Chapter 7

After Marlow left, Josette suddenly appeared out of nowhere.

"Did you see that? Marlow loves me! If I were you, I'd leave him," Josette declared boldly while flaunting the phone in her hand. "All I did was make up something about you getting someone to harass me, and look how anxious he got!"

"Don't bother trying to instigate me. If you want that trash of a man that much, you can have him." Ameera shot her a dull look before turning to pay respect to her deceased parents.

Upon noting her lack of reaction, Josette began to seethe with rage. "You're the one being dumped here. Who do you think you are to have an attitude with me? Marlow waited five years to marry me! You've been nothing but a joke for five years. You are nothing without him!"

Ameera stopped in her tracks. Although she was completely over him, she still felt a hint of sadness. She turned to face Josette and said while holding back her emotions, "I'll still be a daughter to the Meyers even without Marlow. You have no right to challenge me, even if you are his wife. Remember, you're not the one who chased me away. I am the one who chose to walk away on my terms."

"Ameera!" Josette's eyes flashed with anger as she glared at Ameera's departing figure. "I'll make you regret this!"

Ameera ignored her and went to visit her parents' grave. She told them everything that had happened to her over the past five years. She was surprisingly calm the entire time and hardly shed a tear.

"Mom, Dad, I don't love Marlow anymore. Don't worry about me. I'll take care of myself."

It was almost dark when she reluctantly left the cemetery.

The entire time, Marlow never showed up or called.

The cemetery was in a remote area, so she had to walk for a while before she could hail a taxi. Having bid her parents goodbye, she slowly made her way toward the main road.

After walking a short distance, she had the feeling she was being stalked. With that, she quickened her pace and reached for her phone so she could call the police.

Before she could even dial the number, a stealthy figure caught up to her and pressed a handkerchief against her nose.

She fought violently, but it was no use. Her vision became blurred, and soon, she passed out from the solution on the handkerchief.

Then, she was rudely awakened by a freezing sensation. Someone had poured a bucket of ice over her to jolt her awake.

She found her hands tied behind her back and strapped to a column. Her eyes were covered with a black cloth, and she shivered from the cold.

"Who are you? What do you want with me?" she cried out in a quivering voice while a wave of fear washed over her.

"Say something! Who are you? You want money? I have money, more than you ever need! Give me your bank account and I'll transfer it right now!"

She could not see anything and could only resort to negotiating, but there was no response the entire time.

Her clothes were drenched with icy water, and every gust of wind made her teeth chatter from the cold. She was growing increasingly frantic and continued to struggle helplessly.

"Let me go! Who are you?"

The sudden blow of a bat against her stomach made her yelp in pain. "Ah!"

"You don't need to know who I am. All you need to know is that you're going to pay for what you've done," the man declared while raising the bat in the air and swinging it against her stomach again.

Ameera felt her organs pummeled by the blow. Tears welled up in her eyes. "I don't know what you're talking about."

The man stopped bothering to respond and continued to pound her stomach with the bat. Each blow he inflicted was so tremendous that it felt like her organs were going to rupture. She would pass out from the pain from time to time, only to be awakened again.

By the end of the beating, she was numb with pain. There was blood everywhere, trickling down from the corner of her lips down to her shirt, and even her pants were soaked with blood.

It looked like the man had finally grown tired of beating her. He dropped the bat and proceeded to untie her, causing her body to slump to the ground like a rag doll. Her blood continued to spread across the ground as she faded out of consciousness.

When she woke up, there was nobody around her. After she removed the cloth from her eyes, she saw a projected screen in front of her.

It was playing a video of Marlow holding Josette and kissing her on the forehead repeatedly while consoling her, "Don't cry, dear. You're fine."

"Marlow, I refuse to believe this. I don't believe Ameera would ever try to hurt me. She's such a good person! Why would she try to hurt me just because I accidentally shoved her?" she whimpered and cried.

"That may be so, but people change." A pained look flashed across Marlow's eyes. "The truth is that she hired someone to teach you a lesson. If you hadn't called the police, who knows what would have happened?"

"Even if that's what happened, I don't want you to get revenge for me. I don't want you to hurt her."

"You're still looking out for her at a time like this. Don't worry. I'll just teach the person who tried to hurt you a lesson. As for Ameera, I'll make sure to give her a warning."

His eyes were filled with disappointment as he spoke. He looked wholly convinced that Ameera had hired someone to harm Josette.

Meanwhile, Ameera collapsed to the ground and convulsed from the pain. She glared at the faces of the couple on the screen and felt as if her heart had been ripped out of her body all over again. The blood would not stop flowing.

Marlow, the man who once trusted her, was accusing her of a crime she did not commit just to defend Josette. He even wanted to have her punished.

Feelings changed. Everything else changed after that.

She smiled bitterly until she cried.

'Marlow, would you regret everything if you ever found out about the truth one day?'