Chapter 5

For her own good, he said.

The truth was, Justin was worried that Lynette would reveal the truth in public and damage Christina's reputation. Hence, he decided to lock her up.

Lynette shoved Justin away forcefully before delivering a brutal slap across his cheek. The light of love in her eyes had already faded away, replaced by rage and grievance.

"Are you insane, Justin? Will you only be happy once you've driven me to my death?"

Justin didn't expect Lynette to strike him. But he recalled how aggrieved she was due to the recent incidents, not to mention she had lost a lot of weight because of them. So, he could only coax her patiently.

"I love you so much, Lynn. Why would I bear to see you die? I just hope that you can take your time to heal from your injuries in the villa. Once you're all healed, let's go to Amore Isle for our pre-wedding photoshoot, okay?"

He then pointed at a wedding dress, which was hung right in the middle of the walk-in closet. "See? I already prepared a wedding dress for you."

Lynette turned around to look at the wedding dress, which was worth a million dollars. But all she could see was the word "imprisonment" being scrawled all over the pure white dress.

The wedding dress was supposed to symbolize happiness and fairy-tale dreams. But to Lynette, she saw it as a manifestation of Justin's condescension and contempt toward her.

It was as though Justin was forever the superior one in their relationship. He'd never remember what he was like in the past.

No matter how much Lynette struggled and resisted, she still ended up getting imprisoned in the villa. She wasn't allowed to leave at all.

Before Justin left, Lynette mustered all of her strength to scream at him.

"I regret everything now, Justin! Had I known that you were the devil, I wouldn't have spent the last ten years loving you! I shouldn't have done any of that!"

But Justin merely paused in his steps for a split second before leaving the villa.

For the next ten days, all he did was call the bodyguards on a daily basis to inquire about Lynette's status. He never bothered visiting her.

As for Lynette, she changed her brash ways, too. She took her meals quietly every day. Other than that, she just spent all of her time sitting by the window. As she watched the sun rise and sink throughout the days, she silently counted the hours till the moment she got to leave.

A photo that Christina sent purposefully shattered the tranquility in Lynette's imprisoned life. In that photo, Justin's cheeks were all flushed, and his eyes were misted over. He could be seen cupping Christina's face while kissing her passionately.

Soon after the photo was sent, Christina's taunting text followed suit.

"Lynette Colt, you're just a loser who threatens her own husband with divorce. How can you ever win against me?"

If this were to happen half a month ago, Lynette knew that she'd definitely kick up a ruckus the moment she saw the photo and the text.

But now, she just tapped on the chatbox calmly. "Since you like him that much, you can have him."

Then, she threw her phone aside, her expression still impassive. The sight of the photo disgusted her to no end, after all.

That night, Lynette dug out the lighter she had hidden in advance. She aimed it near the wedding dress—the dress that she used to anticipate wearing—and flicked it to life.

The tiny flame licked its way from the hem all the way up the dress. In just the blink of an eye, the entire walk-in closet was set on fire.

As Lynette stared at the blazing inferno, she could hear Justin's vows ringing out in her ears again.

He once said, "Lynn, I swear that I'll only love you for the rest of my life!"

He once said, "Lynn, if I ever made the mistake of hurting you, I'll die a terrible death!"

He once said, "Lynn, we'll definitely be the happiest married couple in the whole wide world!"

But later on…

He told her, "The divorce agreement is on the nightstand. You can leave whenever you want."

He told her, "Right now, you disgust me to no end!"

He even told her, "I'll just make it up to you. Stop slandering Christina already!"

The sea of flames possessed the ability to destroy everything, including the love Lynette once harbored for Justin. Everything would get reduced to ashes in the inferno and would cease to exist.

Without hesitation, Lynette jumped off the only window on the second floor. After meeting up with the people who were here for her, she got into the Maybach that was waiting at the gate without giving the burning villa another glance.

The moment the car was started, Lynette plucked out the wedding ring from her ring finger and tossed it out of the window. Her gaze remained fixed firmly ahead of her.

Just as Justin wished, she had chosen to leave his side. Her love was officially gone now.

Starting from now, she'd take back everything that belonged to her, one piece at a time.