Chapter 3

The comments immediately flooded my view.

"Skylar, come on! Laura is your destined soulmate! Stop messing around already!"

"Why are you so hung up on Gwen? Didn't you see how cocky her dad was just now? Their family clearly has zero intention of letting their daughter marry you!"

"Don't miss out on Laura, Skylar!"

I actually let out an exasperated laugh upon reading the comments. Then, I yanked my hand out of Laura's grip and snarled, "I'll never marry you. Get that idea out of your heads!"

Dad's face turned blotchy with rage. "This isn't up to you! I'm going to announce your engagement right now. The wedding will be three days from today!"

"No way!" I tried to bolt for the door, but the bodyguards pinned me to the floor.

Brandon walked toward me. "Skylar, stop upsetting Dad, okay?"

I shot him a cold look. "Drop your 'concerned brother' act. I'm my mom's only child. You want me to marry Laura? Over my dead body!"

"It's not your call!" Dad roared. Then, he forced himself to soften his tone. "Skylar, I'm doing this for your own good. Over the years, I've never asked anything of you. Truth is, you have no idea that the company is on the verge of collapse. If we can get the Colson family's help, we can lock down all our downstream factories."

In his eyes, I was nothing more than a bargaining chip on the table.

Too bad Laura was deadweight. In my previous life, she'd taken out all her frustrations on me whenever the slightest thing went wrong, and she never made a single decent move in business. Even if I married her, there was no way I could preserve the Stone family's glory.

But Dad couldn't see that. He just wanted to reserve the best for his favorite son. Brandon was his true pride and joy.

I opened my mouth to argue, but Laura spoke up first, saying, "Don't worry. I'll definitely treat Skylar well."

A chill ran down my spine when I caught the venom in her eyes. Meanwhile, Brandon asked, "How about we have Skylar head over to your place starting today? That way, you two can build your relationship."

I snapped my head toward him. There was pure malice lurking in his gaze. My heart sank.

Dad signaled the bodyguards with a flick of his wrist. They dragged me toward Laura's car and stuffed me inside. I struggled with everything I had, but Dad just stepped forward and punched me in the face twice. My mouth tasted like blood, and my ears started ringing.

In that moment, I finally understood that there was no way to completely escape the nightmare from my previous life.

Laura's eyes darkened sinisterly. She hissed, "I've heard about you being pampered and spoiled, but I've truly gotten a firsthand experience of what you're really like today. Don't worry, though. I'll be very gentle with you."

The look she gave me made me shudder, and a wave of despair flooded my chest. I couldn't go back to living in the hell that was my previous life. I couldn't!

But the driver slammed his foot on the gas, and the scenery outside began to blur and fall away behind us. My heart sank into an abyss.

If going with Laura meant getting beaten to death all over again, I would rather jump out of the car now. Unfortunately, she clamped down on my wrist with a vicious smile. "Save your energy, Skylar. I'm not letting you die that easily."

At her words, I lowered my head and sank my teeth into her wrist. She cried out in pain, and I used that moment to shove the door open, ready to throw myself out.

At the very last second, the car screeched to a halt. Laura recovered and grabbed me by the hair, then slapped me hard across the face. The blow almost knocked me out.

Just then, the driver said shakily, "Ms. Colson, the car in front of us… It's…"

His face had gone pale with fear.

Laura had also seen the owner of that car. She loosened her grip on me in an instant. Meanwhile, I let out a sigh of relief. Finally!