Chapter 4

Joe frowned at me. "Rebecca's already taking the fall for you, and you can't even tolerate her for a few days? How could you push her down the stairs?"

Clutching my bleeding head, I stared at him in total disbelief. "I didn't push her. She dragged me down—"

"Shut up!" His eyes were ice-cold, as if he were looking at a monster.

"When did you become so malicious and jealous? I am so disappointed in you! How can you look at yourself in the mirror after doing this? What would your late mother say if she knew what kind of daughter—"

I summoned every last ounce of my strength, stood up, and delivered a ringing slap across Joe's face.

He froze, his hand snapping up by instinct as if to strike back, but it hovered in midair before dropping.

I glared at him with pure venom and ground out each word through clenched teeth. "Nobody gets to bring up my mother. Especially not you! Get this through your head, Joe. The one going to prison this time is me! Not Rebecca!"

The moment the words left my mouth, my vision turned pitch black, and I lost consciousness entirely.

When I woke up, I was already in a hospital bed.

The back of my head was bandaged, and a dull ache throbbed beneath it.

Joe was standing outside the ward. Through the glass window, I could see his hollow, exhausted face.

He seemed to have been standing guard for days. A rough stubble of blue shadow covered his jaw.

The nurse mentioned that he hadn't slept for three straight days.

I didn't care to see him. I asked the nurse to pass along a message telling him to head home and keep Rebecca company instead.

He remained outside the door, standing completely still like a statue.

It wasn't until the day I was discharged that he finally cornered me.

"Layla," he rasped, his eyes completely bloodshot.

After a long stretch of silence, he finally forced out, "I'm sorry."

My face remained indifferent as I offered no reply.

He continued, "I'll handle your family's mess. You're not going to prison. I promised your mother I'd look after you for the rest of my life. I'm not breaking that promise."

That line again. It was always because of some obligation to Mom.

I looked up at him. "If someone absolutely has to go to prison, and that someone is me, are you still going to look after me?"

He froze, a visible struggle flickering in his eyes.

A dead, suffocating silence fell over us.

He couldn't answer because, deep down, I would never hold a candle to Rebecca.

I shoved past him and turned to walk away.

He suddenly grabbed my hand. His voice edged with desperation as he said, "Layla, your dad won't let you go… and you wouldn't actually do it either, right?"

Even now, he still refused to believe I would sacrifice myself for the family and for him.

A freezing ache spread through me, leaving me numb with pain.

I shook off his grip and walked straight out.

...

That day was the day I turned myself in. Joe didn't know it. He still thought Rebecca was the one going to prison.

I didn't ask anyone to see me off. I simply called the family driver.

Before leaving, I made sure to remind Dad that that day was also the day Joe and Rebecca were holding their engagement party. I told them to enjoy their celebration.

Just as the car pulled out of the gated community, a sleek black Maybach cut us off and slammed to a halt.

It was Joe's car.

The tinted windows were rolled up, so I couldn't see his face.

He stepped out, walked to my side of the vehicle, and knocked on the window.

I didn't roll it down.

He assumed Rebecca was sitting inside. After all, this particular car was the one Rebecca usually used.

"Rebecca…" His voice drifted through the glass, choked with emotion.

My heart dropped to my stomach.

In the end, he still couldn't let go of his first love.

"I'm sorry, Rebecca," he rasped out. "I know you hate me. I know you hate me for being too useless to protect you. But you have to believe me. I will find a way to get you out. Just wait for me. Give me one year, tops. I'll bring you home."

As I listened to him make promises to another woman in the car, my heart felt like it was being torn to shreds.

When he faced me, there was nothing but harsh blame and deep disgust.

Yet, when it came to Rebecca, he was so gentle. He even promised to break her out of jail.

"Rebecca, I know you're still angry with me and don't want to talk to me. But you need to remember that I love you. Always."

I couldn't stand another second of it and signaled the driver to pull away.

The moment the engine revved and the car accelerated, his final desperate roar echoed behind us. "Rebecca! Wait for me! I swear I'll come get you!"