Chapter 3

Jaxon could not bear to watch Yvonne take any more lashes. He rushed forward and raised his arm to block Bernard’s whip.

“Mr. Sawyer, please stop. Beating her won’t solve anything.”

Bernard felt ashamed when he saw Jaxon. His anger toward Yvonne only grew stronger.

“I failed as a father. She let you down, and I have to teach her a lesson!”

“This is between us. Please let us work things out ourselves.”

Jaxon spoke with such sincerity that Bernard had a way to back down without losing face. He took a few deep breaths before finally lowering his arm.

Lily stepped forward and held Jaxon by the wrist. Tears filled her eyes. She said, “Jaxon, don’t worry. You’re the only man we’ll ever accept as our son-in-law.”

Jaxon looked at their aged faces, and his heart grew heavy.

At first, they had not approved of him. They thought he came from an ordinary background and that his job was beneath their family’s status.

Their attitude had changed a year ago, after he injured his right hand to save Yvonne.

Once the Sawyer family learned what had happened, they finally agreed to accept him.

They were good people.

He had let them down.

He had been lying to them from the very beginning.

Jaxon gave Lily a small smile. “Mrs. Sawyer, we’ll talk things through. You and Mr. Sawyer should get some rest.”

The two went inside, though they were still worried about them.

Jaxon helped Yvonne sit in the gazebo and asked a servant to bring the first-aid kit.

He reached out to treat her wounds, but she frowned and refused. “I can do it myself.”

His hand stayed in midair for a few seconds before he slowly lowered it.

A bitter smile tugged at his lips.

Even with Yulian nowhere around, Yvonne still refused to let another man touch her.

When Yvonne truly fell in love with someone, she gave that person her whole heart.

Jaxon had once been lucky enough to receive that kind of love. Then he had lost it.

Yvonne treated her wounds with practiced ease. She disinfected each one and applied the medicine without hesitation.

She was known throughout Kingsport as a tough, no-nonsense woman. She had taken over the family business at a young age and had earned a reputation for being decisive and ruthless. Few people dared to cross her.

Jaxon had once been deeply attracted to her strength. He thought she was different from other women.

He finally knew just how different she was.

She could end a relationship just as decisively, without a hint of hesitation.

When she noticed his thoughtful gaze, she let out a mocking laugh.

“Don’t think that just because you’ve won over my parents, I’ll take you back. I’m already tired of you.”

Jaxon came back to his senses and gave her a faint smile. “I know.”

His calm response left Yvonne at a loss for words.

Jaxon continued, “But you know as well as I do that no respectable family in Kingsport would let their daughter date me because of you. Yvonne, you owe me something for that.”

She shot him a cold look. “How much do you want?”

“Five million.” He raised his eyes and met hers. “And an invitation to the Celestial Gala.”

The Celestial Gala was an exclusive private event hosted by Anna.

It took place every December at the Zimmerman family villa. The guests were all members of high society, and the event was one of the most glamorous gatherings of the year.

Yvonne received an invitation every year, but she never attended.

Jaxon had always suspected that the missing girls and the actresses who had died under mysterious circumstances had some connection to the gala.

He had to get inside.

Yvonne frowned. “What do you want at the Celestial Gala?”

Jaxon shrugged. “To keep living off a woman, of course. Since you don’t want me anymore, I need to find someone else to support me.”

Yvonne stared at him in disbelief. Anger soon spread across her face. “Jaxon, how did I never realize how shallow you were?”

“I for sure can’t compare to Mr. Spencer. He’s so noble and above it all.”

Jaxon met her gaze without a change in expression.

“Yvonne, you promised to compensate me. You’re not going to go back on your word, are you?”

Her eyes turned teary. She practically forced the words through clenched teeth.

“I’ll give you the invitation when it arrives at the end of the month. Go if you want. But when you get yourself into trouble, don’t come crawling back to me.”

Jaxon gazed at her and gave a sad smile. “Don’t worry. Even if I end up dead and buried, I won’t come begging you for help.”

He knew this mission could cost him his life. He was afraid his words might come true.

But he soon accepted that possibility.

He had spent years investigating this case.

No matter how dangerous the Celestial Gala turned out to be, he had to find out the truth for himself.

Yvonne watched his calm smile. Her body trembled slightly with anger.

“Jaxon, did you ever really love me?”

Jaxon froze for a moment. “Why would you ask that?”

“If you loved me, why would you already be looking for someone else right after I dumped you?”

“If that’s what you want to believe, then fine.”

He left those words behind and walked out of the Sawyer family villa without looking back.

He was afraid that if he stayed even a second longer, Yvonne would see the tears in his eyes.

Had he ever loved her?

How could she wonder about that?

A year ago, he and Yvonne had gone on vacation in the mountains.

Then Yvonne caught the flu. Her fever refused to come down, and her life was in danger.

Heavy rain had triggered a landslide that blocked the mountain road. No ambulance could get through.

With no other choice, he gritted his teeth and carried her on his back. She was barely conscious, and he made his way down the muddy, slippery trail one painful step at a time.

At one point, he lost his footing and slid down a steep slope. His first instinct was to shield her from the fall. He took every impact himself.

He ignored the pain and kept carrying her until he finally reached the rescue team. They got her into an ambulance.

In the end, Yvonne recovered without any lasting problems. But Jaxon’s right wrist was shattered when he hit a rock during the fall, and the nerves were severely damaged.

Whenever it rained, the pain kept him awake all night.

Worse still, he was a right-handed shooter.

The injury had left his right hand almost useless, and it had cost him half his future as a police officer.

He could not bear the thought of Yvonne blaming herself, so he hid the severity of his injury from her.

He made up an excuse about a business trip and went abroad alone for painful rehabilitation. He also trained himself to shoot with his left hand.

If he had really not loved her, how could he have made it down that treacherous mountain trail after the rain?

If he had not loved her, how could he have been so determined to spare her even the slightest guilt?

But all of that was in the past.

Their relationship had been built on a lie from the very beginning.

In the end, they were destined to go their separate ways. They were never meant to be.