Chapter 5

Harriet even reached out as if to link arms with Nancy Morvath, the eldest daughter of the Morvath family.

"I'll be coming out more often from now on, so let me introduce myself properly. I'm Harriet Jennings. Cedric's most beloved... sister."

Nancy stepped back, avoiding Harriet's hand as though it were something unclean.

She did not spare Harriet so much as a glance and simply continued her conversation with Nicole. "Nico, if you're uncomfortable at home, my hillside villa is sitting empty. You can move in whenever you want."

The blatant dismissal froze Harriet's smile in place, and for a moment, the venom in her eyes was unmistakable. Then, without warning, she seized Nicole's arm with brutal force.

She dragged Nicole straight into the champagne tower beside them, which stood taller than either of them.

Countless crystal glasses shattered against the floor with a deafening crash. Wine and shards of glass showered them both in an instant.

Harriet collapsed amid the broken glass, her face drained of color.

She clutched her chest and gasped for air as though she might stop breathing at any moment. "Nico… I only wanted to be friends with everyone. Why… would you force me to drink?"

That was the scene Cedric encountered when he rushed in. He shoved Nicole aside as she struggled to her feet, his expression dark with fury as he gathered Harriet into his arms.

Harriet's face was as pale as paper. She curled against Cedric's chest, her body trembling.

When she tilted her face up, her expression was timid and pitiful. "I know I don't belong here with all of you. I only wanted to try to fit in... Nico, why would you push me?"

Cedric fixed his bloodshot eyes on Nicole. "She has a congenital heart condition. She can't touch a drop of alcohol. Were you trying to kill her?"

Nancy and the others stood frozen in shock.

Nancy stepped forward and helped Nicole to her feet. Blood from the shattered glass streaked Nicole's body.

"Have you lost your mind, Cedric?" Nancy demanded. "How is this Nico's fault? That woman did this to herself—"

"Get out of my way!" Cedric cut her off with a furious shout, refusing to hear another word. "Nicole, I should have known. All that generosity was just an act. Is this how you treat Hattie when I'm not around to see it?"

He handed Harriet over to an assistant behind him, then wrenched Nicole from Nancy's grasp. "The Southwell Group is already an empty shell. Whether your father lives or dies depends on a single word from me. How dare you!"

He turned toward the bottles scattered across the floor and issued an order to the bodyguards beside him. "My wife seems to enjoy forcing people to drink. Let her have her fill, then. Pour every last drop on this floor down her throat."

Nicole looked at him quietly. The words "I didn't do it" caught in her throat.

There was no point in saying them. He would never believe her.

"There's no need to force me." Nicole's voice came out hoarse, as though she were on the verge of tears. "I apologize. This was my fault. I'll drink it myself."

With that, she picked up a bottle amid her friends' horrified gasps, tipped it back, and poured the contents down her throat.

With every mouthful, her throat burned like fire.

After two bottles, Nicole's hands shook uncontrollably, and everything before her began to blur.

Nancy held her, her heart aching with worry.

The ghost's expression had also turned sorrowful. She pressed close to Nicole as though she were holding her in an embrace. "Be good, Nicole. Go to sleep now, and everything will be all right."

Nicole stared in a daze at the ghost only she could see.

The ghost's voice no longer had that harsh rasp, as though her throat were full of broken glass. It was clear and soft now. Even the horrible purple-black bruises around her neck had vanished completely.

A faint smile tugged at Nicole's lips. 'Look. The ghost's wounds are healing. If I just endure these five days, I will change what is coming.'

She and her father would both survive, and they would live well.

Nicole fought through the dizziness and the pain that churned in her stomach. She looked at Cedric with a calm she did not feel.

"Is this enough now..." With those words, her body went completely limp, and she collapsed to the floor.

…

When Nicole finally woke, three days had passed.

The moment she opened her eyes, she saw Cedric. "Nicole, I hope you've learned your lesson and will give up whatever ideas you have about tormenting Hattie.

"She doesn't have a scheming bone in her body. I only keep her close because I'm afraid someone might hurt her. If you keep this up, I can't promise what I'll do to you.

"And that goes for your friends, too. Every last one of them stood by that night while Hattie was mistreated. I won't let a single one of them off."

Nicole stared at him for a long moment, still dazed.

His features were sharp and striking, his thin lips unreadable. Yet as she looked at him now, she felt almost nothing.

How had she ever allowed herself to walk straight into ruin and destroy her family, all for a man like this?

Her silence only fueled his anger. "Are you even listening to me?"

Nicole blinked and returned her attention to him. "Sorry. Say that again."

Cedric drew a slow breath as though he were struggling to restrain himself. "I said I'm not divorcing you. I don't have those feelings for Hattie. Stop making things difficult for her.

"The Southwell Group was absorbed into the Grisborne Group a long time ago. You and I are staying together for the rest of our lives."