Izabella's heart clenched. She kept her eyes down, afraid to meet Carson's gaze.

Her evasive, guilty look oddly pleased him. "You barely ate a bite before rushing off."

He stepped closer, leaving only a fist's distance between them. "What, jealous?"

Relief washed over her. At least he had not noticed the blood.

Izabella lifted her head and spoke calmly. "You misunderstood. How could a sister-in-law be jealous of her brother-in-law?"

She moved to step past him. The next moment, he grabbed her arm and slammed her against the wall.

Izabella struggled instinctively. "Carson, let me go..."

His hand clamped around her throat. He crushed his mouth against hers in a fierce kiss.

He kissed with urgency and hatred. Teeth clashed against teeth. He tangled his tongue with hers desperately, as if trying to steal every breath from her lungs.

His towering frame pinned her completely. No matter how hard she pushed, she could not budge him.

Izabella closed her eyes. Then she bit down hard.

"Hiss!" Their lips parted. A thin line of blood appeared at the corner of Carson's mouth.

He wiped it away with his thumb and raised an eyebrow at her. "Well now. You've learned to bite."

He leaned in closer. In her sudden panic, his voice turned colder than she had ever heard. "Why pretend, Izabella? It's not like we haven't slept together before. Last time you got drunk, you were plenty eager. Now you're playing the pure innocent?"

Izabella's breath caught.

This year, her birthday fell while Carson's parents traveled. Carson was away on business too. Izabella ordered a case of wine and drank steadily from day until night.

Numbed by alcohol, her mind grew hazy. She never imagined waking the next morning naked in Carson's arms.

Disgust and pain like never before nearly drowned her.

Even less did she expect that one reckless night would plant a seed inside her.

"Still reminiscing? Want me to help you relive it..."

As Carson leaned in again, a voice called from behind.

"Carson, where's your room? I want to see that ship model you told me about!" It was Margaret.

Izabella trembled, terrified he might do something reckless in front of Margaret. Fortunately, he straightened up. He took in Izabella's fearful expression and gave a cold laugh.

He turned, wrapped an arm around Margaret, and headed upstairs. "You like it that much? Then it's yours."

Margaret's voice rang with unmistakable delight. "Really? You're the best!"

From Izabella's angle, she clearly saw Margaret glance back and look deeply at her.

Izabella finally escaped Carson. She exhaled in relief, only to turn and find Madison Gilbert standing behind a nearby vase.

The older woman's gaze was dark and full of loathing.

Izabella shuddered and tried to explain. "Madison, I..."

"Get out and kneel!"

The garden held a long gravel path covered in sharp, jagged stones that could pierce skin and draw blood with the slightest misstep.

Whenever Madison grew displeased with Izabella, she ordered her to kneel there for an entire day.

Over two years, Izabella lost count of how many times.

She knelt skillfully now. Even the familiar sting of stones pressing through her thin pants into her flesh felt routine.

Perhaps mindful that Margaret remained in the house, Madison said little more. She only gave Izabella a cold sidelong glare. "Don't dream of what isn't yours! Get up when you know what you've done wrong!"

Izabella kept her head down. A sudden urge to laugh bubbled up inside her.

After her mother passed away, she had considered telling Carson everything.

By then, Carson had fully taken over the family empire. In just two years, he elevated it to new heights and became the most sought-after new powerhouse in the city of Ellis.

If news broke of his entanglement with his own sister-in-law, the humiliating scandal would destroy everything he built with his own hands.

Carson's future shone brightly. It had no room for a stain like her.

She knelt until deep into the night before Madison allowed her back inside.

The moment she tried to stand, pain shot through her legs. She pitched forward and crashed heavily onto the gravel path.

Sharp stones pierced her skin and opened countless tiny cuts. The agony made dark spots dance across her vision.

She drew a shaky breath. Then she pushed against the ground, struggled several times, and finally managed to stand. She staggered back to her room.

Only then did she notice her palms were a bloody mess. Turned-over flesh held countless tiny stones embedded within.

Izabella cleaned the wounds simply and climbed into bed, exhausted.

In her drifting consciousness, she dreamed of two years earlier.

Even after waking in the hospital, Carson refused to give up. He waited for her in places she frequented. He found endless ways to reach her. Though she hung up on him countless times, he still left messages on her social pages in the middle of the night.

Everything ended on the day she married Richard.

Carson discovered that his brother's bride was the woman he loved most.

Izabella could never forget that day. In the dressing room, Carson pinned her against the wall with a hand around her throat. His bloodshot eyes held no trace of reason. "Why? Why did it have to be my brother?"

Her heart shattered into pieces. Yet she forced a cold smile. "Because your parents like him more. Marrying him gives me a better chance to become the real lady of the Gilbert Group."

She knew his deepest wound all too well.

Carson was brilliant and proud, a favored son of heaven. His only pain came from parents who always preferred his frail older brother. They even had Carson only to provide umbilical cord blood for Richard's surgery.

As expected, her words made him slam his fist into the wall.

He stared at her deeply. "Izabella, a cold-blooded person like you doesn't deserve love at all."

Even in the dream, tears soaked her pillow until dawn.

