"I… I'll sign it…"

I forced the words out of my mouth despite the difficulty. If I wanted to live, I had no choice but to compromise.

As soon as I agreed, Bruno's expression softened. He poured me a glass of warm water and handed me my medicine. He even considerately offered me some candy.

I ignored his sudden show of mercy. As soon as the medicine came into effect, I rushed to the floor, littered with glass shards. I couldn't control the grief surging within me.

I gathered the torn photo with trembling hands, carefully placing the pieces in a small pouch from my suitcase.

My mother passed away when I was very young from a relapse of her congenital heart disease. At that time, my father had just started his business and couldn't afford her treatments. The guilt haunted him until the day he died.

When the hospital discovered I had inherited my mother's heart condition, my father started working day and night—all because he wanted me to be healthy. It was his way to make up for the past and redeem himself.

Unfortunately, his health worsened as he worked himself to the ground, and he passed away. Before breathing his last, he entrusted me to someone he trusted in the company by transferring his shares and management rights.

That someone was Bruno.

And yet, this was how Bruno took care of me. Even after seeing me so full of grief, he continued to mock me from the side.

"It's just a photo. Why make it such a big deal?"

I packed everything away, but when I looked at him again, there was no emotion in my eyes.

"My mother didn't like having her photos taken when she was alive, and my father was always busy with work. This was the only photo I had with them."

He froze, then bit his lip. "You didn't tell me that."

I gave him a cold glance, not wanting to argue.

Bruno couldn't stand to see me like this and yanked me off the floor, dragging me forcefully to the bed. He saw me lowering my eyes, refusing to even look at him.

At this moment, he seemed to realize he had gone too far. He reached out to stroke my cheek, wanting to comfort me, but I slapped his hand away.

Bruno's face darkened; he didn't bother to try and console me anymore. Perhaps he thought I was simply throwing a tantrum.

He shoved the asset transfer contract and pen to my face again.

"Sign it and I'll take you to get the photo fixed."

This time, I didn't argue. I quickly picked up the pen and signed my name.

His behavior of offering a carrot and a stick was repulsive. Had he asked nicely, I would have signed it anyway. I had already transferred my assets abroad, so all he would get was an unenforceable contract—in other words, nothing.

Honestly, I never expected Bruno to go to such extremes. Didn't he know that any contract signed under the threat of violence was invalid?

It wasn't until he mentioned the wedding that I understood his thoughts. Despite being unable to hide the deviousness in his eyes, he still pretended to love me.

"We're getting married tomorrow. Why don't we get our marriage registered now? That way, you'll be my wife legally."

I shot him a look and immediately called him out. "So you can simply call this a family dispute after that, right?"

"Are you still angry?"

Bruno frowned. He hated it when I argued against his wishes.

"I'm getting anxious because you're not with me. Besides, once we're married, what's mine is yours too. What's the big deal about registering our marriage? And if you had ever thought of me, you wouldn't have sold your shares anonymously. Husband and wife are supposed to be a team, but you sold the assets that are supposed to be mine. This is just a punishment for that."

I wanted to argue with him again, but he forcibly ran his hand through my hair and finally cupped my face, his eyes staring into mine.

"I won't let you die, so this is all your fault."

When I heard those words, I didn't want to fight back anymore and simply lay down on the bed. I wasn't interested in arguing with him anymore.

Why had I never discovered how shameless he could be before this?

I vividly remembered how kind he had been on our first encounter. He would always take me to my check-ups, and would even go out in the rain to get my medicine. Whenever I called, he'd drop everything to see me. And with my father's trust in him, I was naturally attracted to him.

Upon learning the truth between him and Raine, I finally woke up from my delusions.

Bruno's attitude toward me worsened every time I gave in. Now, his intentions were obvious.

When Bruno saw me continue to maintain my silence, he finally lost his patience. "Fine! Since you don't want to register our marriage, you'll stay here until the wedding!"

I didn't understand what he meant at first—until I heard the click of a lock after he went out.

Immediately, I got up from the bed and walked over to the door. I rattled the doorknob, furious, and then banged on the door anxiously.

"Bruno! Are you keeping me here because you're afraid I'll sue you? I won't do that! Let me out!" I yelled.

If I stayed any longer, I would certainly miss my flight.

I didn't want to waste any more time here.

I refused to play along with Bruno anymore!

There was nothing but silence outside the door. There wasn't even a cold response.

Time passed slowly.

