Chapter 3 The Blame That Never Ends

By the time Rose finished half her cake, I had finished my awful instant noodles.

On her stream, her other phone suddenly lit up. She glanced at the screen, her eyes reddening as surprise flickered across her face. A few seconds later, she broke down in tears before an audience of over a hundred thousand viewers.

The livestream ended abruptly. I was still staring blankly at my phone when Ian's call came through. His voice struck like a whip the moment I answered. "Hazel Tanner, all this—over a bowl of soup? Over a few maids? You actually leaked photos of me and Rosie online?! If she gets hurt because of you, you could die ten times and it still wouldn't be enough!"

"I don't know what you're talking about. As soon as I got home, I—"

"Still denying it? Rosie said she only ever sent those pictures to you. No one else saw them—not even me! And today's resort—we've been there before. You were just in the livestream. I saw you!" His voice dropped to a furious growl, every word clenched between his teeth.

If I'd been standing in front of him, I knew what would've happened—he would've kicked me to the floor and made me kneel to Rose in apology.

Just like last winter, when Rose had menstrual cramps and insisted I take care of her. I had just miscarried and was too weak, so I apologized softly, "I'm sorry." That alone was enough to make Ian shove me down by the shoulders.

I remembered bowing again and again—ten times, maybe more—until my forehead was bleeding before Rose tearfully said she forgave me.

Ian's ragged breathing through the phone dragged me out of the memory. I stared at the soup of my instant noodles and said quietly, "It wasn't me. I have no reason to do that."

Then, I heard Rose's trembling voice in the background. "Ian, I think… someone's watching me outside. I'm scared…"

The call cut off. I sat motionless at the table, staring into space.

Sure enough, ten minutes later, Ian's men unlocked my door and stormed in. Without a word, they grabbed me like a sack of grain. "Move it. Boss wants you to stand in for Ms. Wells."

…

The hot spring villa had a massive glass window. They sat me at a table right in front of it, a book shoved into my hands. Across the room, in the safest corner, Ian held Rose gently in his arms. "Don't be afraid," he whispered. "I'm here. I'll protect you."

She buried herself in his chest, her small hands clutching the fabric of his expensive shirt. "Ian, will they kill me? I'm scared. I don't want to get hurt…"

"They won't," he murmured. "You're safe here. I promise."

Her crying eased into sniffles. "Ian, what would I do without you?"

"Don't talk nonsense. You'll always have me. I'll be with you until we're old."

The sound of their kisses filled the room—soft, wet, unmistakable. No matter how hard I tried to focus on the words in front of me, every sound still reached my ears. It went on for half an hour before stopping just short of the end.

Then, Rose's sweet voice drifted across the silence. "Ian, Hazel's still here. She's your wife, after all. Maybe you should have someone protect her, too."

Ian cast me a cold glance. "If she hadn't exposed our photos and our location, you wouldn't be scared right now. She brought this on herself."

I tried to keep reading, but the words blurred. I thought I had run out of pain long ago—so why were there still tears? I didn't understand, and I didn't want to.

I must have dozed off at some point. When I woke, pain and exhaustion dulled everything around me. The system's voice echoed faintly in my ear, "Twenty-four hours remaining."

But before I could move, Ian's slap cracked across my face. "Hazel Tanner, how can you be so vile? How dare you sneak in here while I was asleep?!"

I shot up too quickly, pulling at the wound on my abdomen. "Ah—"

"Cut the act," he snarled. "Where's Rosie?"

It was then that I realized I was in their bedroom. I didn't even know how I got there, but Rose was gone.

"I don't know. I was by the window last night—"

"Liar! Where did you send her?"