Chapter 4

Callum's POV

I stared at her, stunned, with no idea what she was talking about.

Delia dragged me to the hospital, where Jensen lay in bed, pale, covered in injuries, and looking terribly weak. Her eyes reddened with heartache. She dropped my hand, rushed to his side, and took his, soothing him gently.

"It's okay now, Jensen. I had my people throw those guys into the ocean. Nobody's going to dare mess with you again."

The moment Jensen saw me, he stared like he'd seen a monster. He started shaking all over, then dropped to his knees at my feet with tears streaming down his face.

"Callum, please, don't let those people hurt me anymore. I'll quit the industry, and I'll never show my face around Dee again…"

His face was so swollen he barely looked human, bruises covered his whole body, and one of his arms was broken.

I frowned hard at him. "What are you talking about? I have no idea what you mean."

Out of nowhere, Delia slapped me so hard I staggered, and my head started ringing. She glared at me with a hatred so fierce it looked like it could tear me apart.

"You couldn't stand Jensen, so you tried to have him beaten to death? What kind of man does that? Callum, I was so wrong about you. Someone as twisted as you never deserved my love. I regret ever marrying you."

Those words stabbed straight into my heart.

"I didn't—"

She didn't believe me for a second. With a cold laugh, she called over her bodyguards, who forced me into a car and drove me to the underground fight club.

Delia sneered. "There aren't just fighters here. There are wild animals too, and you get to take your pick. Whatever Jensen went through, you're going to suffer a thousand times over!"

The place reeked of something nauseating. Dozens of hulking men watched me like predators, and roars echoed out of the darkness. Despair crept over me, and for the first time ever, I backed down in front of Delia.

"I won't remarry you. I'm out. You and Jensen can have each other. Just let me leave."

Delia's face stayed cold even as she gently took my hand, and what she said next turned my blood to ice.

"Do you know why you got drugged back then? Jensen told me to test you. He said if you really loved me, you'd be able to fight your instincts even while drugged and wouldn't do anything like that with someone else. But you failed. You let me down first."

My body still throbbed from being dragged around, but it was nothing compared to the feeling of my heart being ripped apart.

My eyes went red, and I broke down, screaming at her, "You ruined my career and my whole life over some stupid test!"

After the video blew up, I was charged with rape and spent a year in prison before being released for insufficient evidence. It changed everything.

I couldn't find a decent job, so I had to live under the radar and let her call all the shots. But the woman standing in front of me, the one I'd loved for so many years, was the one behind all of it.

The next second, a bodyguard rushed in. "Ms. Sutcliffe, we've got a problem! Mr. Pike got really worked up, and he just jumped from the second floor!"

Delia went pale with shock and ran out without looking back. At the door, she stopped short and spoke coldly, "Stay right here and get a real taste of everything Jensen went through!"

I was thrown into an arena, and the crowd in the stands erupted into excited shouts. A cage swung open, and a tiger lunged at me with a roar. I struggled to dodge it, but my body was soon covered in bloody gashes. Its claws tore through my flesh, and the bone-deep pain made my vision go dark in waves.

No matter what, I couldn't go down here. Gritting my teeth, I finally knocked the tiger down with one punch.

Then, a voice rang out, "Mr. Pike said this guy has to get eaten by the tigers! Bring out a few more, and let's see how long he lasts!"

Five more tigers with blood-red eyes slowly emerged from the darkness. I backed into a corner as despair sank in. Was there really no escape this time?

At a shouted command, the five tigers bared their fangs and launched themselves at me. Agony tore through my body, and a second before I lost consciousness, I heard a rapid burst of gunfire.

...

After calming Jensen down, Delia felt strangely restless. She kept thinking about the resentful look in my eyes before she left, and in the end, she decided to go back for me. All she'd wanted was to teach me a lesson so I'd stop causing trouble.

But when she got there, the scene in front of her broke her completely.