Chapter 3

I looked up at Leo, who was frozen in shock.

"And you," I said coldly, "I won't be sponsoring you anymore. So don't go around telling people you know me. It's embarrassing."

Even his voice trembled as he spoke.

"If… if Sue comes back, she'll never forgive you…!"

My secretary stood off to the side and asked cautiously, "Mr. Parell, what should we do now?"

I gave a dismissive hum, my face full of impatience.

"No matter what, she's still our employee. Even if she's useless, call the police anyway. I don't want outsiders saying our company lacks basic humanity."

During all this, Leo still tried to stop us, but I cut him off with a cold stare.

"Didn't you say you cared about Sue? Then why are you trying to stop me from getting the police to save her? What exactly are you trying to do?"

The secretary ignored him after that and immediately picked up the phone to call the police.

The moment Leo left, I handed my secretary the secretly recorded video from earlier.

"Upload this online," I instructed calmly. "Add keywords related to Bayndemar scam compounds."

The internet exploded almost instantly. The comment section erupted into chaos.

[Oh my God! Those Bayndemar compounds are actually real?!]

[Who can save her?! The person who posted this is insane! The kidnappers already threatened to kill her, and he still provoked them like that!]

[If that woman dies, he's basically the murderer!]

Perfect. The bigger the scandal became, the better.

After receiving the report and the video, the police treated the case with extreme seriousness and immediately began investigating Sue's entry records and movements.

Two days later, during the company's weekly meeting, Sue suddenly burst into the conference room covered in blood.

The employees were so startled that several of them jumped to their feet. My secretary reacted quickly and immediately notified the police.

With trembling hands, Sue staggered toward me and spoke weakly, "Ryan… I thought I'd never see you again… Thank God… thank God I managed to escape…"

Honestly, I had to admire her mental fortitude.

Just before the meeting, I had seen her with Leo in the back stairwell.

As Leo helped smear fake blood over her body, he complained bitterly, "What's so great about Ryan anyway? Why are you so obsessed with him, Sue?!"

Sue leaned half her body against him, greed filling her voice.

"What's so great about him? He's rich."

Then she smiled viciously.

"His parents are dead. Even if he dies overseas, nobody would go looking for him. Our original plan was flawless, but somehow, he refused to take the bait!

"Forget it. I'll just say I escaped and came back. I know him. He won't really be cruel enough to abandon me."

"Ryan? What's wrong?"

Sue's sickeningly sweet voice dragged me back to reality.

"Are you angry because I went somewhere so dangerous without telling you?"

I shot her a cold glance without answering, but she continued softly, "I know you were worried about me, but I just hated seeing you work so hard. I wanted to help shoulder some of your burden and close this business deal for you…

"It doesn't matter if I suffered a little. All I want is for your life to be easier… Everything I did was for the company. For you…"

I stared at her and ground out every word through clenched teeth.

"I really wish they had beaten you to death."

Sue's face filled with disbelief.

Before she could react, Leo rushed in from outside and pointed at me while screaming, "Ryan! You've gone too far! When Sue disappeared, you ignored her completely! And now that she's finally back safely, this is what you say to her?!"

Over the years, Sue had always been publicly acknowledged within the company as my future fiancée.

I had never been stingy with her. I indulged her completely, allowing her to throw her weight around in the company because I loved her with everything I had.

And to win people over, she had spent years carefully building a reputation through charity work.

Several coworkers who were close to Sue immediately began defending her.

"Mr. Parell, Ms. Sanford was only thinking about the company—and about you. She's safe now, so just let it go."

"Yeah, I saw that video. It was terrifying. The fact that she managed to escape is incredible. You should forgive her."

"You've been together for so many years. That kind of relationship isn't easy to come by."

I ignored them all.

Instead, I turned on the projector.

One intimate photo after another appeared on the screen—pictures of Sue and Leo together.

Every single one of them had been recovered from Sue's work computer.

I looked around the room and said coldly, "My girlfriend is sleeping with the poor student I sponsored. Tell me, should I still forgive her?"

Sue had never expected me to refuse to save her, much less search through her computer. At that moment, she completely panicked.

"Ryan! These are all misunderstandings!"

Just then, the police hurried into the room with grim expressions.

The moment they saw Sue, their brows furrowed tightly.

"Ms. Sanford, we've been investigating for days, but we found no record of you ever leaving the country. Where exactly have you been these past few days?"

Sue opened her mouth to argue, but I calmly took out the video I had recorded earlier in the stairwell.

"Sue," I said coldly, "it's finally your turn to suffer what I once endured."