Just as I was about to lose all hope, the door finally opened with a creak.

However, the one standing there wasn’t Bruno. It was Raine, whose face was a multitude of complex emotions. She had my neatly packed suitcase next to her and my phone in her hand, which I had dropped on the floor earlier.

Raine handed both to me. “I thought you were just playing hard to get. I didn’t expect you were actually leaving.”

Never in my wildest dreams did I imagine I would feel gratitude toward my former rival. If Raine didn’t come, I probably would have been locked in this bedroom until the wedding.

I glanced into the living room. There was no sign of Bruno, just some warm food left on the table. He must have sent Raine to get me something to eat.

Relieved, I grabbed my suitcase and phone and made a beeline straight for the door.

As I passed by Raine, I paused for a moment and murmured, “Thank you.”

She scoffed. “What are you thanking me for? I can’t wait for you to leave. Do you know that I'm pregnant?"

I froze for a moment.

Raine took out her phone and showed me an ultrasound report.

“It’s Bruno's child. I don’t want my baby to be born illegitimately. If it weren’t for you, I’d have married him long ago. That’s why I sent you that message. I didn't want you to wake up so quickly, but I didn’t expect you to love him that much.”

She spoke with a gentle smile, recounting her past. Her words had lost all the resentment from when she sent that message. It even carried a hint of pity.

I glanced at her slightly bulging belly, silent. She probably thought I loved Bruno so much that I would grant him his wish, even at the cost of myself.

The truth was, I never would have agreed to marry Bruno had I known about his first love. After all, my father had only requested Bruno to take care of me before he died—marriage was never mentioned.

With that thought in mind, I felt the need to correct Raine.

“He only hid your relationship from me because he wanted my shares. He was setting me up. I never ruined your relationship. You’re blaming the wrong person.”

Raine waved her hand and smiled triumphantly, replying with something completely irrelevant.

“You gave him back the money he paid for your shares, and you say you don’t like him? We women know each other best. Well, it doesn't matter now. I’m marrying Bruno in a couple of days anyway, so I won't blame you for coming between us.”

Not interested in hearing her bragging anymore, I headed straight for the door.

Just as I stepped forward, Raine held my arm and pulled me back. Any sense of gratitude I felt for her vanished instantly.

“Move.”

I stared at her coldly. If she weren’t pregnant, I would have pushed her away already.

Raine pretended not to hear what I said and pulled out a card, stuffing it into my hand. “You’re heading overseas with nothing. I’m worried about your safety. There’s two thousand on this card. Take it and never come back. Got that?”

I took a deep breath and looked at Raine, completely fed up. Seeing her smug expression, I couldn’t hold myself back anymore.

Smack!

I slapped her across the face with all my strength.

Raine let out a scream; she was about to curse at me, but she saw Bruno rushing over out of the corner of her eye. Immediately, she held her face and fell to the ground.

“Oh, Bruno! My stomach hurts! It hurts so much!” she wailed piteously.

I frowned, not understanding her act until I was suddenly shoved aside. Bruno pushed me so hard, I fell and hit my lower back with my suitcase still in my hand. A sharp pain shot through me, and my face instantly turned pale.

Bruno walked past me and bent down to pick up Raine. He left without even sparing a glance at me. All I caught was a glimpse of his anxious, worried face as he passed.

Seeing him like that, I understood. Bruno clearly knew about the pregnancy, too.

But none of their business had anything to do with me anymore.

I struggled to my feet, rubbing my aching back, and carefully made my way downstairs.

I hailed the fastest cab I could find. Even though I moved as quickly as possible, my back slowed me down and I was still a step too late. I had to reschedule my flight.

Despite that, I didn’t feel discouraged.

I put some medicine on my back and booked the next available flight, spending the night at the airport. I also used this time to change my visa from short-term to long-term, as I wasn’t planning to come back anytime soon.

The next morning, just as I was about to board the plane, I got a phone call.

“Hello, is this Ms. Aelia Lawson?”

“I'm Aelia Lawson, yes.”

“We’ve found a matching heart donor for you. Can you come to Sceleria as soon as possible?”

I stared at the unfamiliar number, confused. “I didn’t make any appointments with any hospital overseas.”

“You know Mr. Charles Lawson, right?”

My expression froze. “He’s my father."

“He asked us to help find a match for you. It took us some time, given your unique condition, but we finally have one.”

I hung up, stunned, trying my hardest to hold back my emotions.

Finally, I boarded the plane and left everything behind.