Chapter 3

Next, the heavy wooden ladder tipped toward me.

I instinctively squeezed my eyes shut and raised my arms, but the pain I braced myself for never came. When I opened my eyes, Eric had rushed over and caught the ladder.

But just before it fell, a bucket of red paint had come crashing down from above, drenching me from head to toe. I must have looked like a humiliated, dripping mess.

Megan tumbled to the ground. Since she hadn't been very high up, she only twisted her ankle and scraped her palms.

Not far away, Judd turned around. His face paled as he came sprinting over.

"Megan!"

He didn't even spare me a glance as he bent over to help her up. She leaned weakly into his arms and looked at me with tears brimming in her eyes.

Her voice was full of doubt and disbelief. "Julie… why did you shake the ladder and make me fall?"

Paint dripped from the tips of my hair, and I was stunned by her baseless accusation.

Judd frowned and glared at me with anger blazing in his eyes. "You've gone too far, Julie! This is intentional assault!"

My heart went cold. It struck me that this was what it looked like when he blindly defended someone.

I remembered a few days after we got married in my past life, I'd been attacked one night on my way home. Someone had thrown a sack over my head and beaten me up.

When I lay in the hospital bed, sobbing and demanding that Judd find the attacker, he calmly peeled an apple and impatiently said, "You need to lie low. They didn't rob you of anything, and it was probably just someone venting their anger.

"You're fine, aren't you? Stop thinking about getting revenge and stay home more. My parents might need you for something."

I'd stared at him in disbelief.

My bones had shattered in several places, and my face was swollen so badly I could barely speak, but to him, that meant I was fine.

All I'd wanted was justice and to bring the attacker to account, but now, he didn't even bother asking questions before rushing to defend Megan.

Everyone's eyes were on me.

I let the paint slide down my cheek and looked Judd straight in the eye. "Do you honestly think I'm so despicable?"

He stiffened and fell silent for a beat before Megan stumbled in his arms and piteously whimpered, "Judd, my ankle hurts so much…"

The hesitation in his eyes immediately vanished, replaced by irritation and disgust at having nearly been swayed.

He lifted Megan into his arms and coldly said, "If possible, I'd rather believe you're not. You'd better watch out."

Then, he walked toward the clinic without looking back.

I lowered my head and laughed quietly. Here I'd foolishly thought that even if we couldn't be husband and wife anymore, we still shared the bond of growing up together.

Now, it was a good thing that any love I once had for him had been worn away.

I turned around and headed home.

Judd took a step toward me, hesitated, and stopped where he was.

…

Back home, it took several washes to finally get the paint out of my hair. I sat on my bed and let out a long breath.

In two days, I'd finally be severed from the Judds.

But the next morning, Judd furiously pounded on my door. "Julie! Did you tell your uncle to call Megan home to get married?"

This was the first time I'd ever seen him so out of control after having lived two lifetimes.

"It wasn't me."

I couldn't be bothered to argue. Just as I was about to close the door, Megan rushed forward and dropped to her knees at my feet, wailing.

"Julie, I know you're still mad at me, so you can always hit me or scold me if you want. Yesterday was my fault; it had nothing to do with you!

"Please… I don't want to be a second wife to some 40-year-old man. Please have mercy on me!"

When she started banging her head on the floor, I frowned and took a step to the side. "What proof do you have that I said anything?"

I couldn't stand her dramatics anymore and decided to defend myself, but suddenly, my ears rang.

The world spun, and a burning pain exploded across my left cheek. Judd had slapped me with full force.

"I never knew you could be this vicious, Julie. I've only loved you as a sister, and just because I won't marry you, you have to destroy Megan's life!"

Holding my cheek, I looked up at him with cold eyes.

What right did Judd have to call me vicious?

Using parental orders to bury my past, he played the victim. He despised me for breaking up his "true love" even as he reaped the rewards of our marriage, eventually stepping over my bones to live out a decades-long life with Megan, never returning home.