Back at the Jules residence, Benjamin did not go through with it in the end.

Nissa cried nonstop. Midway, she even started vomiting. Whatever desire he had instantly vanished.

Hearing her retching in the bathroom, Benjamin frowned and called out, "Don't tell me you've caught something contagious. If you're sick, go get treated. Don't come back here and infect me!"

Nissa came out wrapped in a bathrobe, her face pale with embarrassment. She quickly shook her head. She could not let him know it was morning sickness, so she typed on her phone: "I ate something bad."

Benjamin glanced at her screen with disinterest and did not press the issue. Instead, he said, "Don't forget what I told you. Charlotte wants something light to eat today. Go make it now. I'll take a shower and head to the hospital after."

The moment she heard she could get away from Benjamin, Nissa turned and bolted. Her eagerness to escape made him frown in mild displeasure.

After his shower and a change of clothes, Benjamin came downstairs to find that Nissa had already packed the food.

He glanced at the meal, then narrowed his eyes. "You only made enough for one person?"

Nissa was confused. She gestured with her hands. "Wasn't the food for Charlotte?"

She assumed Benjamin would not eat her cooking anyway. After all, in the early days of their marriage, she put in great effort to make him meals, but he never touched a single one. They all ended up in the trash.

Benjamin's face darkened, but he didn't say more. Instead, he tossed her a card and told her to buy groceries from the supermarket and put in more effort for Charlotte's meals.

Then he left, carrying the hot food with him.

Once the door shut behind him, Nissa let out a quiet sigh of exhaustion. She glanced at the back of her hand. She burned herself while cooking. The skin was bright red.

She did not bother telling Benjamin. If she did, he would only mock her.

She quietly retrieved some burn ointment and gently applied it.

The truth was, she got used to taking care of herself.

Her younger sister was sick for years, and they had no other relatives. To put it bluntly, if she died one day, there might not even be anyone to bury her.

Just then, a message came through on her phone.

It was from Marcus.

She read it, and tears immediately welled up in her eyes.

Marcus said he deeply regretted introducing her to Benjamin. He wanted to help her leave, even offering to arrange a new life for her overseas.

More importantly, he would transfer her sister to a hospital abroad. He even promised to fully cover all of her future medical expenses.

Relief flooded Nissa's chest.

She typed out a grateful reply. At last, she had a way out.

She could finally escape this hell.

Nissa wiped away her tears and picked up the card Benjamin threw at her.

Since she would be leaving soon anyway, she figured she might as well do one last thing: Buy some groceries and fill the fridge.

After shopping at the supermarket, she missed the bus.

But since the villa was not too far, she decided to walk back.

As she walked, something started to feel off.

The streets were quiet, the night air cold. Wind blew through the trees, rustling the leaves in a way that felt almost sinister.

And underneath the sound of the wind, she could hear footsteps.

Disjointed and uneven, those footsteps kept following behind her.

She glanced around, and it was darkness everywhere. The shadows stretched long across the ground, as if something were lurking.

Nissa felt a chill crawl up her spine. She quickened her pace.

But just as she turned a corner, a gang of thugs closed in on her from behind.

She froze, heart pounding, and stumbled backward a few steps.

The leader, a man with dyed blond hair, rubbed his hands together with a greasy grin. "Hey, pretty girl. How about keeping us company tonight?"

Panic surged through Nissa's mind like an alarm.

She dropped the shopping bags and turned to run.

But in the next instant, they grabbed her. Their tight, merciless hands pulling her back.

A damp cloth pressed against her face.

Within seconds, the world spun, faded, and then went black.

When Nissa woke up, her head was pounding like it was split in two.

Her memories came rushing back.

She bolted upright. Thankfully, she wasn't tied up. She immediately scrambled for her phone and sent a group SOS message to everyone in her contacts, praying that someone, anyone, would come help.

After confirming the messages went through, her eyes caught a new notification in the corner.

It was from her sister's attending physician.

Her stomach dropped.

A terrible premonition seized her as she opened the message with trembling fingers.

What met her was a short message with few words. "Complications. Urgent. Come Now."

Nissa's whole body went cold.

That message was sent over an hour ago, back when she was still unconscious.

There was no time to worry about subtlety or hiding her escape. She scrambled to her feet and rushed toward the door. But just as her hand reached for it, the door was pushed open from the other side.

That group of thugs staggered in, and Charlotte stood right there among them.

Nissa's eyes widened in shock.

She could not believe it. Why would Charlotte do this?

Was it because of Benjamin?

But she already promised to leave. Why would Charlotte still go this far?

Charlotte's expression was dark. She ordered, "Do it."

The blond man nodded and gestured. The others moved in immediately, grabbing Nissa and forcing her down into a chair.

