As Fiona shambled out of the bathroom, her pale face made her look just like was terribly sick.

She then heard a loud humming and was surprised to see that Mark had left his backup phone.

Picking it up from the couch, she swiped it and was left staring at a passcode panel.

She didn't hesitate and typed Sue's birthday, which surprisingly unlocked the phone.

There were over ninety-nine notifications coming from a chat group, and Fiona recognized each of the thirtyish members in it—they were all elites whom her father had sponsored, labeled by everyone else as her sponsored suitors.

Swiping through it, she found out that Mark had rushed out because someone was molesting Sue at the hotel where she worked part-time.

Someone had a photo and even uploaded it to the work chat group by mistake.

Still, Fiona kept swiping upward when she noticed a certain sticker made from her own face with distorted facial features to make her look monstrous.

And the sender was Noris, who was always hovering around Mark.

[Guys, don't you think it was Fiona?]

[No way! She doesn't even know that Mark had used her father's position to get Sue a job.]

[Actually, you never know. Y'all know how obsessed she is with Mark. Who knows, she might have people watching and found out about Sue. I mean, who else would hate Sue so much and want to humiliate her? Doesn't Fiona see that it's going too far for a fellow woman?]

[The way I see it, it definitely was Fiona! Both she and her father are so full of themselves just because they're rich. What, do they think the world is theirs? How deluded are they, grooming us to be her suitors? Bleh, dream on! Not even a mongrel would want her!]

[Hahaha…]

As Fiona kept reading, shaking with rage as she stood, she discovered that the sponsored suitors had made many other stickers out of her or her father's faces.

When they were younger, they were all going to starve to death, if not die from illness—survival was questionable for them without her father's sponsorship.

And yet, here they were, mocking and slandering her without evidence, as if she was not a woman just like Sue.

Never could she have expected Mark to throw all caution to the wind for Sue's sake, even having the balls to keep Sue right under her nose.

Just thinking about his name left her feeling like she was being repeatedly stabbed with a blunt knife—it didn't kill, but each stab left her with utter agony!

That was when her father called her—he was busy with a project abroad and couldn't make it home.

As Fiona quietly wiped the tears away from her eyes, she vowed to herself that it was the last time she would cry over Mark.

"What's wrong? Who hurt you?" her father's familiar voice asked over the phone.

Just hearing his voice left Fiona firmly biting her own lip, as she seemed to see the way her father bled from head to toe—a well-dressed man reduced to a bloody pulp because of Mark's torture.

Still, there was no hiding her pain from her father despite her silence, and she took a breath to calm down before speaking. "It's fine, Dad… the wedding will go on as scheduled, but I'll be marrying Yves Warren instead of Mark."

"What? Yves?!" Norman exclaimed in shock on the other end. "I thought he left his family to volunteer as a Doctor Without Borders. Why would you suddenly want to marry him?"

"Just trust me on this," Fiona replied, looking downward at Mark's phone screen where more insulting messages were popping up. "I know what I'm doing… Also, I'll start work at the headquarters."

Though Norman had no idea what Fiona was planning, he had always loved his only daughter.

Otherwise, he wouldn't have spent a king's ransom grooming Mark, giving the latter special treatment and privileges he didn't afford the other sponsored suitors.

And it was all because Fiona liked Mark.

Still, Norman didn't dwell on it and sighed. "Just do whatever you want. Even if it's the wrong call, I'll see through it to the end with you!"

Fiona's vision was clouded with tears even as she took another deep breath, sniffling as she said, "Yeah."

As she hung up, another message popped up in the chat group—this time from Mark.

[If it really was her, I'll make her suffer!]

Caught in a flood of memories, Fiona kept her eyes glued to Mark's backup phone screen even after it darkened.

It was really hard to reach his heart—he never laughed, barely talked, and only sat in a quiet corner all day, reading books.

The first time she celebrated his birthday, he didn't even look surprised, instead knocked the cake she had baked off her hands and threw away her present.

"No one asked for it," he snorted, and left.

Even so, she stayed by the cake and cried for the longest time—not just because of Mark's cold rejection, but because she knew her father would get upset with Mark if she went home crying.

Still, after everyone went to bed very late into the night, Mark showed up again, quietly cheering her up with his little hand sewn dolls.

Putting up a puppet show, he told her indirectly that because his parents had died in an accident on the same day, he had never celebrated his birthday ever since.

Since then, Fiona learned that Mark wasn't cold—he just needed time to warm up to anyone.

She just had to take her time to slowly overcome those obstacles in his heart, convincing him to trust her and fall for her.

Never could she have expected that doing that would cost her everything.

-

Mark only found out that Fiona was starting work when he saw her at the office and was at once frowning.

"Do you think this is a playground?" He snorted, clearly convinced that she was just a pretty face when she clearly wasn't.

On the other hand, Fiona never looked at him at all, as her eyes remained fixed on his 'assistant'.

Eventually, Mark turned toward her as well, twitching uncomfortably but only for a brief second.

"A new employee?" Fiona eventually asked.

