It was only now that I realized Anthony could actually be this gentle, this attentive, and this meticulous with a woman. My heart squeezed so tightly that it went numb.

Maisie threw herself into Anthony's arms, clinging to him as she cried her heart out. "Tony, I dreamed that something happened to me and that you fell for Willow all over again. You hated me and didn't want me anymore. Please don't leave me behind for Willow again, okay?"

Her eyes were filled with pleading as she looked up at him. She'd brought me up on purpose and was obviously up to no good.

But for some reason, Anthony didn't immediately deny what she said this time. His expression just turned uglier, and his eyes filled with frost.

Suddenly, I remembered something. He wasn't scary when he yelled. It was when he was calm and radiated that quiet, suffocating anger that he was truly terrifying.

That was what he'd been like on our wedding day. During the ceremony, he hadn't reacted at all when his parents had chased Maisie abroad. I thought he'd finally let her go, but that night, right before my very eyes, he'd strangled the dog that had been with me for years.

I'd screamed at the top of my lungs but could only watch helplessly as my dog stopped struggling and went limp before me.

"Do you now know what it feels like to lose the thing you love most?" Anthony's voice was hoarse when he asked me that, like some judge from hell.

Even now, just remembering it sent a chill through me. My blood turned to ice. That demon from my past slowly overlapped with the Anthony before me now.

I started to wonder if I'd pushed him past his limit again. How was he going to punish me this time?

Was he going to wrap his hands around my throat the way he'd done with my dog? Would he use me to prove to Maisie that he'd never loved me?

Or would it be like before—would he draw my blood to weaken me first before pressing my face to the floor and making me grovel at her feet? Would he tell me that was the price I had to pay for not behaving?

I laughed bitterly. The old darkness crept back over everything, only this time… I felt thrilled. It was like standing in front of a floor-to-ceiling window, watching a hurricane roar in and thunder splitting the sky, while knowing I was safe inside a glasshouse and smirking at the storm's helpless rage.

If I had the chance, I would love to walk right into Anthony's dreams and taunt him. I wanted to show him that I was already dead. What could he possibly do to me now?

I couldn't help laughing at the thought. But the more I laughed, the faster the tears streamed down my face.

…

I didn't get to do any taunting. For the next two days, Anthony was busy with god-knows-what. He barely spent any time at the hospital with Maisie. Unfortunately for me, my soul was trapped in the hospital, so I couldn't follow him.

But from what I could tell, something was probably wrong with the company. Whenever he did come back to the hospital, he looked like a wreck.

And it seemed I really had pushed him too far. He actually started investigating my whereabouts. It sounded like he'd had people comb through every place I might have gone and reach out to all my so-called friends.

Still, there was no trace of me.

It was almost funny, honestly. Ever since Anthony had locked me up and taken over every part of my life, what friends did I even have left? Everyone knew he couldn't stand me. Those "friends" were terrified of offending him, so they'd cut ties with me long ago.

I sat on the windowsill, happily watching his irritation grow.

"Tony, you don't think Willow ran away, do you? She's always been so resistant to…" Maisie trailed off on purpose.

Anthony's voice was low and icy. "I had people look into it. There's no record of Willow leaving the country."

"She should know you well enough to know how to avoid you." As soon as she said it, Maisie pretended she'd misspoken and hurriedly clapped a hand over her mouth.

Still, her words made Anthony's expression darken further. He narrowed his eyes slightly and turned to leave, but she hurriedly threw her arms around him to stop him.

"Tony, stop bothering about her," she said weakly. "She's just an orphan. Your family saved her, took her in, and you've always protected her.

"You even married her and gave her a life where she never has to worry about anything. She should be grateful, yet she just keeps dodging and making excuses now that you need her to give just a little bit back.

"She's too selfish, Tony. She's unworthy of you. You deserve someone more considerate, someone who truly loves you and can share your burden…"

Her tone grew increasingly suggestive, her gaze drifting as she boldly leaned in, clearly about to cross a line.

The sight made my stomach turn. I wanted to look away, but the next second, Anthony suddenly pushed her away.

Maisie froze. I was also stunned.

"I'm sorry. I signed an agreement with Willow," Anthony said flatly.

It took me a moment to realize what he was talking about. Honestly, I'd almost forgotten what he was even talking about.

When Maisie had first returned to the country, she'd wanted to test Anthony's limits. So, she'd faked medical records and claimed she had leukemia, saying that she needed a bone marrow transplant.

I was six months pregnant when Anthony had me forcibly dragged to the hospital. He made me terminate the pregnancy; our first child was killed before we even got to meet them. Because of that, I finally understood that retaliation was useless. So, I started trying to die.

I starved myself, slit my wrists, and tried every way I could think of to end my life. None of them worked because Anthony wouldn't let me die. He wanted to keep me alive to be Maisie's lifeline.

After my repeated suicide attempts, he finally started treating me more gently, wanting to calm me down and keep me alive. He even did the unthinkable and compromised, sitting down with me to set ground rules. Our final rule was that he would never be with Maisie, and I was forbidden from committing suicide.

I knew this so-called agreement would never hold him, but I had to admit that his brief tenderness at the time had messed with my head. And after torturing myself to the edge of death over and over, I was exhausted. I wanted to live, just a little.

Sure enough, it didn't take long for Anthony to break the rules. He continued locking me up, tormenting me, and forcing me to give blood. He violated every rule but the last. I had a feeling he would soon cross that one, too.

So, hearing him now bring up our agreement felt like a cruel joke.

Hearing that, Maisie was so frantic that she was almost driven to tears. "Tony…"

Before she could get any further, Anthony's phone rang. He answered the call.

"Mr. Flint, we've located Willow…"

Anthony didn't seem to hear the hesitation in the caller's voice. He let out a cold, mirthless laugh. "So she finally decided to show herself."

Maybe I was imagining it, but he sounded almost relieved when he said that. His tone made it clear there was no room for argument when he ordered, "Bring her here."

There was a pause on the other end of the line. Then, the reply came. "Mr. Flint, Willow was in a car accident five days ago. She died at the scene. Her body is in the morgue, basement level one, of the hospital you're in right now."