Chapter 7

Mason threw Lily to the ground so hard that she crumpled into a heap.

"You never learn, do you?"

She curled up in pain, unable to recover even after several moments. Mason watched her with a flicker of surprise. Why did she look like she was in so much pain when he'd barely used any force?

He was about to go over to her when Grace spoke in a delicate, trembling voice.

"Mason, she's obviously jealous because I'm your girlfriend. That's why she attacked me. What if she puts me in a vegetative state too, like she did your mother?"

Mason's expression darkened. The hand he'd been about to offer Lily instead grabbed her and hauled her roughly to her feet.

"Stop playing dead and apologize to Gracie!"

Too weak to stand, Lily sagged against him. "Mason, you hate me, don't you?" Her voice was barely a whisper. "Then just kill me."

With Yvonne gone, there was nothing left for her in this world. Everything around her seemed to lose its color, leaving her in darkness.

Mason was overcome by a surge of fury mixed with emotions he couldn't begin to understand. How dare she ask him to kill her? She was the one who'd committed the crime. What right did she have to ask for death when she was still alive and well?

He dragged Lily away and practically carried her into his car. Once inside, he pinned her beneath him, his body completely covering hers. His hands gripped her like iron clamps, holding her in a humiliating position and leaving her unable to move.

"Mason! What are you doing? Let go of me!" Lily struggled desperately. "This is ridiculous! Aren't I supposed to be your enemy? What the hell are you doing to someone you hate?"

Before she could say another word, Mason suddenly pressed his lips against her neck.

"Ah!"

Lily's eyes widened in shock, and she began fighting him even harder. Her frantic, uncontrolled struggles only made Mason more agitated. He had no intention of treating an enemy gently, and he slapped her across the face.

"What are you pretending for?" he asked coldly. "You hurt my mother seven years ago, and now you've gone after my girlfriend. Isn't this what you've wanted all along? Me? Well, here I am. So stop acting like some innocent little virgin!"

The slap hadn't been particularly hard, yet Lily seemed to go limp, as though every bone in her body had given way.

"I don't want you anymore, Mason. I stopped wanting you a long time ago."

She no longer dared to want him, and she no longer had any desire to.

The utter emptiness in Lily's eyes made Mason's heart sink painfully. He reminded himself that however pitiful she looked, she'd brought all this suffering upon herself. She didn't deserve his sympathy.

"What do you mean, you don't want me anymore?" he sneered. "Don't want to be my mistress? You're so vicious that even being someone's mistress would be too good for you!"

He tried to kiss her again, but Lily turned her face away.

"No."

Lily turned to face him, looking him straight in the eye as she spoke slowly and deliberately.

"Anyone but you."

The atmosphere inside the car turned icy. Mason froze, his entire body going rigid. Then came a derisive laugh, followed by a surge of anger so intense it was frightening.

"Take us to the slums."

The car soon pulled into the poorest part of the city, where garbage littered the filthy streets, and homeless people wandered everywhere. A young woman left alone in such a place would be like a lamb thrown to wolves.

Mason had grown terrifyingly calm.

"Lily, I'm giving you one last chance. Take back what you just said—"

She cut him off.

"Are you deaf too? Fine, I'll say it again. I'd let any other man do it, but not you."

Huddled against the car window, Lily kept both hands pressed to her stomach, desperately trying to ease the agonizing pain.

"Because you disgust me."

Mason's chest heaved as rage surged through him.

"Fine!"

He dragged Lily out of the car and shoved her toward a beggar who was sitting nearby asking for money, blind in one eye.

"From now on, you're going to spend the rest of your life with him. And don't let me catch you anywhere outside these slums. Otherwise, your sister will suffer far worse than you ever have!"

Her sister?

A bitter ache filled Lily's heart. She didn't have a sister anymore.

Mason slammed the car door and barked an order to his men.

"Keep this entire area under watch. Don't let her take a single step outside it! And from now on, I don't want to hear another word about her!"

What a fool he'd been. After all these years, he'd somehow still been unable to forget his feelings for a vicious bitch like Lily. He never wanted to see that wretched woman again!

Mason left without the slightest hesitation, his departure as ruthless as it was decisive.

What he didn't know was that Lily's body had already been pushed far beyond its limits. The moment he was gone, she began vomiting blood, so much that the beggar panicked and fumbled helplessly as he tried to wipe it from her mouth.

Through the haze of pain and fading consciousness, Lily gave a faint, self-mocking smile. Who would have thought that the only person to show her a little kindness at the very end of her life would be a beggar?

"D-don't die," the man stammered, his words slurred. "I'll take you to the hospital."

Lily weakly pulled out a bank card.

"There's no need. The PIN is the last six digits of the card number. There's thirty thousand in the account. It should be enough to keep you going for a while."

Her voice was growing weaker, but she forced herself to continue.

"All I ask is that you buy me a cheap urn, one that costs about three dollars. Then please go to the special education school and collect my little sister's body. Her name is Yvonne Yates."

She struggled to get the rest of the words out.

"My sister always loved pretty things. Could you buy some extra stickers for her urn? Make it look nice for her..."

Her voice grew softer and weaker until, at last, it faded into silence.

She never drew another breath.

She hoped Mason would never find out the truth.