She faced a thousand-foot cliff that was completely unobstructed. She was terrified. Her face was pale and she trembled uncontrollably.

“Jacob, save me!” she cried out, sobbing.

Jacob’s vision blurred as he took in the scene, his head splitting with pain. He ripped off his seatbelt and lunged at me. His hands were tightening around my throat.

“Laura, have you lost your mind? Get her down this instant!”

His usually cool eyes now held a savagery impossible to ignore. His grip tightened relentlessly.

It was the third time I had seen him lose control. The first was when I watched my parents die in a car crash, consumed by flames. 

I ran toward them, sobbing. Jacob yanked me back with all his might.

He screamed, “Laura, calm down! If you charge in now, you'll die! What would I do if something happened to you?”

He held me tight, terrified I'd throw caution to the wind and rush into the flames.

He whispered in my ear over and over, “Laura, we'll have a new home, just you, me and our baby.”

The second time was when I pushed Kiara, who was pregnant and came to provoke me down the stairs. He lost control, clutched the bleeding Kiara and raged at me.

“Laura, you fucking crazy! If anything happens to Kiara, I'll never let you go!”

The third time was today. And it was the second time Jacob lost control over another woman. It was clear enough. He truly was in love with that woman.

“Laura, don't fucking play dumb! Get your people to put her down right now!”

Jacob's eyes were bloodshot. His gaze was seething with violent fury.

My breath was stifled, but I wasn't afraid at all. I laughed, but it was a strained and hollow laugh.

“How can I let her go when you haven't made your choice yet?”

Fear gripped him, his hand tightening around my throat, trembling slightly. He knew I meant every word. Kiara's life or death depended on his every thought.

“You're insane! You're completely insane!”

He couldn't make a choice. He loosened his grip, flung open the car door and lunged to save her.

My gaze flicked to his left hand, the missing little finger glaring like a wound. A mocking laugh spilled from my throat.

“Jacob, what do you think you're doing?”

He turned and roared at me. But in the next instant, a heart-wrenching, agonized whimper escaped him. 

I watched his face contort in extreme pain. Unable to hold back, I burst into laughter. Yet my hand turned the knife in my grasp, slow and deliberate.

“Jacob, you robbed me of my right to be a mother. How could you possibly have a child of your own?”

The day I severed his little finger was when I had wanted to do just that. It was just unfortunate. He sensed it ahead of time. And dodged it.

Jacob was drenched in cold sweat. The color drained from his face. His eyes were red as he stared at me, suppressing his pain.

Gritting his teeth, he snarled, “Is this what you wanted? If so, you can release Kiara now.”

Hearing this, I froze. My gaze drifted involuntarily to the spot where blood poured relentlessly from his wound.

Under such excruciating agony, I'd assumed he'd prioritize his own survival, so he'd asked me to take him to the hospital. Unexpectedly, his first concern was still that woman.

“Ahhh, Ah Jacob, help me!”

Kiara's terrified cries pierced through the window. Jacob didn't spare me another glance.  Gritting his teeth against the pain, he opened the car door. 

The agony made the veins on his neck bulge. Yet he charged forward without hesitation. Stumbling and staggering, he raced toward Kiara at the cliff's edge just as he had before.

When I was sixteen, I was kidnapped by my father's business rivals. Jacob stormed into the kidnappers' hideout alone and fought them tooth and nail.

He was beaten to a pulp with three ribs broken and a right leg shattered. He still gritted his teeth and carried me out of that abandoned warehouse.

Jacob was afraid I would be terrified, so he kept my eyes closed the entire time and whispered reassurances in my ear. 

“Don't be afraid, Laura. I'll get you home safely. I'm here and nothing will happen to you.”

And now, he was using the exact words he once spoke to me to comfort another woman.

“Don't be afraid, Kiara. I'm here and nothing will happen to you. I'll get you home safely.”

Jacob's men arrived quickly, but they had no time for me. They rushed straight to rescue Kiara. They also took him to the hospital for treatment.

I sat calmly in the car, watching them drive away, when a message popped up on my phone.

[Miss Benico, are you just going to let them go?]

I replied to that message.

[How could that be? What I asked you to prepare, is it ready?]

[Yes, it’s ready.]

Reading that message, my eyes lit up with delight. 

“Jacob, enjoy the hell I'm about to unleash upon you.”

I tucked my phone away. I drove Jacob's car back home.

Jacob underwent treatment at the hospital for the rest of the day. Meanwhile, I stayed home, clearing out the unnecessary trash.

At that moment, the housekeeper held up a course, poorly made gray scarf. She asked me doubtfully, “Madam, do you still need this rag?”

The rag she was referring to was the scarf Kiara had personally knitted for Jacob. The day she gave it to him, when he returned home with a pleased smile on his lips. He carefully placed the scarf, which he was reluctant to wear, in a drawer in the study.

“Burn it.”

As I spoke, my gaze drifted back to the wedding photo in the living room. “Burn all of this together.”

She was slightly starved, with a flicker of confusion in her eyes. But she knew her place and she understood what questions to ask and what not to ask.

Nodding, she removed the wedding photo from its frame. Just then, another message pinged on my phone.

[Miss Benico, Jacob is being discharged tomorrow.]

The show was about to begin. The next day, Jacob rolled in on a wheelchair, pushed by Kiara.

“Jacob, you really can't indulge Laura anymore. If she dares to hurt you now, she'll kill you later. Keeping such a menace around keeps me awake at night, terrified she'll poison me one day.”

