Chapter 4

I knew that voice instantly.

I turned my head, and there she was.

Chloe Dixon, my sister-in-law.

Hope hit me all at once. I rushed to speak.

"Chloe, you're finally here. Tell them to let Heidi and me go."

She didn't even look at me. Instead, she walked straight past me, her face full of concern as she went to Robert and the girl in his arms.

"Are you two okay?" she asked, her voice tight with worry. "Stella's useless. She can't even protect her own husband and daughter. Don't worry, I'm here now. No one's going to hurt you again."

One of the maids jumped in right away.

"Mr. Simonds just got punched by him," she said. "His lip's bleeding. We don't know if there'll be any lasting damage."

Chloe's expression hardened with anger and concern. She turned and slapped me across the face twice.

"You piece of trash!" she snapped. "Who told you to lay a hand on Robert? Do you have any idea how important he is in this family? If anything happens to him, what are you going to use to make it right?"

Then she turned on Heidi, her voice sharp and cruel.

"And you, ungrateful little thing. Don't you know you're supposed to protect Robert and Angela?"

My face burned from the hits. I stared at her, disbelief settling in.

"Chloe, have you lost your mind, too?" I said. "I'm Stella's husband! Heidi is your niece!"

She let out a cold laugh.

"I know exactly who you are," she said. "And having a brother-in-law like you is embarrassing. You're not even worth a fraction of Robert. Do you know what he's done for our company? The moment he came in, our profits went up ten times. He's our lucky charm.

"And Angela is our little good-luck star. Whenever we took her to meet clients, they would all rush to hold her, tossing out gifts worth hundreds of thousands like it was nothing."

What did any of that have to do with them?

Those results came from the project I completed overseas. The higher-ups rewarded me by connecting Dixon Corporation to major resources and opportunities.

Without that, their tiny company wouldn't have stood a chance at landing those government-backed deals.

And those clients were just trying to get close to Heidi and mistook that little girl for her.

The gifts weren't for them. They were for me!

Robert's lips curled into a smug smile.

Chloe's voice turned cold again.

"You didn't just hurt Robert," she said. "You ruined Angela's birthday. I'm going to make you pay for what you did to him!"

She pulled out a divorce agreement and held it in front of me.

It said I was giving up everything and walking away with nothing.

"Sign it," she said. "You don't deserve to stand next to Stella as her husband."

Maybe before, I would've hesitated.

But then, I saw Heidi.

She had just licked the girl's shoe, and suddenly, she started coughing up blood. Her whole body began to shake.

Something was wrong. There had to be something on that shoe.

I signed without another thought.

"I've signed," I said, lowering my voice. "Please, just let Heidi and me go."

I thought that would be the end of it.

It wasn't.

"That's just the beginning," Chloe said. "You still haven't paid for hitting Robert. He took one punch from you. You'll pay it back a hundred times. You'll get 100 lashes. After that, you can leave."

My jaw clenched. "You're going too far."

Robert let out a cold laugh.

"If you don't want it, we'll whip your daughter instead."

The whip came down on Heidi. Her small body jerked as the barbs tore into her skin. Blood followed, spilling faster than before.

I rushed over and threw myself over her.

She looked up at me through tears. "Daddy, don't worry about me. I'm okay…"

I held her close, shielding her with my body. "Heidi, don't be scared. Just hold on a little longer. I'll get you out of here."

The whip struck again and again, tearing into my back. Pain blurred my vision, and the world slowly went dark.

Just when I thought I couldn't take another hit, they started soaking the whip in salt water before striking again.

The pain exploded.

Right as everything started to fade, I heard someone shout, "Ms. Dixon is back!"