Chapter 4

"No!"

Shattered, Elise screamed hysterically. She lunged forward and tried desperately to protect the keepsakes that reminded her of her late parents, but the other bodyguards held her back.

She had to resort to getting on her knees and tugging at Gerald's clothes to beg with tears running down her cheeks.

"Gerald, I was wrong, I'm sorry. Forgive me… please don't burn my parents' belongings…"

Upon noting his complete indifference, she proceeded to grab a nearby rock and smash it against her shin. Even as blood began to stream down her leg, she would not stop bashing it.

Suddenly, she felt she'd become the helpless thirteen-year-old child all over again. Her voice trembled, and she became completely hysterical with fear and desperation.

"I'll give Alexandra my leg if I have to. Please, anything but my parents' belongings... Please, Gerald"

This only angered Gerald further. He seized her hand holding the rock and shouted angrily at his bodyguard, "What are you standing there for?! Burn them!"

"No!!!"

Elise watched with horror as the bodyguards doused the items with fuel and set them on fire.

With a furious roar, a column of flame soared into the sky. It engulfed the teddy bear her father had once sewn for her and a dress her mother had designed for her…

The ribbons of the dress curled into a shell and turned charred before becoming reduced to ashes. She finally stopped struggling at that point.

She was on her knees, and her eyes were swollen with tears. All she did was stare blankly at the flames without so much as a sob.

Meanwhile, Gerald suddenly pulled away from her as if just touching her would scald his hand.

"You'd better learn from your mistake and reflect on your actions at home!"

With that, he turned around and left. His footsteps sounded oddly frantic.

The commenters were trying to come to terms with what happened.

[He's so upset because someone took the footage of what happened at the party and posted it online along with the scene of Alexandra losing her job. Since then, a lot of netizens have been criticizing Elise for what she's done to Alexandra. Gerald is only doing this intentionally so it would be caught on camera and can be used as evidence to defend Elise.]

[Even though I know he's only doing it to protect Elise, it's still so sad to see the scene play out… Those were the last mementos her parents left behind for her! He just burned them all like that…]

Elise was zoning out and staring at the flames when she noticed the comments. It was only then that she noticed the surveillance camera mounted nearby.

A cynical look flashed across her eyes. Before the flames died down, she got up and went back inside.

She hauled all the presents Gerald had given to her over the years and threw them into the fire right in the view of the camera.

With that, the dying flames were revived.

This time, all Elise did was calmly brush the dirt off herself before turning to leave.

Half an hour later, as she was dragging her suitcase out of the house, Helena called out after her to stop her. She handed Elise a family portrait she had taken when she was a child with her parents.

Helena expressed sympathetically, "I'm sorry. It all happened so fast, and I only had time to hide this."

Then, she hesitated before continuing, "Madam Smith wants me to tell you not to hold it against Mr. Gerald. He's only doing this to repay what he owes his mentor."

Elise lowered her gaze. A bitter smile surfaced before she said softly, "I might not hate him, but I don't love him anymore."

With that, she took the picture and went into her car.

While she was scrolling on her phone during the ride, she happened to see Alexandra's recent post. It contained a series of screenshots of her chat with Gerald.

It was a conversation about how Alexandra had been worried about her injury leaving scars, so Gerald found the best plastic surgeon in the country for her.

When she caught a fever, Gerald stuck by her side day and night to take care of her.

As it turned out, she didn't even lose her job in the end because Gerald had invested a hundred million dollars in Helfast News. With his influence, she was promoted to become a news anchor for the broadcast station.

He cared enough to remember small details like how she loved a certain popular Mont Blanc cake from a bakery on the south side of town and that she was afraid of thunder.

One time, when she complained about a stomachache, he canceled his business trip and rushed back to take her to the hospital.

All the love and affection that was reserved for Elise in her past life was now given to someone else.

One striking similarity between the past life and the present one was that at one point, Gerald had unknowingly fallen for Alexandra.

Previously, she was too foolish and lacking in self-awareness. It had driven her to the point of trying to sabotage them.

She smiled with tears streaming down her face.

Countless people were liking the post. Even the mutual friends who had previously stood up for Elise were now leaving behind comments wishing them happiness.

They were all close friends of Gerald who had taken a long time to warm up to Elise when she tried to befriend them at first.

And yet, it only took a matter of days for them to accept Alexandra.

With tears blurring her vision, Elise proceeded to like the post as well.

'Gerald, let me set you free in this life.'