Back then, Gary had been devastated. He swore he would never forget the pain I endured, and he would spend his life making it up to me. However, he had now forgotten.

I didn't break down as Lucy expected. Instead, I forced a faint smile. "It's fine. It's just a minor injury."

What they didn't know was that I no longer feared cats, because some people were worse than animals.

I bowed and offered an apology, but Lucy sneered, saying it wasn't enough. "You should kneel. That would show sincerity," she said.

Her words made my eyes burn. I turned to leave.

Lucy instantly pouted, tears welling up. "Gary, she won't even kneel. She's not sincere!"

His cold gaze fixed on me at once, his tone dripping with disdain. "It's just kneeling. What's so noble about you? Think about Mr. Johnson…"

I bit back the humiliation and sank to my knees. "I'm sorry."

Tears blurred my vision, and my dignity was crushed into dust.

Gary's friends smirked in open disdain. They had always disliked me, believing that Lucy, their university classmate, was his true match.

"What a disgrace. Why doesn't she just leave already?"

"If I were her, I'd have died of shame long ago."

"To Gary, she isn't worth a single strand of Lucy's hair. How pathetic."

Their words made my eyes sting, and his favoritism toward her made my chest ache with grief.

Lucy, smug with victory, added, "Why don't you cut up these dresses yourself? That would prove your sincerity."

My gaze darted to Gary as I fought to keep my emotions in check.

For a moment, he hesitated, as though torn. However, when Lucy leaned in to whisper in his ear with a coy and teasing expression, he faltered. "Zoey, no matter what, this started because of you. Just do as Lucy says," he said.

I said nothing. I only picked up the scissors and began to cut. The dresses I had poured my soul into turned into scraps before my eyes. Tears fell freely onto the scraps.

Lucy even streamed it live. When I raised my head, her screen was filled with cruel, mocking comments. She beamed at my humiliation. "Alright! That's enough for today," she said at last.

I left without a glance at Gary. However, he chased after me, catching my wrist. "Lucy is just young. She likes to fool around, but she means no harm. How do you think that makes me look when you walk away like that?"

I turned, my chest heavy with delayed grief and bitterness. I said coldly, "I did what you asked. Now let me go."

His brows furrowed as unease flickered across his face, the first hint that something vital was slipping away from him.

I tore my wrist free and walked away without looking back.

Soon after, my friends transferred the money to me, which I sent to the hospital. With the arrangements made, I returned to packing my luggage.

Days passed. The house grew emptier with each box, and the flight drew closer.

Gary still left early and came home late, but I no longer cared where he went. I thought only of leaving.

Then, on the eve of my departure, Lucy called me again. "Zoey, come to my house right now."

I was about to refuse when she cut me off, her voice sharp and cold. "You'd better come over right now, or I can't promise Mr. Johnson will be safe."

My chest tightened. In all the past lives I remembered, she had never laid a finger on my dad. Why now?

Half an hour later, I arrived at Lucy's house. She was waiting, seated in a chair. The moment I stepped inside, she shook the phone in her hand. "I've got something to show you."

She tapped on the screen, and pictures began to play. They were photos of her and Gary, tangled up too closely with one another. I counted in a daze. There had to be hundreds of them.

I stared blankly, my heart racing. "What did you do to my dad?"

Her eyes were sharp as blades, cutting into me. "What the hell did you do to him? Why won't he divorce you and be with me?"

All I could think about was my dad's safety. Swallowing back the burning in my chest, I begged, my voice trembling, "I'll ask for a divorce. Gary will be yours. Just please don't hurt my dad!"

If I could survive tonight, my dad and I would finally be free tomorrow.

Seeing my desperation, Lucy burst out laughing. "Are you begging me? Then show me how bad you want it."

My dignity was shattered and ground down to nothing. I dropped to my knees like some pitiful dog, choking out, "Please. I'll do anything you want."

Lucy's lips curled in mock amusement. "Good. Then let me show you something better."

Her finger tapped again, and this time, my dad's face appeared on the screen.

A hand reached into the frame, gripped his oxygen tube, and yanked it out. My dad's skin drained of color as he thrashed weakly on the bed, gasping for air.

The person filming only laughed while recording, right up until the moment his body finally stilled.

"Well? Did you enjoy watching him suffer?" Lucy sneered.

White-hot and blinding rage consumed me. I lunged at her, my mind nothing but blood and fury. However, before I could touch her, steel flashed. The knife slashed across my face, pain exploding as warm blood streamed into my eye.

Then, someone shoved me down, pinning me to the floor.

"Zoey, what the hell are you doing?" Gary's voice thundered. I hadn't even noticed when he had come in.

"I just walked in and saw you attack Lucy with a knife. How twisted are you?" His roar rattled the walls.

Tears poured down my face as I screamed, my voice raw with grief, "She killed my dad! She killed him!"

Gary's face darkened, fury burning in his eyes. "Shut up! Lucy went to check on Mr. Johnson tonight and found him already gone. Yet, you still dare to slander her? Apologize now!"

All the pain, all the humiliation, and everything I had swallowed until now tore out of me at once.

I sobbed, my throat breaking. "Slander? You cheated on me with her—that was my fault. She slashed my face, and you didn't even look. You just said it was my fault. Fine. I was wrong. I was wrong to have ever loved you. But I won't apologize!"

His hand clamped down on the back of my head, forcing me forward until my skull cracked against the floor a few times. His voice was like ice. "Don't make me repeat myself. Apologize!"

Through the haze of blood and tears, I raised my face, staring at them with every ounce of hatred I had left.

Their vicious, ugly faces burned into my mind like fire, and in that moment, I swore that I would make them pay in blood!