Chapter 6

A few minutes later, Joachim came out of the manor.

Scarlett looked at him silently. Suddenly, she raised her hand, showing him the bracelet around her wrist. "You personally made this bracelet for me. But I just realized that the colors have already faded away.

"Joachim, tell me, do you think your love for me will also fade away?"

"Definitely not!" Joachim answered at once. His eyes were sincere as he held Scarlett's hand in his and kissed the back of it as wholeheartedly as he could. "My love for you will only grow day by day."

Scarlett just laughed rather ambiguously.

If he still loved her, then why would he continue lying to her and playing her for a fool?

She had intended to leave quietly at first, but now, she'd changed her mind.

She wanted revenge on Joachim's unfaithfulness to her, which lasted two whole years.

She wanted revenge for the broken promises he'd made to her, leaving her to suffer alone in pain.

She wanted revenge for how much he had loved her—so deeply that it gave her a wound that would take forever to heal. It would leave a permanent scar.

Scarlett hugged him with both her arms and said, "I love you too, Joachim. So, you must wait for me, okay? Wait for me and our baby to come back so that we can celebrate our third wedding anniversary together.

"Oh, by the way…"

She took out a file folder and placed it in Joachim's hands with a serious expression on her face. "This is my gift to you. But, you're only allowed to open it two days from today."

Inside the file folder was a copy of her abortion slip from the hospital, along with screenshots of the videos Katrina had sent to her.

When Joachim heard news about her jet crash, he would definitely open this file folder, and then, he would realize that his cheating had caused her to give up on him, made him lose the baby he'd been looking forward to, and caused the death of his own beloved wife.

She wanted Joachim to live the rest of his life in regret.

"Okay. I'll wait," Joachim said. His eyes sparkled brightly with hope. "Lettie, I'll send you to the airport now."

Scarlett shook her head.

He had walked with her long enough throughout the journey of her life. She didn't want him next to her anymore while she was saying her final goodbyes.

"You don't have to send me there. I know you're a very busy person. I'm sure someone's going to be looking for you again very soon."

Joachim froze for a bit. Was he mistaken? Why did it feel as though Scarlett's words were laced with sarcasm?

The feeling of unease returned once more.

A split second later, his phone began ringing loudly again. It was a text message from Katrina.

"Joe, I bet you weren't satisfied with just that round earlier… Wanna come back for more after seeing your wifey off?"

Attached with the text was a photo of Katrina, posing in Scarlett's lingerie.

Joachim's breath caught in his throat. His breathing became quicker and heavier, and the feeling of unease was very quickly replaced with that of lust.

…

Actually, the first time he slept with Katrina had been orchestrated by his own parents when they got him drunk. At that time, Joachim had thought that he was now defiled and wanted nothing more than to take his own life.

However, Katrina had kneeled on the ground, her pride and dignity nonexistent, and begged him by saying, "I know you bankrupted my family, but I'm still in love with you. Joachim, I'll die without you. I'm willing to do anything as long as it makes you happy!"

True to her word, Katrina did everything Joachim wanted just to satisfy him. In fact, Joachim had done with Katrina everything he could think of, under the sky, whether or not he'd ever heard of it before.

Ultimately, Katrina had then put on Scarlett's clothes and said, "You can think of me as her stand-in puppet. Whatever you can't bear to do to her, you can do to me."

It was at that moment that Joachim's heart was completely set on fire.

He had been harboring many dirty, impure thoughts toward Scarlett, but every time he got close to her, he would suddenly feel ashamed of himself and give up on his fantasies at once. His love for her was pure and sincere, only that of worship and adoration.

However, when he was with Katrina, Joachim didn't even think twice. He made sure that every single one of his fantasies was fulfilled, using her body.

"Oh… If that's the case, I guess I won't be sending you to the airport, then. Drive safe."

Just before leaving, Scarlett turned and glanced at Joachim for the last time. But this time, she could only see his hurriedly retreating figure.

She said in a soft voice, "Joachim, this is goodbye… forever."

…

A few hours later, Joachim had Katrina all bundled up in his arms as they rolled in the sheets at Glade Manor over and over again. It was then that his personal assistant, Bertie Lawson, called.

"The sky had better be falling as we speak," Joachim growled, obviously dissatisfied at having been so rudely interrupted.

Bertie's voice was shaking. "Mr. Davidson… It's about Mrs. Davidson. She… Her plane had just left the national airspace before it lost altitude and crashed into the sea…"

Joachim's eye twitched. He could literally feel his blood freeze over.

"What did you just say?"