Chapter 2

Charles couldn't be bothered with the blood on his forehead and said to Samantha, "And you? Have you ever thought about yourself?"

The sight of them being all affectionate with each other only disgusted me.

Just as I was about to leave, Ethan Gardner pushed the door open and blocked my way.

"Natalie, Sammy only wants a family. Don't hold it against her."

I struggled to speak. "So, you know about this, too? Did you send me away on purpose during the mission last week?"

Ethan let out a sigh. "Natalie, among the 100 people who were taken hostage during the abduction, only Sammy survived.

"She sees you as her sister. You've been taking care of her for so long. Isn't it because you haven't guided her properly that she made a mistake?

"Don't make things hard for her. All her family members died during that accident back then. Life has been tough on her."

"Life has been tough on her?" I wondered.

Back then, I felt sorry that she had lost her family, so I took care of her like she was my own sister.

But Ethan had forgotten that my dad, who was also his mentor, had been badly injured during the rescue and had become a vegetable. Eventually, my dad passed away.

"Nat, you can hit me if you're mad, but don't hold it against Charles."

Samantha walked up to me, and I ripped off the lucky charm given by my dad from her neck.

She gasped. Charles' face turned icy-cold instantly, and he shoved me away.

I stared at him in disbelief.

"I'll send you home so that you can calm down," Ethan said gently.

Charles didn't even look back. "Sammy is injured. I'll take her to the hospital. We'll talk about that later."

…

However, my phone rang when I was on my way home.

"Natalie, just come at me if you have a problem. Don't pull such dirty tricks!"

Upon hearing that, Ethan slammed on the brakes, causing me to bump my forehead.

Charles sent me a screenshot. Someone had uploaded a photo of Samantha and me at the city hall on the internet.

Samantha was circled in the photo, and the caption read, "You're so young. Why must you be a homewrecker?"

I replied calmly, "It wasn't me. Besides, they're right."

"Enough." Charles interrupted, clearly annoyed.

"Samantha never wanted to take anything away from you. Why do you have to pick on her? She's not like you. Don't play your tricks on her."

Ethan frowned slightly. "Natalie, your dad sacrificed himself to save her. Can you bear to see her get ruined completely?

Before I could reply, Samantha's message popped up. "Nat, I won't take anything away from you. Just now, I tried to persuade Charles to apologize to you.

"It's all my fault. He insisted on making me wear the blindfold just now and kept asking me to guess the next posture.

"I kept getting it wrong because I was worried about you. He's more furious now. You'd better be careful."

I gripped my phone tightly, saying nothing.

Sensing that I had fallen silent, Ethan spoke more gently. "You should attend Sammy's graduation ceremony and present the award to her. That way, the rumors will die down."

As if he were doing this out of pity, Charles promised. "Let's register our marriage after the ceremony."

"Forget it. You disgust me." My voice was hoarse.

"Charles, are you that desperate? You do know how to have fun, huh?"

Charles was startled for a moment. He sneered when he grasped the meaning behind my words. "What's wrong? Are you disgusted? It's not the first time I used you to spice things up a little."

My eyes were red as I questioned, "What?"

"Do you still remember Sammy calling you in tears to comfort you on the day of your dad's funeral?"

I vaguely recalled those days. Charles had gone on a business trip, and Samantha had been busy with her thesis.

"I was behind her at the time, and I heard everything you said. But I never stopped what I was doing.

"I was thrusting her so hard that she struggled to catch her breath, yet she was still comforting you," Charles said.

My blood turned cold in an instant. For the first time in my life, I felt like I hated everything about the world.

The system's voice rang out. "The host's desire to leave has become stronger. The elimination time will be reduced to half. Counting down. 24 hours left."

Clenching my fist, I said, "Fine, I'll attend her graduation ceremony."