Margaret's parents arrived that evening. Though Izabella shared a father with Margaret, she cut ties completely after he used her mother's life to force the marriage.

So when the two families discussed the wedding date after dinner, Izabella made an excuse and hid in the kitchen to clean up.

"Izzy, why are you hiding in the kitchen alone? It's such a big event. I wanted your opinion too." Margaret leaned against the doorway and watched her with a half-smile.

Izabella kept her head down, washing dishes, and pretended not to hear.

Suddenly, Margaret stepped forward and swept an entire stack of plates to the floor.

Shards exploded across the tiles in an instant.

Izabella stared at her in shock. "Are you insane?"

Margaret closed in until only a hand's breadth separated them. "I'm warning you. Don't dream of taking Carson back. He's mine! Your mother was a useless failure, and you're destined to lose to me every time!"

Izabella's eyes widened. She opened her mouth to retort, but Margaret shoved her shoulders and forced her down into the pile of shards.

"What happened?" The noise drew everyone from the front room. They gasped at the scene in the kitchen.

Before Izabella could react, Margaret burst into tears first. "I... I just wanted to ask sister to join us for the wedding talk. But she warned me not to get cocky. She said she's Carson's sister-in-law and the true lady of the Gilbert Group. She told me to watch myself once I marry in!"

She held up her scratched hand and sobbed pitifully. "I only wanted to get along peacefully. But she said she needed to teach me a lesson and pushed me... pushed me into the shards..."

Izabella stared in shock as Margaret twisted the truth. She tried to explain instinctively. "I didn't say that!"

Slap! Madison raised her hand and struck her across the face. "As long as I'm here, you don't get to speak in this house!"

Margaret's mother rushed forward and slapped Izabella a dozen more times, sobbing and begging her not to hurt Margaret.

Izabella sat numbly in place. She watched Carson scoop Margaret into his arms and hurry out. At the doorway, his steps suddenly paused. "Bring Izabella too."

Izabella froze. A faint spark of hope flickered in her chest. "Her blood type matches Margaret's. She can serve as a blood donor!"

The light in Izabella's eyes died completely.

They dragged her to the hospital like a discarded rag doll and dumped her in the blood bank. They drew 1000cc of blood by force.

When Carson left, his gaze toward her was utterly cold. "Consider yourself lucky. Margaret came out of this with minor injuries. We're taking the blood now as backup, in case a vicious person like you tries something again."

Excessive blood loss left Izabella dizzy. She lacked even the strength to argue.

Carson reached the door but could not resist glancing back. Izabella leaned against the table. Her frail frame looked as if a breeze could carry her away.

He hesitated, wondering if he should return. Then his phone rang. He paused and answered it. "Good. I'm bringing the plasma now. Tell Margaret not to worry..."

The hospital staff seemed wary of complications and did not rush her out. By the time Izabella regained enough strength, it was already the middle of the night.

She staggered to the hospital entrance and pulled out her phone to call a ride. Suddenly, darkness swallowed her vision. She pitched forward uncontrollably.

A hand grabbed her arm the next instant and stopped her fall.

Izabella looked up. It was the doctor who had examined her last time.

He eyed her with concern. "Miss Dobson, your condition is serious. Haven't you told your family yet?"

Izabella pressed her lips together and stayed silent.

Seeing she did not want to answer, the doctor glanced at the ride app on her phone. He hesitated before speaking. "It's hard to get a car this late. Where are you headed? I'll drive you."

Izabella felt too ill to refuse his offer.

When they reached the villa, she stumbled out of the car. The doctor steadied her just in time. "You should come back to the hospital for a follow-up when you can. With your condition..."

He trailed off. Izabella only smiled faintly and said nothing.

The entire house stood dark when she returned.

She started toward her room in the shadows. Suddenly, someone yanked her arm and pulled her into a corner. "Who was the man who brought you home?"

Fury laced Carson's voice. "Izabella, how can you be so cheap? You can't live without a man, can you? My brother died, and you're already eager for the next one?"

Izabella looked at him in disbelief. "I didn't..."

"Liar!" Carson grew angrier. "I saw you hugging that man with my own eyes!"

He seized her and nearly lifted her off the ground. "Any man will do, right? Then why not me..."

He swallowed the rest of the words. Madness overtook him as he dragged her toward the stairs.

Cornered, Izabella sank her teeth into his arm with all her strength.

She bit hard enough to draw blood.

"You're insane!" Carson raged. He grabbed her collar and shoved her violently toward the staircase.

Her foot slipped. She tumbled down the entire flight.

Warm blood instantly flowed from between her legs and spread across the floor along her thighs.

Carson stood at the top. In the pitch black, he could only make out Izabella sitting at the bottom, unmoving for a long time.

Unexplained panic surged through him. He started down instinctively. Then the master bedroom door opened. Madison spoke coldly. "Carson, why aren't you sleeping? You have a board meeting tomorrow!"

Carson paused. In the end, he turned and went back to his room.

Izabella lay on the cold floor. In the now-silent villa, she laughed and cried at once.

Finally, the last thread tying her to this world had snapped completely...