Chapter 3

I still had a few days to go before my student visa was approved, so for now, I checked into a high-end hotel known for its privacy.

The dull ache in my lower abdomen hadn't gone away, so I made a trip to the hospital. The doctor gave me a harsh warning—carrying twins was already a high-risk pregnancy; there were clear signs of a threatened miscarriage with my emotional breakdown and the physical impact I'd just suffered.

She prescribed me a long list of medications to stabilize the pregnancy and told me that I needed plenty of bed rest.

I collected the medicine and returned to the hotel. I'd just poured myself a glass of warm water when the doorbell started ringing like crazy.

I looked through the peephole. Several bodyguards in black suits stood outside, and George's assistant, Alex Brown, stood in the lead.

The door had barely opened a crack when one of the bodyguards shoved it wide and slammed me against the wall, pinning me there.

George stormed in, his eyes bloodshot as murderous rage rolled off him. He ground out, "You're truly vicious, Geri!"

He stalked toward me, teeth clenched, then suddenly raised his hand and slapped me across the face. The blow was so hard that my ears rang. My head snapped to the side, and his hand clamped around my throat before I could react. He squeezed hard as he forced me back against the wall.

"Mia has already compromised countless times for your sake, yet you switched out her antidepressants and pushed her down the stairs!" he roared.

My head was forced back from his grip; every breath was a struggle. I stared back at him, cold and unflinching. "I have no idea what you're talking about. I haven't even seen her these past few days."

"Still denying it, huh?"

He exploded, yanking out a stack of photos and hurling them at my face. In them, Mia lay in a pool of blood at the bottom of the apartment's staircase. Scattered nearby was a bottle of vitamins.

"The surveillance footage is crystal clear. You're the only one who returned to the apartment yesterday afternoon! You swapped her meds for vitamins, then pushed her down the stairs on purpose. Now, she's still in the ICU, fighting for her life!"

A bitter laugh escaped me. I had indeed gone back yesterday afternoon, but it was only to grab my forgotten passport. I hadn't even seen Mia. I'd taken what I needed and left.

This clumsy frame-up would fall apart the second anyone bothered to check the exact timestamps on the security footage, but George was already blinded by rage. Or rather, deep down, he'd already decided that I was guilty long before this.

"I didn't do it. If you don't believe me, call the cops and have me arrested," I said, meeting his gaze head-on without a hint of fear.

My calm only made the fury in his eyes blaze higher.

"You're even bold enough to tell me to investigate." He sneered, releasing his grip on my jaw. "You want me to get the police involved? That would be going too easy on you."

His eyes suddenly dropped to my neck. Hanging there was a plain cross on a cheap red cord, the thread worn from years of use. I instinctively raised my hand to cover it.

Things had been brutal when we'd first started our business. The capital chain had snapped, and every investor had slammed the door in George's face. He'd been completely burned out.

That was also when I'd been diagnosed with a condition. I'd already poured all my savings into the company and didn't even have enough left for treatment.

When George found out, he hadn't said a single word. That same night, he drove six hours straight to a chapel. In the pouring rain, he had kneeled and bowed his way forward, prostrating himself over and over until his knees were raw and bleeding. He'd begged for this cross to be blessed.

He'd fastened the chain around my neck himself and told me that as long as we were both alive, there was hope for everything else.

Later, after he'd made it big, he started to find the cross tacky and cheap. He told me he wanted to buy me a real piece of jewelry instead.

But I hadn't been able to bring myself to take it off. I kept wearing it in secret as a reminder of everything we'd been through.

Now, George grabbed the chain in one hand. He snarled, "A woman as venomous as you has no right to wear something meant to keep people safe."

With a harsh snap, he ripped the cross away. The cord bit into the back of my neck, breaking the skin as it snapped. The cross came away in his fist.

"I must've been blind to wreck my knees praying for a woman like you," he said coldly.

The words were barely out of his mouth as he flung the cross to the marble floor with all his strength. The sharp crack as it landed echoed painfully through the quiet room.

Maybe it was because I'd already seen it coming, or maybe I'd already gone completely numb. I just let out a pointless, empty laugh.

"Well done, George. Is this how you're standing up for your wife?" I asked, my voice dripping with irony.

His expression tightened as my words hit a nerve. "Do you think playing crazy is going to save you from the punishment that you deserve? I think something is wrong with your head. Your jealousy has rotted your brain."

He turned to the bodyguards, his voice flat and icy. "Send her to the behavioral correction facility in the western suburbs. No one is allowed to visit without my permission. Let them fix this vicious, jealous streak in her."

The bodyguards immediately moved in, wrenching my arms behind my back and dragging me toward the door.

I didn't struggle. I just curled my lips into a mocking half-smile. "You're going to regret this, George."

He gave a cold snort, casually straightening his cuffs as he looked down at me imperiously. "The one thing I regret most is that I ever spoiled you."