I snatched the wedding dress over and slapped Poppy forcefully.

I had spent a lot of money and pulled all-nighters for a month to design this wedding dress.

“Aspen, how dare you?”

Brandon’s face immediately fell. He carefully wrapped his arms around Poppy. “I didn’t think you’d still be so vicious after two years.”

A hint of disgust flashed in his eyes.

“Security!”

After he said that, his bodyguards surrounded me and grabbed my wrist.

My face turned to the side from the impact of the slap.

“Aspen, you shouldn’t have touched her, do you understand me?” Brandon glared at me as though he was looking at a dead person.

My heart throbbed in pain. He sounded like that when I was bullied nine years ago.

“I’ll make whoever gets close to Aspen and bullies her suffer!”

That person only touched one of my fingers, and Brandon broke all ten of his and locked him up in a freezer for three days.

One of the bodyguards slapped me again.

My cheeks turned red and swollen.

“Brandon, let’s just… forget about it. After all, I was the one who cut her wedding dress…” Poppy pretended to be understanding as she sounded pitiful.

“I’ve said before that anyone who dares to harm you will have to pay a thousand times more, even if that person is my fiancee.”

Brandon sounded extremely cold.

“Continue!”

The bodyguards kept slapping me.

My cheeks were burning in pain.

Brandon just silently watched.

Finally, after a long time, he finally said, “Stop.”

The bodyguard immediately released me.

I fell onto the floor, and the pain was brutal. “Ah…”

“Poppy, let’s go.”

Brandon did not even look at me. He held Poppy’s hand and wanted to leave.

That night, I lay on the hospital bed with ice bags on my cheeks.

“Aspen, your nemesis… Samuel. He said he wants to meet you.” My older brother, Martin Anderson, told me over the phone.

I smiled.

Was Samuel planning to laugh at me?

“I’m not meeting him.”

Martin paused. Then, he sounded a little hesitant when he said, “Even though you’ve fought for many years, he doesn’t actually dislike you. In fact, he…”

He paused. “Aspen, he just doesn’t know how to show that he cares.”

I frowned as I did not understand what Martin was saying.

“I’m tired, I’ll see him at the wedding venue in seven days.”

After I ended the call, I stared at the ceiling silently.

Nine years ago, Holly was killed in that fire.

Everyone was affected, and I was the only one without an alibi.

The police investigated for an entire night and finally claimed that they suspected that I was behind the fire. The reason they quoted was because of the slot for the best postgraduate programme.

I laughed in disbelief, but no one believed me.

I had cried, made a scene, and even tried to prove my innocence by attempting suicide, but Brandon stopped all of my attempts.

“Aspen, don’t try to use death to gain my sympathy.

“I won’t forgive you just because you die, do you understand me? From today onwards, I have nothing to do with you.”

From then on, I had completely given up.

I went overseas to study for two years.

It was until I returned to the country that I learned that I was forced into an arranged marriage with him.

Brandon suddenly opened the door to my hospital ward and glared fiercely at me. “Where did you hide Poppy? Why did she suddenly disappear?”

After he said that, he choked me, and I could not breathe.

“I… I didn’t.”

Blood drained out from my face.

However, Brandon kept squeezing down. “If you don’t tell me, I’m going to kill you.”

He did not sound like he was kidding.

I opened my mouth, but I could not say a word.

“Do you really think I wouldn’t dare to kill you?” Brandon sneered.

The next second, he tightened his grip even further.

Just when I was about to suffocate, he suddenly let go and threw me on my hospital bed. “Aspen, I didn’t think you’d still be the same vicious killer!”

Brandon’s voice turned hoarse.

“But I still can’t bring myself to kill you.

“Don’t worry, Aspen, I’ll no longer love you.”

I felt hurt. His words were like salt on my wounds.

Tears started to stream down my cheeks.

“Brandon, how many times do I have to prove myself to you?! You’d rather trust someone else than me!

“Now that Poppy’s missing, the first person you’re suspecting is still me! I’ve been lying here in this hospital all along, how could I possibly leave to kidnap her?! Forget it, just do whatever you want!”

After I said that, I calmed down.

Brandon clenched his fist and slammed it against the table.

“Security, bring her away,” he said coldly without a hint of emotion.

They pulled out every single needle and tube in me. Blood splattered out, and I bore with the pain. I was then forced into a car.

When I saw that the road was getting unfamiliar, I was shocked.

“Where are you bringing me, Brandon?”

“To the hospital, of course.” He sneered, and his tone was as cold as ice.

The car slowly came to a stop. I saw a huge luxurious private hospital before me.

At this deserted place, no matter what he did to me, no one would find out.

“Brandon, I’m begging you, please look into the matter before torturing me. Please…” I looked at him with desperation in my eyes.

“Look into it?”

Brandon seemed like he had heard a joke. “I don’t have to look into anything when it comes to you.”

The basement was very dark and cold. I was tied to a cold electric chair, and I could not move.

“Where’s Poppy?”

Brandon did not even look up when he toyed with the remote control in his hand.

I did not speak.

I did not explain either.

It was… completely useless. He would not believe me.

“Not talking?”

At that moment, Brandon pressed the remote control ruthlessly with bloodshot eyes.

“Ah!”

I started to twitch and convulse. Even breathing was hard.

“Is it not enough that you killed my sister? Now, you’re trying to kill another person who’s important to me? Aspen, am I too forgiving toward you?”

Brandon’s words felt like poison to my system.

“Well? Speak!”

The current was numbing my body. A sense of hopelessness rose in me.

However, he did not seem like he was going to stop.

“Mr. Fuller, if you continue to shock Ms. Anderson, she might really die… Should we tone it down?” His assistant could not help but voice up.

“Shut up!”

Brandon kicked his assistant.

“She’s all mine. You don’t have to worry about her.”

After he said that, he glared at me with cold eyes.

At the same time, his phone started to ring.

Poppy’s name showed up on the caller ID!