"She's just an intern. You can go home now if you have no other business here," Mark replied shortly.

Fiona snorted—he really couldn't wait to chase her away to protect the woman behind him.

Still, she asked, "Why should I leave? The Starr family owns this company."

Mark glowered right then, and Fiona knew she had hurt his swelling ego with her words.

Labels like 'sponsored suitors' or 'one of Fiona Starr's husband candidates' were always a sore spot for him—he had already accomplished his own achievements, but all of it remained eclipsed under the Starr family's fame.

However, hurting Mark was exactly what Fiona wanted to do, not to mention that wasn't even a fraction of how much he had hurt her in her past life!

As Fiona turned, seemingly leaving, Sue was already reaching out, ready to pat Mark on the back.

That was when Fiona turned around again, and Sue's hands were left hanging in the air.

Even so, Fiona kept staring at her calmly, leaving her instantly pale and flustered in guilt, until Mark passed her a document folder and said, "You can go."

Fiona felt as if a hand clenched around her heart.

Mark's tone was so tender that even he probably didn't notice—it just went to show how protective he was toward Sue.

Then why didn't he just reject Fiona for Sue, even going on to marry Fiona?

It definitely wasn't the Starr family's fault that Sue killed herself, but ironically, Mark blamed Fiona and her father anyway.

Soon after Sue left, Mark's phone jingled.

Fiona was going to leave too when she felt a vice-like grip around her waist abruptly and frowned.

When she turned, she cringed and shuddered when she saw Mark's sinister glare.

It was as if he had shed his skin and revealed his true malicious nature, just as he did in her past life!

Shoving his phone at her face, he growled, "Did you do this?"

Fiona couldn't free herself and eventually gave in and looked at the phone and saw that it was the photo of Sue being molested.

Seeing how calm she was, Mark immediately made up his mind that she was guilty, not bothered to listen to what she had to say.

His hand clenched so hard around Fiona's wrist. Her tears welled up in her eyes, while the corner of her eyes reddened, but she gritted her teeth and fought against the impulse to cry out.

Because she refused to cry for Mark ever again.

"It! Wasn't! Me!" She snarled every syllable through her teeth!

Fiona then snapped, " Let go of me!"

Mark released her, but she was left staring at her reddened wrist that felt so numb it was as if it wasn't hers.

At the same time, Mark growled coolly above her, "It was your college friend who took that photo… how many times does this make it? Are you so jealous that you can't even stand a female around me?!

"I told you—if you want me to marry you, leave me alone for two months, or dream on!"

With that, he heard Sue sobbing outside and promptly knocked Fiona out of the way, storming out without looking behind.

Fiona was wearing high heels and sprained her leg, and she turned to see the door opening.

Sue crouched in a corner and sobbed loudly while three men were hovering around her, comforting her.

The men were Noris, Boris, and Yannick, whose education and lifestyles were sponsored by her father.

But as soon as they saw Fiona, they immediately surrounded Sue protectively, leaving Fiona smirking in wry amusement at how they didn't hesitate to take Sue's side.

Considering how Mark quickly took control over everything, the trio must have helped a lot.

As the stalemate lasted for a while, Yannick strode up to make peace. "She's like a sister to us. Mark knows how hard life has been for her, so he bent the rules to get her a job here. Blame me if you want, but don't get upset with Mark."

"Sister?" Fiona smirked, refusing to play along. "Is Mark really that understanding?"

She started to leave but felt her swollen wrist being grabbed again.

She gasped in pain, and Mark eased his grip but still held on to her. "You haven't apologized."

Fiona felt her heart grow cold, but she ignored her pain and shook him off with full strength.

Straightening herself, she glared at everyone as she snapped, "Why should I apologize?! I never did a thing!"

Sue quickly whispered, "I-It's alright, Mark."

And with that, Fiona left unbothered this time, with Mark's eyes still glued to her.

When she was out of sight, Noris couldn't help snorting, "What is her problem? Woke up on the wrong side of bed? She's never snapped at Mark like that before!"

"Probably just some new tactic she read somewhere to get Mark's attention," Boris chuckled, walking up and clapping Mark on the shoulder. "Watch out. Don't fall for it now!"

Mark nodded in understanding, as he was puzzled for a moment too.

As he walked up and wrapped his arms around Sue's waist, Noris, Boris, and Yannick all tactfully left.

"Do you really have to marry her?" she asked, still sobbing.

It broke Mark's heart to see that, but he sighed. "I have no choice.

Fiona loved him, and he owed the Starr family and had to work for them for the rest of his life.

Sue sobbed even louder right then, as she refused to accept it—how could her beloved man marry someone else?!

"You don't even love her!" she wailed. "You're just hurting yourself being with her! They don't get to do anything they like just because they're rich!"

Mark never answered and quietly held her tighter as he kissed her hair. "Just wait for me!"

Neither of them noticed that Fiona was hidden in a corner, recording everything and sneering as she turned off the screen.

It went without saying what Mark was waiting for, but she refused to let him win in this life!