Chapter 2

More and more people gathered around, and he grew impatient. So, he ordered the bodyguards to throw me off the ship.

Just as I stepped onto the deck, steady footsteps sounded behind me. A gentle male voice followed.

“Chloe, why are you here? Why are you soaked?”

I clenched my teeth and looked at Lucas, the man who almost became my husband. Bitterness flooded my chest.

Could it be he still cared about me?

My body, drenched in icy seawater, warmed slightly at his words. I was just about to speak, but what Lucas said next hit me like a slap.

“You think making yourself look like this will get my attention? I feel sick just looking at you. I’ll make sure you understand the consequences of causing a scene at Hannah’s wedding!”

With that, he grabbed my neck and forced my upper body over the railing, leaving me suspended in midair. The suffocating pain spread through me, but I didn’t struggle. Dying like this didn’t seem so bad.

I closed my eyes, ready to accept death calmly, but Lucas was the one who lost his composure. Finally noticing something was wrong, he quickly pulled me back, shock filling his eyes.

“Why aren’t you struggling? Why aren’t you explaining yourself? Do you really want to die?”

If I explained, would he even believe me? I had explained myself too many times, and every time I did, he only drifted farther away from me and closer to Hannah.

A faint, lifeless smile appeared on my lips, and I said flatly, “I have nothing left now. I might as well just die.”

Lucas’s expression changed drastically. He grabbed my wrist tightly, and his eyes seemed to redden.

“You belong to me. You’re not allowed to die!”

After Lucas regained the use of his legs, his family was determined to find him a new match. However, because he refused to give in, he endured punishment from his family more times than anyone could count. When I found out, I ran to the Lindts and took the punishment in his place. As I was beaten half to death, Lucas held me tightly and, in fear, made me a promise. He said that without his permission, I was absolutely not allowed to die.

I didn’t think he’d remember that, but why did it matter now anyway?

Before I could respond, a defiant man rushed over. Finn White was my second target and also my best friend in this world. He looked at me like I was trash and flung a stack of photos into my face.

“Chloe, since you had the nerve to ruin Hannah’s wedding, I have no reason to spare you any dignity!”

In the photos, I was tied up and beaten. I was pinned down, ridden over, my clothes torn to shreds, and my body covered in humiliating words. Finn had taken all of those photos. He knew exactly how to pick the angles, and my face was captured with perfect clarity. He did this because I had once reported Hannah for cheating in a photography competition, and she was humiliated.

Amid the guests’ mocking laughter, Finn sneered and raised his camera, aiming it at my current, miserable state.

On the corner of the camera was engraved the words, “Finn loves Chloe.”

That camera was a gift from me.

Finn lost his mother when he was young, so his father often brought home a group of questionable friends, and their shared amusement was tormenting him. After I became friends with Finn, I tried to protect him from those people. In the process, I was beaten until I temporarily lost my sight.

To keep him from feeling guilty, I gave him that camera. I told him to take pictures of beautiful things so that I could see them when I recovered. After my eyesight returned, he continued the habit of taking photos. However, I realized later that more and more of the photos in his camera were of Hannah.

“If you don’t apologize to Hannah, I’ll upload these nude photos of yours online. I’d like to see how you’ll ever show yourself in public again!”

When I didn’t respond, his voice turned colder. He grabbed my arm roughly and yanked me up. I was dragged down and forced to my knees, a cry of pain escaping my lips.

Seeing this, Lucas tried to step forward to help me, but Finn stopped him.