Chapter 4

No sooner had I asked that question than several bodyguards swarmed in and dragged me off the stage. They covered my mouth with tape and told the audience that I was a mentally unstable intruder who just wandered in to crash the event before hauling me backstage.

I struggled desperately against them until I caught sight of Levi.

"Levi Hoffman!"

My voice trembled as I called out to him the moment they ripped the tape from my mouth. "Those are my photos! How could you steal my photos and give them to Viola!"

Levi seemed stung by my accusation. He frowned hard and looked at me with a displeased and disdainful manner.

"Stole? You'd already stopped being a photographer ages ago, and those photos were never made public anyway. So what if I gave them to Viola?

"If she wants to establish herself in the photography world, she's going to need a strong portfolio to back her up."

I felt as though I had been plunged into an icy abyss.

"Then, what about me?" I rasped. "Why should my hard work be used to pave the way for her?"

Levi's gaze darkened as he said, "I'll make it up to you."

Viola suddenly rushed backstage just then and fell to her knees before me, wailing, "Mrs. Hoffman! I'm begging you, Mrs. Hoffman, please help me out just this one time!

"I really love taking photos! Please just indulge my greed this one time, Mrs. Hoffman!"

Levi's eyes were instantly filled with anguish and heartache the moment he saw Viola on the floor like this. He pulled her into his arms and gave the bodyguards a look.

I couldn't bear to look at them anymore. Just as I struggled to leave, one of the bodyguards shoved me off the stage, and I fell heavily down the stairs, landing against a banister that struck me right in the lower belly.

I felt an excruciating pain spreading through my body.

I stared in a daze at the blood spreading beneath me, locking eyes with Levi for just a moment, whose expression suddenly turned panicked.

Then, my whole world blacked out.

When I woke up again, I was told the news of my miscarriage.

The baby had been a month along. I'd looked forward to this baby for three years, and now, it had left me just as silently as it came.

Levi sat by my bed, looking at me with a rare guilt in his eyes. He told me that we would still have another baby next time, and that this was nothing more than just an accident.

He even told me that if I really cared that much about the photos, then he would make it up to me by taking wedding photos with me after I'd recovered from this.

I just stared at the hospital ceiling above my head and chuckled very slowly.

Levi's expression changed.

"What are you laughing about?"

"I'm happy that the child left at such a convenient time like this," I said, ignoring the dark look on his face. I then made myself clear and said, "I don't want you to make it up to me.

"I just want a divorce."

Levi flew into a rage. He left the hospital ward and slammed the door heavily behind him.

Three days later, a signed divorce agreement was sent to my bedside.

I looked at his signature on the documents and smiled in relief.

…

Levi didn't come to visit me again until the day I left. However, the car that was meant to bring me to the airport suddenly made a detour and brought me to an abandoned warehouse in the suburbs.

I was bound and brought out of the car. Viola looked at me with a triumphant smirk on her face, and with a wave of her hand, a dozen men with hungry, gleaming eyes immediately crowded around me.

She then set up her camera on a tripod nearby and said, "Since you love taking photos so much, Mrs. Hoffman—why don't I let you have your fill of it today?

"But don't worry, I'll also be recording everything on video, so I'll make sure to pick out plenty of your most 'flattering' shots to post online."

As my clothes were torn away, I stared in despair at the men closing in on me, unable to break free from my confines.

Then, Viola happily answered a phone call and left the place with a look of delight on her face.

Next to me, my crushed phone lit up with a new text message from Levi. He said, "Viola wants wedding photos too, so I'm going to take wedding photos with her today. As for your photos, I'll make it up to you next time."

The taste of blood spread in my mouth. I just stared at the words and laughed silently.

There was never going to be a next time.

There would never be a next time for us, Levi Hoffman.

…

Levi sat in the bridal shop, holding his phone in his hand as a disapproving frown creased his brows. It had been two hours since he sent out that text message, but I hadn't replied to him at all. And this wasn't something I usually did.

For some reason, he felt very unsettled at that moment. Even when Viola emerged in her wedding dress, he only offered her perfunctory praise before getting distracted again.

While he was distracted and still waiting for a reply from me, a set of private, explicit photos suddenly shot to the top of the trending list on social media. The moment Levi clicked on them, his pupils contracted sharply.

Right at that moment, his secretary, Ronan Farrell, called.

"Mr. Hoffman! We've got terrible news!" Ronan practically yelled in his ear. "An abandoned warehouse in the suburbs exploded, and it's been burning for two hours—and it seems that Mrs. Hoffman might be inside!"