Chapter 2

Before the woman could finish speaking, I had already made my decision.

“My mother-in-law is unwell. Take her with you.”

At that moment, Josie gathered herself while being treated.

She suddenly grabbed the hem of my top and insisted that she would not board the plane.

“I can’t leave, Elise. If I hadn’t forced you to marry Lucas, we wouldn’t be stuck here today.

“I’m getting up there in age, and I won’t live much longer. I can’t let you sacrifice yourself for me.”

The warning siren for the earthquake rang out again. As the rescue team hurried us, I clenched my teeth and pried Josie’s fingers off me one by one.

“Don’t say that, Josie. If you hadn’t helped me financially, I would still be farming in the valley.

“In my heart, you’re like my own mother. The wrongs Lucas committed have nothing to do with you. Go. Everyone’s waiting for you.”

My parents were servants of the Devine family. Back when Lucas and I were still kids, he got kidnapped, and my parents lost their lives saving him.

Ever since then, Josie had taken me in and treated me as her own daughter. Everything that Lucas got, I had as well.

Lucas met Shevonne in university and was determined to marry her. Yet, the night before their engagement, there was a huge dip in the Devine Group’s share prices, and Shevonne ran off abroad with some rich guy.

Lucas was greatly hurt by this and drank every day to comfort himself. Once, after getting drunk, he mistook me for Shevonne and forced me into bed with him.

Josie felt guilty about the incident and arranged for us to get married.

However, not long after the wedding, Shevonne could not stay overseas any longer. When she got back, she stuck to Lucas like a burr.

As if hypnotized, Lucas started asking me for a divorce, but Josie was dead set against it. The whole Devine family was in chaos because of it, and there were arguments all the time.

When it came down to it, Josie was protecting me.

At this point, I could not bear to see the only person who had ever treated me well die.

“Josie, I’m begging you. I listened to you when you asked me not to divorce Lucas, so now it’s your turn to listen to me. Just this once. Please go.”

Josie’s eyes were red-rimmed, and tears dripped on the back of my hand.

A member of the rescue team glanced at his watch and rushed us again. I gritted my teeth and forcefully pushed Josie onto the plane.

“You must wait here, Elise. I’ll contact Lucas and get him to save you!”

The door to the plane closed with those words.

The plane carrying those who could go home started to taxi down the runway.

At the plane window, Josie was sobbing and hitting the glass with all her might. However, there was too much noise around, so I could not tell what she was saying.

All I knew was how intense the earthquake was going to be. It would cause great damage. There was no way I was going to escape.

The people who had not been able to board the plane gathered around me. Their gazes burned as they stared at me.

“Ms. Avignon, you’re Lucas Devine’s wife. There’s no way he’ll leave you to die in this earthquake.”

“We’re begging you! Please call him and ask him to save us. If you can’t, give us his number. We can ask him ourselves. Mr. Devine is a philanthropist and a kind businessman. No matter how much he dotes on his mistress, there’s no way he’ll stand by and watch you and us die!”

The earthquake warning on everyone’s phones let out a sharp noise.

The kids in the group started to cry, and a pregnant woman gripped my shoulder while begging me to save them.

I clenched my teeth and unlocked my phone. Before I could click on Lucas’s private number, a news headline popped out.

[To Win Lover’s Favor, Devine Group’s President Pilots a Helicopter to Scatter Cash in the Air.]

In the accompanying photo, Lucas was piloting a helicopter as Shevonne was halfway out the door scattering bills in the air. At the tail of the helicopter hung a banner that read, “Lucas Devine Wishes Shevonne Cobb a Happy Birthday.”