Chapter 2

"If she doesn't want to eat, then forget it. Let her leave."

Marcus sounded impatient.

Lightning flashed across the sky, followed by a loud clap of thunder. He glanced out the window and let out a cold laugh. His words cut deep.

"Just don't come crying to me again because you're scared of thunder."

When my stepfather abused me, he would often shove me outside into heavy rain until I passed out.

Ever since then, I had been terrified of thunderstorms. Marcus used to stay by my side through every rainy night.

He knew my biggest fear better than anyone. Yet, in his anger, he still pushed me toward the door.

"Oh!" Lauren's scream pulled me back to reality.

Marcus immediately pulled her into his arms and comforted her softly, "Don't be scared. I'm here. I'll go finish cooking. You just stay here, okay?"

The scene looked just like the way we used to be.

I turned, opened the door, and ran into the pouring rain without looking back. I quickly flagged down a cab.

That night, my fever climbed to almost 104 degrees.

Lauren had already posted a photo on social media of a table full of delicious food with a caption.

"I have my own bedroom in the new house, and it's even bigger than the main bedroom. Someone's housewarming dinner was amazing!"

But I clearly remembered Marcus saying he would never cook because he hated the smell of cooking oil.

Yet he stepped into the kitchen for Lauren.

When I finally came to my senses, I found a phone number buried at the bottom of my contacts.

"You once said there would always be a place for me. Does that still stand?"

The excited and certain answer on the other end made me smile. After taking some fever medicine, I drifted off to sleep.

The next morning, a phone call woke me up.

"Hazel, didn't you say you'd come to the family dinner? Why aren't you here yet?"

My body was still burning with fever. "I have a fever..."

"Stop making up excuses. Just get over here. Don't keep everyone waiting."

I dragged myself weak and worn to the Reid Mansion. To my surprise, Lauren was sitting right beside Marcus.

Everyone wore different expressions, but Marcus's mother, Elizabeth Reid, looked especially cold toward me.

No matter how many times I explained that I wasn't marrying Marcus for his money, she always called me a gold digger.

"So, you slept until noon? You really know how to enjoy yourself."

No one noticed the sweat covering my face and my legs shaking from weakness.

And Marcus didn't step in to defend me like he used to.

The criticism from every direction became too much.

I set down my fork and quietly said, "Elizabeth, I'm not marrying Marcus anymore."

Elizabeth froze in shock. Marcus quickly tried to calm her down.

"Mom, she's just joking. Our wedding is already set for the day after tomorrow."

After saying that, he pulled me into a quiet corner.

"Can you please stop being so childish? You know my mom has been looking forward to us having a baby. How could you say something like that to her?"

The one being mocked and blamed was me.

He kept criticizing me without even noticing how sick I looked.

Just as I was about to lose my temper, Lauren looked at me with fake sympathy.

"Hazel, your rosary bracelet is beautiful. Would you give it to me?"

I instinctively closed my hand around it, my chest tightening.

Marcus had brought me that rosary bracelet from a small church in a remote town.

After my mother was beaten to death by my stepfather, Marcus tied it around my wrist with his own hands. He promised it would keep me safe for the rest of my life.

I looked at him unwillingly. "What do you think?"

He said nothing. But the sadness in his eyes told me everything. The person he wanted to protect now was someone else.

"Fine."

Marcus stared at me in surprise.

But I had already taken off the rosary bracelet and casually dropped it into Lauren's hand.

I had already decided to end our seven-year relationship. Compared to that, a rosary bracelet meant nothing.

After I left the Reid Mansion, I received my official job offer. Without hesitation, I booked the first flight to leave.