Chapter 2

The moment I saw that pet, my vision nearly went black.

It was a venomous black widow spider.

I watched helplessly as the enormous spider crawled out of the box. Before I could even beg, Mrs. Ward had already fled.

Drawn by the smell of blood, the spider leaped toward me.

I wanted to dodge, but my hands were bound, and the violent pain left me unable to move.

It crawled up my face along the blood. Goose bumps rose all over my body.

I could no longer care about pain or fear. All I wanted was for it to die.

It seemed to sense my intent and suddenly jumped onto my abdomen.

Dense, needling pain washed over me. I screamed horribly.

The ropes snapped. I fell to the floor and had no strength left.

My eyelids grew heavier and heavier. It felt as if I could see death beckoning to me.

Mrs. Ward suddenly appeared again, cursing under her breath.

When she saw I wasn't moving, she seemed a little panicked.

She slapped me hard several times before I jolted back to awareness. With my last breath, I begged her to take me to the hospital.

"A venomous spider bit me. I'm going to die."

She released my hair at once, then shoved my face hard against the floor.

"So you really are a liar! I thought you were actually dead."

Under my unwilling stare, her expression gradually became excited.

"You dead thing. A man, and you still love fighting for attention. You know Ms. Warren likes Mr. Quinn, but you keep shamelessly trying to climb up by acting pitiful. I've hated you for ages. Look at your disgusting state. Ms. Warren would never want you."

Only after scolding me did she finally remember the spider.

"Where did Mr. Quinn's precious pet go? Hand it over."

She searched around and did not see it. Out of fear, she stayed at least a yard away from me.

She mistook the black clump of blood on the floor for the spider's corpse. Furious, she kicked me in the stomach.

"Tired of living, aren't you? You actually killed Mr. Quinn's favorite pet. How can your heart be so vicious?

"No wonder Ms. Warren doesn't like you. Stay here and be buried with Mr. Quinn's pet."

She made a phone call and kept saying yes.

Before she left, she turned the air conditioner down to its lowest temperature.

"Mr. Quinn specifically said his pet likes damp, cold environments. Enjoy it together."

I trembled from the cold. The agony in my abdomen almost made me lose consciousness.

It seemed as if I heard Felicity calling my name gently.

But I no longer even had the strength to lift a hand.

She was clearly the one who had confessed first and said she wanted to spend the rest of her life with me.

She had once truly cooked three meals a day for me.

The ordinary happiness I had imagined countless times had once been so close.

So why had it ended like this?

The final tear slid from the corner of my eye. I could clearly feel my heartbeat weakening bit by bit.

Yet the door opened once more.

The person who came in was startled by the sight of me lying in a pool of blood.

I instinctively made a sound, begging him for help.

He quickly stepped back, his face full of reluctance.

"I... I'm just a delivery runner. Ms. Warren told me to come make sure Caleb cooks for Mr. Quinn. Don't make this hard for me."

My already numb heart hurt all over again.

My wife refused to believe her own husband had a stomach bleed, yet she wanted me to cook for the mistress who had stolen my specialist appointment.

Even in an outsider's eyes, our roles had been swapped.

How ironic.

I told him weakly, "I'm Caleb Bowman. Please take me to the hospital."

He stared at me in terror for several seconds, then finally chose to make a phone call.

"Ms. Warren, I'm at your house right now, but the Caleb you mentioned is covered in blood. He looks like he's about to die. Should I take him to the hospital?"

Felicity laughed coldly.

"He's really good at acting. He doesn't want to cook for Simon, so now he's making up all these excuses."

Her tone gradually became firm.