Chapter 2

Ms. Ormond froze for a second before she scoffed. "Peter, you're just a secretary. How dare you threaten my family?"

Peter didn't even have time to waste on her. He shoved her bodyguards aside and crouched down to inspect my injuries. "Ms. Sullivan, are you injured anywhere else besides your hand and foot?"

I rolled my shoulders a little. "I was pinned down twice earlier. It hurts a little."

His lips lost all their color. He immediately urged the doctor, "Hurry up and check on her. Don't miss a single spot!"

Ms. Ormond stopped the doctors in their tracks. "Who gave you permission to touch her?"

Peter jerked his head up. "This is Mr. Blackwood's direct order. Before he boarded his flight, he made it clear that no matter what happens, Ms. Sullivan must remain completely unharmed. Ms. Ormond, if you still wish to discuss marriage with the Blackwood family, you had better stand down."

After hearing that, she stared long and hard at him. "He's abroad, yet he's still worried about whether she's hurt? Who the hell is supposed to be his future wife here?"

"As things stand, Mr. Blackwood has never acknowledged that he is engaged to anyone in the Ormond family," Peter stated apathetically.

His words hit her right where it hurt most.

There was indeed talk of a marriage alliance between the Blackwood and Ormond families. Yet, the Ormonds were the only ones who publicized it everywhere. Caspian, on the other hand, had never confirmed anything.

Ms. Ormond wanted nothing more than to marry into the Blackwood family right away, but I, a gold digger, had moved into Caspian's private villa.

She had long regarded me as a thorn in her side. Now that even a mere secretary dared to use the engagement against her, how could she possibly hold back?

"Pin him down too! Once I become the lady of the Blackwood family, you'll be the first person I fire!"

Her bodyguards swarmed forward. Peter's men were about to intervene when more than 20 bodyguards behind Ms. Ormond surrounded them.

Seizing advantage of the chaos, she grabbed me by the hair and dragged me out from beside the couch.

My knees slammed hard against the floor. Searing pain shot up my bones, and I came within an inch of blacking out.

Peter's eyes almost popped out of their sockets. "Stop it! Mr. Blackwood absolutely can't stand seeing Ms. Sullivan injured! Every single thing you do today will ultimately be visited upon your family."

Ms. Ormond yanked my hair, forcing me to tilt my head up. "He can't stand to see her hurt?"

She had her assistant start a livestream and point the camera at my face. Then, she tossed a property transfer agreement in front of me.

The house, shares, jewelry, cash, and trust funds were all listed on it. Altogether, they were worth at least 225 million dollars.

My heart twinged as I looked at it.

Ms. Ormond stuffed a pen into my hand. "Sign it, admit that you seduced Caspian and stole confidential information from Blackwood Group, and I'll let you go."

I tossed the pen aside. "I won't be doing that."

"You're about to lose your life, and you're still thinking about money?"

"No shit."

"I can do without Caspian, but I can't do without his money."

This was the final hill I was willing to die on as a gold digger.

Ms. Ormond was so furious that her breathing became ragged. "Very well. Let's see if you're really as tough as you sound!"

She ordered her bodyguards to pin my right hand down on the coffee table. Her assistant handed her a heavy brass ornament.

Peter thrashed wildly, his eyes bloodshot. "Ms. Ormond, if you lay a hand on her, you're destroying yourself and your family! She's the most important person in Mr. Blackwood's life; she's so important that he would rather put himself in danger than ever allow her to be hurt!"

The last vestige of reason in her eyes vanished. "She's the most important person in his life? Then what am I?"

Peter broke free from the bodyguards' hold and lunged forward to shield me. With a dull thud, his arm was visibly deformed on the spot, and all the color drained from his face.

Before I could process what had happened, Ms. Ormond slapped me across the face. "Since Caspian cherishes you so damn much, I'll let the entire capital's high society see… exactly what kind of woman he's been housing!"