hand stopped just short of his face for a split second.

That face had whispered endless sweet words to me. And now, he was humiliating me like this for his so-called shield.

That brief hesitation cost me. Doug's furious slap came down hard.

"I'm your boss! How dare you hit me! You've got some nerve!"

Eight years of love, every last bit of hope I had held onto, shattered with his words.

I stared at him, disbelief flooding in. "What did you just say?"

His fingers trembled, something like regret flashing in his eyes.

In the end, he still kicked the back of my knee. I dropped hard, my knee slamming into the shattered pieces of my mother's keepsake. Blood smeared across the floor.

"You like acting crazy, huh? You slapped Lindsey once, so you'll take a hundred in return. I said it before. Anyone who lays a hand on her pays it back a hundred times over."

Even now, he didn't hesitate. He chose her without a second thought.

My body was already at its limit. The slaps kept coming one after another, and a sharp ringing filled my ears.

My mouth tasted of blood, and my vision grew more and more blurred.

The world spun violently, then everything went black.

When I woke up, Doug was sitting by my bed, carefully applying ointment to my swollen cheeks.

"Why didn't you put those clothes away? You really couldn't let go of them?"

Just moving my lips sent a burning pain through my face.

My voice came out hoarse. "So she went through my things, and somehow that's my fault?"

Doug fell silent for a second, then fell back on the same excuse.

"I had to keep up appearances in front of everyone. If I defended you, our enemies would figure out how much I care about you. Try to understand. I'm here putting medicine on you, aren't I? What more do you want?"

My heart didn't hurt anymore. All that was left was an endless, hollow cold.

He was still lying to me, still claiming it was for my safety.

But every job he sent me on was more dangerous than any so-called kidnapping Lindsey went through. All the injuries I had taken, all the people who died, he didn't care about any of it.

I didn't call him out. The truth was, the only person he cared about now was Lindsey.

My nails dug deep into my palm. In the end, I still said quietly, "Let's get a divorce."

Doug immediately snapped, grabbing me and forcing a kiss on me. "You want a divorce over something this small? Stop making a scene. You're mine, dead or alive!"

I curved my lips into a faint smile. It didn't matter. The marriage certificate was fake anyway. And soon enough, I really would "die" right in front of him.

Two hours later, Chad came and took me from the house.

When Doug rushed over, disheveled, Chad was calmly wiping down his gun with a white glove, his tone lazy.

"Forty-six thousand and six hundred. Cash only."

Doug frowned, confused, but still moved fast to get it done.

Chad took the suitcase, then fired a shot straight into my chest. Blood burst out.

Pressed against him, playing dead, I heard him lean close and whisper in my ear, "The weight of a human heart, converted to gold, comes out to exactly 46,600 dollars. I got your heart back for you."

When Doug saw me lying there in a pool of blood, his voice broke in a way I had never heard before, full of panic and fear.

"I paid the ransom! Why did you kill her? Give her back to me! Give her back!"