Jacob patted her hand gently, offering comfort. “Don't worry, okay?”

He said more gently, “Everything will be fine once we get divorced. From now on, it'll just be the two of us, living happily ever after…”

He didn't finish his sentence. Suddenly, the living room erupted with the clamor of a crowd.

“Mr. Chastan is back!”

“Mr. Chastan, please look at the child in my arms! We had his horoscope read and many say he's blessed with good fortune. Adopting him as your godson would be absolutely perfect!”

“Mr. Chastan, look at my daughter! She's so well-behaved and obedient. She is our little angel. If you take her as your goddaughter, she'll be your little angel too!”

Several elegantly dressed individuals jostled each other, pushing their children toward Jacob. Caught off guard by this sudden encirclement, Jacob and Kiara froze.

Kiara snapped out of it and shouted at the crowd in exasperation, “What? What are you all doing? When did Jacob ever say he wanted to adopt a godson or goddaughter? If he wants a child, I can give him one. When did it become your turn?”

“Really?” I descended the stairs unhurriedly, pulling out Jacob's medical report amidst their astonishment. 

“Didn't the doctor say he's infertile? How could you have him adopt someone else's child? You're pregnant with someone else's child and you're asking him to adopt it?”

“Honey, you really are pitiful. Not only are you being cuckolded by your mistress, but you're also having to adopt her bastard child.”

I feigned sympathy, though I couldn't suppress the smile tugging at my lips. “Instead of this, why don't you look at the children here?”

“Adopting a godson or goddaughter could still give you the full set of children.”

Hearing my words, they began to clamor in agreement. They all crowded around Jacob. 

His veins were throbbing with rage. He shouted furiously, “Enough! I don't need any godchildren! All of you, get out!”

I shook my head in disapproval. “That won't work. The main event hasn't even started yet. How can the audience leave now?”

“Laura, you lunatic! What else do you want?”

I reached out and gave it a light tap. The red “Family Reunion” banner on the third floor instantly transformed into a white funeral banner.

They read, “In Deep Mourning Jacob Departed Virility.”

The brightly colored bouquets surrounding the scene were replaced with wreaths and the music in the living room was cut off. 

The melodious and mournful sound of the horn filled my ears. Each note struck deep within my heart, like a triumphant victory song.

Jacob and Kiara's expressions twisted and contorted. Their eyes blazed with rage, humiliation and a murderous hatred that threatened to consume me.

“Laura, get out of here! Do you hear me?”

His face flushed crimson with fury. He spun his wheelchair closer to me. 

Screaming at the top of his lungs, his voice raw and torn. I ignored him and took out the microphone I'd prepared to speak to everyone. 

“Thank you all for taking time out of your day to witness this sorrowful moment.”

I smiled slightly at them. Then I whispered to Jacob, “Growing up is a series of goodbyes. Jacob, don't give up on yourself because of this loss.”

After all, in the future, he would lose even more. “Shut up! Laura, what exactly are you trying to do?”

“I asked for a divorce and you refused.”

“You don't want to live a good life, either. Are you really going to destroy this family?”

Jacob lost control once more. He shouted angrily in front of everyone. But from the moment he walked in until now, he hadn't remembered what day it was today. He also hadn't remembered what I just said.

Kiara then told me, “Laura, stop taking advantage of Jacob’s indulgence to push your luck. Mark my words. And no matter how much you cause trouble, Jacob will divorce you!”

“And I? No matter what kind of person Jacob becomes, I’ll stand by his side until death do us part.”

She expressed her devotion to Jacob with deep emotion. A flicker of tenderness passed through Jacob's eyes as he gazed at her with watery affection.

I chuckled softly and gave a subtle signal. The bodyguard concealed in the shadows suddenly materialized.

Without a moment's hesitation, he delivered a resounding slap across her face. The shrill wail of the sound mingled with the sharp crack of the slap drifted pleasantly into my ears.

I shot an admiring glance at the bodyguard who'd struck her. “Well done. Go collect your reward.”

“Laura! What right do you have to let someone hit me?”

Kiara clutched her stinging cheek, glaring at me with hatred.

I answered, “Because this is my home. A mistress like you has no right to speak here. Got it?”

Jacob replied, “Laura! Don't go too far! Don't forget this is the Chastan household! I can change the mistress at any time with just a word from you!”

Hearing this, I laughed. I clapped my hands, laughing.

I asked him back, “Jacob, have you forgotten how your so-called Chastan household came to be?”

When my parents passed away, I was only eighteen. As the only daughter in my family, I was young and inexperienced. I simply couldn't bear the burden of such a vast enterprise.

It was Jacob who said, “Laura, as long as you trust me, I'll show you an even more glorious Chastan family.”

By then, his family's business had already gone bankrupt. My parents, weighed down by debt, committed suicide by jumping off a building.

He was alone and so was I. So, I agreed with him. But now, he was forgotten. The Chastan Family he speaks of should be my surname, Laura Chastan.

Without waiting for me to speak, Jacob suppressed his anger. 

He shouted bellowed toward the door, “Someone, get these people out of here!”

“And Laura, whoever convinces her to agree to divorce me today gets a million in cash reward!”

As soon as he finished, a group of well-trained bodyguards emerged from the shadows. But they didn't obey Jacob's order.

Instead, they smiled respectfully at me and called out, “Miss Chastan.”

I watched coldly as Jacob's expression shifted from calm to utter disbelief. I smiled at him. 

“Jacob, are you ready to enter the hell I've prepared for you?”