Then, he stepped forward with a camcorder in his hands.

"Don't blame us for being cruel. Cooperate and you won't suffer too much. Damn, you've got a face made for the camera, huh?"

Nissa's skin crawled.

She turned her teary eyes to Charlotte, letting out desperate, muffled cries. Her hands flailed in frantic gestures, begging and pleading. She did not care about anything else now. She just needed to get to the hospital. She needs to go to her sister.

Not only did Charlotte not care, but she did not even try to understand.

Only by getting rid of Nissa could she feel secure. She can then finally take her place at Benjamin's side and enjoy everything that comes with being his official wife.

The thugs moved in, eyes gleaming, reaching out to touch her.

Nissa trembled in terror. Tears poured down like rain. She struggled with everything she had, pushing their hands away, until someone grabbed her arm and twisted it violently.

With a sickening pop, it was dislocated.

She let out a silent cry, the pain blinding her.

An image came to her mind: Benjamin's face.

But what was the point? Benjamin would never come.

She gave up hope. If she had to die, so be it, but she would not die being humiliated.

With every ounce of strength left in her, she snatched a piece of metal from the floor and plunged it into her stomach.

Everyone froze.

Thick, dark blood poured out, dripping fast onto the floorboards.

The blond man's face turned white. "Holy shit! She's bleeding out!"

Charlotte did not expect this either. She did not imagine Nissa would be this fierce.

And at that moment, outside the house, an engine roared in the distance, rapidly approaching.

Charlotte rushed to the window, and her face instantly turned pale when she saw who it was.

Benjamin! Why was he here?

"Take everything and get out the back, now! I'll settle the money later!"

The blond guy did not wait for a second command. The gang scattered, afraid things were about to go very wrong.

Inside the room, Nissa was a mess. Clothes were torn, slumped on the floor, one hand clutching her bleeding stomach. Her strength was gone.

Charlotte's expression twisted with panic. Before she could react, the door swung open.

Benjamin barged in, a few of his men behind him.

The scene in front of him made his pupils shrink.

"Benjamin! You're here! Thank God!" Charlotte rushed forward, crying, her voice full of panic and innocence. She threw herself into his arms.

"Nissa told me to come here. As soon as I walked in, she stabbed herself! She tried to frame me! I don't know what she's thinking!"

Her meaning was clear; Nissa staged this to set her up.

Benjamin stared at Nissa with her face pale as paper, her expression distant and empty.

He frowned slightly.

He was about to speak when he saw Nissa struggling to get up. She fell, got up, and fell again. Over and over.

Each fall only caused her wound to bleed more.

He could not watch anymore and stepped forward to help her.

But the moment Nissa saw him, she dropped to her knees, clutching his leg, using hand signs to beg him to take her to the hospital.

Benjamin did not understand her gestures.

And Nissa, thinking he was refusing, threw herself into a frenzy. She knelt, bowed, and cried out in agony. Blood and tears soaked the floor, even spreading to the tips of his shoes.

Just then, her phone buzzed.

She froze.

Her dazed eyes shifted toward it. She reached out with a trembling hand, unlocked the screen, and opened the most recent message:

"Ms. Sullivan, your sister has passed. Please come handle the arrangements."

The light in Nissa's eyes went dark.

Her mind swirled in chaos. Memories flashed by. The past decade of her and her sister, relying on each other, barely surviving. She once believed, foolishly, that if she worked hard enough, someday her sister would get better.

She never imagined this outcome, that the only family she left would be taken from her, too.

Benjamin did not notice her change.

Instead, he snapped, "Why did you lure Charlotte here?"

Nissa slowly lifted her eyes to him. They were red-streaked and expressionless. Her blood-stained face was utterly silent, like someone already dead.

She did not bother to explain at all.

She only had one thought left: Get to the hospital. Even if it was just to see her sister one last time.

She forced herself to crawl up from the floor, using the wall to steady herself, stumbling, limping toward the door.

Benjamin frowned and reached to stop her, but Nissa shoved him away.

He froze.

She never did that before.

The woman who always obeyed him without question just pushed him aside?

Nissa did not look back. She walked on tirelessly, making her way to the hospital.

At the hospital morgue, she finally saw her sister. Her heart was bleeding out, dying. But even so, not a single tear came out.

Later, she had her wound treated and bandaged at the hospital.

Then, she returned to the Jules residence one last time to collect the suitcase she'd long packed.

With her sister already dead, she politely declined Marcus's offer to send her abroad.

She had no intention of relying on anyone anymore.

Nissa did not even take one final look at the luxurious house where she'd spent the past half-year.

There was nothing worth remembering.

With that, she stepped out into the wind and disappeared into the night.