Chapter 3

“What are you doing? If you have a problem, take it out on me. Don’t hurt my dad!”

Antonia’s eyes widened in terror. Forgetting all pride, she dropped to her knees and begged Ian for mercy.

Ian, however, would not look at her again. He barked at the butler outside, “Get her out of here. Nicole shouldn’t have to look at her!”

The butler immediately stepped forward and dragged Antonia roughly out of the master bedroom.

The door slammed shut in front of her.

Antonia cried out desperately as the butler continued to drag her away, “Ian, please don’t hurt my dad! He’s already in a vegetative state. He can’t survive any more abuse!”

However, from inside the bedroom came the unmistakable sounds of Ian and Nicole losing themselves in each other, drowning out Antonia’s pleas and crushing the last of her hope.

The sounds continued without pause.

The humiliation barely registered. Antonia was overwhelmed by a despair so profound that it felt as if her heart had shattered.

She could not wait another second. Ignoring her high fever and the pain wracking her body, she dragged herself up and rushed outside into the raging storm.

In such terrible weather, Antonia could not find a cab anywhere.

She ran more than ten miles through the pouring rain. She slipped and crashed into the mud several times. Each time, she forced herself back up and kept going.

By the time she finally stumbled into the care facility, she was drenched and covered in mud.

She found her unconscious father lying alone near the basement entrance. His breathing was faint. Half his body was soaked with rain.

He had been strapped to the bed so tightly that dark bruises had formed around his wrists and ankles.

Tears lingered on his aged, pallid face, shed by reflex even though he remained unresponsive.

The sight of her father left Antonia in agony.

She threw herself at the bed and used every ounce of strength she had left to push it farther inside, away from the rain.

However, between her father’s weight and the heavy metal-framed hospital bed, Antonia was far too weak from her fever to move it even an inch.

Without the equipment keeping him stable, her father could die at any moment.

With no other choice, Antonia called Ian. She was unable to keep the tremors from her voice.

“Ian, please. I’ll do anything you want. Just leave my father alone!”

However, it was Nicole’s mocking voice that came through the phone.

“Antonia, you hit me, humiliated me, and sent me to that criminal compound. I intend to make you pay for every last bit of it. You can’t take it anymore? We’ve barely begun!”

Before Antonia could respond, Nicole suddenly raised her voice.

Her sharp, anguished cry pierced the line. “Mrs. Hoffman, I only reached out because I didn’t want to put Ian in a difficult position. Why would you say such horrible things to me? I-I really love Ian...”

She spoke through artful sobs, delicate and pitiable. “I’ve never wanted anything from him. I would never try to take your place as his wife or claim any part of the Hoffman fortune...”

Antonia immediately realized what Nicole was doing.

Unfortunately, it was already too late.

Sure enough, Ian’s menacing voice came through the phone in the next second. “Antonia, you really are hopeless.”

Antonia hurried to explain, “I didn’t! I only called to beg you to leave my dad alone...”

“Enough!”

Ian’s heavy breathing came through the phone. His rage was barely restrained.

“Do you think I don’t know what kind of person you are?

“Nicole has bent over backward for you, yet you still won’t stop until you’ve driven her to her death, all because you want my family’s fortune! I’ve never been more disappointed in you.”

Antonia felt an unbearable pressure building in her chest. It was suffocating.

There was nothing she could say in her defense.

Anything she said would only be dismissed as another excuse.

Ian had decided she was guilty. He would never believe her.

When Ian spoke again, his voice held nothing but cold, unyielding resolve. He delivered each word deliberately. Every one of them cut Antonia to the core.

“You want me to spare your dad? Fine. But you’ll have to stay at that treatment center and undergo a little treatment yourself. Maybe they can finally knock some sense into you.”

Antonia went rigid.

She knew exactly what Ian intended to do.

The facility had state-of-the-art electroconvulsive therapy equipment. Ian planned to use it on her.

“No... Ian, please. You know it’ll kill me.”

Antonia had suffered from severe depression for years. Electroconvulsive therapy might have been merely distressing for an ordinary person, but for her, it was a living nightmare.

Years ago, when her father was set up by his business rival, they were both abducted and strapped into electric chairs, where they were tortured for three days and nights.

By the time they were rescued, Antonia had clawed her entire body raw.

All ten of her fingernails were broken or torn away. She was so badly injured that she was barely recognizable. She had suffered from depression ever since.

Any reminder of the ordeal could trigger a severe episode, accompanied by debilitating physical symptoms.

During the year Ian loved her most, he would not even mention electricity around her for fear of triggering those memories.

Antonia’s hoarse voice carried one final, desperate plea for the love they had once shared. Even if he no longer loved her, she begged him to show her mercy just this once.

“Ian, please...”

Ian fell silent.

Just as Antonia began to hope that their past still meant something to him, he replied coldly, “So what? That’s precisely why this will finally teach you a lesson!”

Antonia’s last hope vanished.

So what...

He was telling her plainly that, for Nicole, he would condemn Antonia to her worst nightmare without a second thought.

All the strength left Antonia’s body. She crumpled to the floor.

The phone fell into a muddy puddle and immediately short-circuited. It sparked and crackled several times before the screen went completely black.

Several doctors from the facility soon emerged. They dragged Antonia away and strapped her to the electroshock table.

No matter how desperately she struggled, they remained utterly unmoved.

“Mr. Hoffman left strict instructions. We don’t have to go easy on you. The more you suffer, the longer we’ll keep your father on life support!”

Antonia finally stopped struggling and let out a broken, bitter laugh.

So, Nicole, the ninety-ninth mistress, had become the only woman who would ever matter to Ian.

He was no longer tormenting Antonia out of anger over the agreement, or because he had loved her and felt betrayed.

She had realized the truth far too late.

The machine switched on with a piercing hum.

Antonia closed her eyes in despair.

The instant the powerful current tore through her body, she screamed in agony.

“Ahhh!”