Tous les chapitres de : Chapitre 1 - Chapitre 9

A basin of cold water came crashing down over my head. I jolted violently and snapped my eyes open.My head throbbed as if it were splitting apart. My body was tied to a chair so tightly I couldn't move, and it took a long while before my mind finally cleared."You're up," said the man I had dated for five years, Norris Chapman. He wore that familiar, gentle smile.Just a second ago, I had been at his house, sharing a Christmas Eve candlelight dinner with his family. So, why was I now tied up like this and locked inside a small, dark room?"Norris, what the hell are you doing? Release me!" I yelled.A cold smile curled his lips. "Sorry, Winnie. I didn't really have a choice. To be frank, I owe some people money. The debt collectors will be here any day. To pay them back, you'll have to make a little sacrifice. You understand, right?"My breathing stopped. My lips quivered, and I could barely believe what I had just heard. "Aren't you a CEO? I thought your company had been running

I jerked my head up and instinctively looked toward the door. My hope collapsed the moment it swung open because it wasn't Dad who had arrived.At the front stood a young man, maybe even younger than me, his gaze sharp and menacing. A few others followed him quietly. "Mr. Greven is still tied up with some matters. He'll be here shortly."Still, I recognized him immediately. He was Billy Newman, the grandson of my old butler.Norris rushed forward, his head slightly lowered in a show of deference. "Here she is, the one I brought. See? Looks just like the photo, doesn't she?"Billy tilted my chin and compared my face to the photo. "Huh… They really are identical."I stared at the photo and felt a cold certainty. Dad wasn't looking for his long-lost mistress—he was looking for me. That photo was of me from five years ago."Billy, it's me! I—" I screamed, pouring all my strength into my voice, hoping he would recognize me.A tight slap landed across my face. "Quiet! This isn't your

Although it had been five years since Dad and I last met, and despite my swollen face, messy hair, and disheveled clothes, he recognized me. How could he not? I was his precious daughter, after all.He stared at me in disbelief, his voice trembling. "Winnie?"I couldn't form proper words. All I could do was nod and sob uncontrollably, tears streaming down my face.His gaze swept over me slowly—my bruised cheek, the red marks on my neck, the visible bruises across my body—before finally locking on my right hand, pierced and bleeding.Norris, oblivious to the tension, misread the situation entirely. He thought Dad was impressed, so he shamelessly approached."Mr. Greven, look—she looks exactly like the woman you've been looking for, right? Trust me, I've trained her myself for five years. I guarantee you… she'll know exactly what to do in the bedroom—""Silence!"Dad's head shot up, and the eyes that were usually calm and steady now blazed with fury. Norris froze, his grin stiffen

I stayed in the hospital for two weeks before I fully recovered. The day before I was discharged, I asked Dad about Billy and Norris. He paused for a moment, then asked, "Do you really want to know?"I nodded."You should know that Billy is Patrick's grandson. He was spoiled as a child, never learned anything useful, and had just come back from abroad. He didn't know anything—so yes, it was a misunderstanding."His voice hardened. "Still, he hurt you. No matter who it is, anyone who harms my daughter has to pay. Out of respect for Patrick's lifelong loyalty, I spared his life."But I ruined one of his legs and an arm, stripped him of all assets, and threw him out of the house. As for the rest, that's up to his own luck."I stayed silent. Billy wasn't capable of much on his own. Once out of the Greven residence, he would probably never amount to anything.Although he had been my childhood playmate, I didn't feel an ounce of sympathy. He deserved it.Then, there were the Chapmans.

I stepped onto the front steps of the manor and immediately spotted the hunched figure outside. It was Norris.His face was still carved with the familiar contours I once knew, but all the glow and vitality were gone. He had wasted away, his skin pale and sallow, his clothes tattered, his body covered in old and new scars.Half of his right forearm was gone, wrapped in dark, grimy bandages. His left leg was twisted, forcing him to limp and stagger as he struggled to stay upright.The only thing unchanged was his eyes—murky, desperate, and clinging to me like a drowning man.The moment he saw me, his eyes lit up. He tried to lunge forward, but the bodyguards held him back."Winnie! Winnie!" he screamed hoarsely. "You finally agreed to see me! I'm sorry—I was wrong in every way!"I stood on the steps, looking down at him with indifferent eyes, as if I were staring at a stranger with no connection to me. "What are you doing here?""I-I know I did everything wrong in the past. I was