Chapter 6

When Lux was dragged out of the dressing room, the wound around her wrist split open again.

She struggled the entire way, screaming that Lorenzo was insane, but not a single person dared to stop. The Antara family guards moved with the cold efficiency of men escorting a traitor to execution, not the lawful wife of their Don.

The wind on the rooftop was brutal.

Along the edge of the Antara hotel tower stood a suspended maintenance rig. Far below was a dark ornamental pool reflecting the city lights. The night wind tore across the rooftop from dozens of stories high, sharp enough to cut straight through bone.

Lux's hands were bound behind her back and hooked to the outer steel frame.

Beneath her feet was empty air.

One slip and she would fall straight down.

She was terrified of heights.

And Lorenzo knew that better than anyone.

"Lorenzo!" Her voice was already hoarse, but every word was still filled with hatred. "You b*stard! Put me down!"

No one answered her.

The wind screamed past her ears like knives. Suspended in midair, she could feel the weight of her body slowly pulling her shoulders and wrists numb. At first she still struggled, but before long, breathing itself became difficult. Her chest tightened more and more until every inhale felt painful.

Eventually, she could no longer tell whether it was the freezing wind suffocating her...

or her own heart.

After what felt like forever, one of the guards standing nearby finally hesitated and placed a video call to Lorenzo.

When the screen lit up, Lux could barely keep her eyes open against the wind, but she still forced herself to look up.

Lorenzo's cold, handsome face appeared on the screen.

"Don," the guard said quietly, "Madam can't hold on much longer. Should we pull her back up?"

Lorenzo fell silent for several seconds.

For one foolish moment, Lux thought he might still have some humanity left in him.

Then his indifferent voice came through the phone, "If we let her down now, she's getting off too easily."

The words pierced straight through her chest like ice.

A second later, Bianca's soft, fragile voice drifted from the other side of the call.

"Don, forget it. She's still my sister, after all."

She paused briefly, as though suddenly thinking of something.

"There's a pool below, isn't there? Why not cut the rope and let her fall in? Maybe it'll help clear her head."

Her tone remained gentle.

"We can treat it as... revenge on my behalf."

Lux stopped breathing for a moment.

She could not swim.

And Lorenzo knew that too.

Yet the very next second, he answered calmly, "Alright. Whatever you want."

At that moment, all the wounds covering Lux's body combined hurt less than that single sentence.

During the ninety-nine days she had been kidnapped, she had spent every day making excuses for him.

Maybe his men really were searching for her.

Maybe he had simply been misled by false information.

Maybe he had suffered for her too. Lost sleep over her. Gone mad with regret.

However, in the end, it had all been nothing more than self-deception.

Suddenly, her body dropped.

The rope had been released.

Lux plunged into the water almost instantly.

The freezing pool swallowed her whole as a massive splash erupted around her. Her body was already battered and exhausted. She no longer had the strength to fight. Her limbs flailed instinctively for only a few seconds before she began sinking.

Water rushed into her nose and mouth. Her vision blurred.

Despair closed in around her like a black tide, crushing her deeper and deeper into the darkness below.

She thought she was going to die.

Yet just before losing consciousness, countless memories flashed through her mind instead.

The first time she met Lorenzo, he had been smoking in the backyard of the Vitale estate, casually extending a hand toward her.

The year they fell in love, he held her hand outside a cathedral and promised he would protect her for the rest of his life.

On their wedding day, he pressed his forehead against hers and swore that as long as he lived, no one would ever be allowed to hurt her.

All those memories she had treasured so carefully… and in the end, they were worth less than one spoiled plea from Bianca.

When Lux woke again, she was already in a hospital room.

The first person she saw was Lorenzo sitting beside her bed.

The man was holding her hand. When he saw her open her eyes, the tightness between his brows finally loosened. Even his voice sounded rough with exhaustion.

"You're finally awake. Bianca has already forgiven you. She even spoke on your behalf to the Vitale family. As long as you stop causing trouble, there's still room to fix this."

Forgiven.

Lux weakly curled her lips into a smile. The word sounded utterly ridiculous.

"A woman who climbed into my husband's bed..." She looked at Lorenzo, her voice so soft it was almost a whisper. "What right does she have to forgive me?"

Lorenzo's expression darkened immediately.

"Lux, watch your mouth."

"Watch my mouth?" She laughed, the corners of her eyes turning red. "The truly disgusting things were already done by the two of you."

He stared at her in silence, his face growing colder and colder before finally standing up.

Just then, the hospital room door burst open.

A nurse rushed inside in panic.

"Don, something happened! Miss Bianca fell out of bed and won't stop crying for you!"

Lorenzo released Lux's hand almost immediately.

Before leaving, he looked down at her from above.

"Bianca lost her child because of you. She's emotionally unstable right now. You'd better pray she's alright."

His gaze turned icy.

"Otherwise, even with her pleading for mercy on your behalf, I won't be able to protect you."

Then he turned and walked away without another glance.

Lux stared at the doorway until even his footsteps disappeared.

Only then did she slowly close her eyes.

The pillow beneath her head was already soaked with tears.

However, this time, she was not crying because she still loved him.

She was crying because she had finally realized… a man like him was never worthy of her tears in the first place.