LOGINMy brain lagged as I stared at the lottery ticket. "Why on earth did you keep this?" "To commemorate the first time in my life I was humiliated with five dollars." "Well… I was pretty broke back then." "I could tell." Caspian carefully tucked the lottery ticket back into his wallet. All of a sudden, I didn't know where to look. All these years, I'd thought what we had was purely transactional. He paid for peace of mind, and I accepted his money to keep myself healthy. Neither of us talked about feelings, and neither of us took advantage of the other. As it turned out, this bastard had planned this all along. "So the 1.5 million dollars a month was part of the plan, too?" "No.""In that case, what was it?""I was afraid you'd leave me for someone else if I didn't give you enough." Classic Caspian. I fell silent for a moment. "What do you even like about me? That I'm materialistic?""I like your honesty.""My inept tactics?""I feel safer because you don't have the
Ms. Ormond was pinned to the ground by the cops. Still, she thrashed wildly. "Unhand me! I'm the heiress of the Ormond family. Lucia's the fraud; she's the one you should be arresting."Mr. Ormond rushed over to intervene, but Caspian's bodyguards blocked him. "Greta was just acting on impulse, Mr. Blackwood. She only did such foolish things because she loves you!"Caspian lowered his head to check my hands. After confirming that I hadn't sustained any new injuries, he lifted his cold gaze. "She loves me? When she hurt Lucia, did she ever stop to think about whether I would live or die?" Mr. Ormond was rendered speechless. The cops announced on the spot that Ms. Ormond was under arrest for unlawful confinement, intentional assault, evidence tampering, and corporate crime. Bella and the others who had laid their hands on me the night before didn't get away either. Several of their families issued public apologies overnight. Some offered to compensate me, while others begged me t
The conference room door swung open. Ms. Ormond's assistant, Bonnie Smith, walked in with her head down. Two police officers were right on her heels. Ms. Ormond's expression changed drastically. "How dare you betray me?" Bonnie shrank back. "Ms. Ormond, you only gave me 300,000 dollars. Ms. Sullivan gave me 750,000 dollars!"I corrected her. "That's called a key witness incentive. Don't make it sound like I bribed a witness." Bonnie immediately nodded. "Right, right. Ms. Sullivan also hired a lawyer for me." Right after saying that, she handed over the forged phone, the receipts for paid trolls, and the wiped surveillance footage. Realizing that things were going south, the neurologist stood up and tried to leave. The police officers immediately blocked his path. Mr. Ormond slammed his fist on the table. "Even if the evidence was fabricated, that still doesn't prove Mr. Blackwood is fit to run the company. The moment that woman gets injured, he goes down with her. How can
Mr. Ormond ultimately didn't sign it. When he left the hospital room with Ms. Ormond, his back straightened up again. He had likely come to a realization. Ormond Pharmaceutical had been in business for decades. Caspian couldn't devour it with a single sentence. Plus, Caspian was still bedridden. Since he couldn't attend the board meeting, the other stakeholders in Blackwood Group were bound to get restless. …That afternoon, several Blackwood Group shareholders jointly requested an emergency meeting. The reason was that Caspian was in poor health and that his judgment had been clouded by a gold digger. At the same time, the internet was flooded with videos of me admitting that I was after Caspian's money. The parts where Ms. Ormond had people force alcohol down my throat, soak me in ice water, and beat me up had been completely edited out. The number-one trending topic blared a sensational headline. "Richest Man in the Country Brainwashed by Gold Digger. Multi-Billion Empi
By the time I came to, it was already late the next afternoon. The ward was pin-drop silent.Caspian was lying in the hospital bed beside mine, his wrist hooked up to a monitor. Even though I was the one who had been beaten, he looked worse off than I did. His complexion was pallid, and his breathing was faint. As soon as I moved my finger, Maya, who was beside my bed, lunged over. "Ms. Sullivan, you're finally awake!" she exclaimed before pressing the call button.The doctor had just finished examining me when the monitoring data on the other side stabilized as well. The specialists exchanged glances, their expressions complicated. The attending physician explained quietly, "Mr. Blackwood's condition is improving as well. It's the same as before. Ms. Sullivan's physical condition directly affects Mr. Blackwood." A sharp clatter echoed from outside the door. Ms. Ormond's face was as pale as a ghost as she stood rooted to the spot. She had obviously overheard everything. "What
Caspian's grip on the club was so tight the veins on the back of his hand bulged. His face was ghastly pale. His suit was rumpled, and there was still a trace of blood at the corner of his lips. Ms. Ormond was taken aback for a couple of seconds before lifting her foot off my wrist. "I can explain, Caspian. This woman stole confidential information from your company and was seeing another man behind your back. I was only trying to help you!" Caspian paid her no mind. He tossed the golf club aside and bent down to scoop me up into his arms. His arms visibly trembled when he felt how cold my body was. "Look at me, Lucia. Can you still talk?" I leaned against his chest and gave it a serious thought. "My 225 million dollars is still safe. I didn't sign the agreement."His eyes reddened. "You almost lost your life, and you're still worried about your money?" "That's not just money. That's my life!" He gritted his teeth, as if he wanted to reprimand me. Yet, he ultimately forced







