Rosamond instinctively looked toward the colleague who had sent her the message, only to find the woman staring at Bryce with guilt written all over her face.

That told her everything she needed to know.

Bryce had actually gone this far for Olympia. The man who had always been too proud for deception had learned to lie.

The grief in her chest was a steel needle, piercing her heart one slow millimeter at a time.

Bryce walked up to Rosamond, his voice low and flat.

"Today is Olympia's promotion banquet. She's still young, and some people at the firm might not respect her authority. You're here to lend her credibility."

Rosamond swallowed the bitterness rising in her throat, gave him one look, and turned to leave. But Bryce seized her arm.

"Rosamond, what do you think you're doing? If you walk out now, where does that leave Olympia?"

"You're her sister-in-law, for God's sake. Would it kill you to show a little generosity?"

Sister-in-law?

That was the exact excuse Bryce had used to force her into hiring Olympia at the firm in the first place.

Whenever Rosamond clashed with Olympia, he dragged out the same line, insisting she was the elder, the one who should yield.

Even now, he still hadn't exhausted that card.

Rosamond couldn't take it anymore. She wrenched her arm free.

"I'm no sister-in-law of hers!"

"Have you forgotten? Not once, from the very beginning, has she ever called me that."

She turned to leave without waiting for his reaction, but something caught her eye: the bracelet on Olympia's wrist.

Rosamond's heart slammed against her ribs.

That bracelet was part of her dowry from her mother, the only keepsake her late grandmother had left behind.

Rosamond closed the distance to Olympia in three strides and grabbed her arm.

"Where did you get this bracelet?"

Olympia let out a shriek, struggling wildly.

"Attorney Henson, what are you doing? Let go of me!"

Rosamond's voice was ice, her entire body radiating cold fury.

"I asked you a question. Why is this bracelet on your wrist?"

Before the words had fully left her mouth, a hard shove hit her between the shoulder blades, and a sharp pain tore through her arm.

She lost her grip on Olympia and went tumbling down the steps.

Bryce had Olympia in his arms, his frigid gaze fixed on Rosamond where she lay.

"Rosa, don't push it. I gave that bracelet to Olympia."

Rosamond's leg had struck the edge of a step. The pain was blinding, as if the bone had cracked.

Hearing those words, she forced herself upright, both hands pressed hard against her chest, and every humiliation she had swallowed over the years finally erupted.

"That was my mother's dowry to me! What right do you have to give it away? Give it back!"

Irritation creased Bryce's brow.

"It's just a bracelet. Olympia liked it, so I let her have it. What's the big deal, Rosamond? You're being incredibly petty."

Olympia put on a wounded expression.

"Bryce, since Attorney Henson doesn't want me to have it, I'll just give it back. Please don't fight over me."

Bryce stroked Olympia's hair, his voice soft with affection.

"Don't worry about it. I gave it to you, so it's yours. She's always been stingy. Just ignore her."

Rosamond's eyes were bloodshot.

"Stingy? Do you honestly think I don't know how much you've given her over the years?"

"I let everything else slide, but not this bracelet. If you won't return it, I'll call the police. It's my dowry. You had no right to dispose of it."

Bryce hadn't expected a reaction this fierce. For a moment, he just stood there.

Olympia had taken a liking to Rosamond's jewelry before, and every time he had simply let her have it.

Rosamond had never once made a scene. Why was this time different?

Seeing the dark resolve on her face, he finally relented.

"Fine. Stay and see Olympia through the rest of her promotion banquet, and I'll give the bracelet back."

Rosamond looked into his unyielding eyes and accepted, because she had no other choice.

She knew Bryce. Once he set a condition, he never went back on it.

The fact that he was willing to return the bracelet at all was already a concession.

When Olympia realized Bryce truly intended to give the bracelet back, a flash of venom crossed her eyes as she looked at Rosamond.

So Bryce still had some feelings for Rosamond after all. She would have to find a way to make him despise her completely.

The party began. Rosamond sat and watched as Bryce attended to Olympia's every need at the table.

Picking out the best dishes for her. Peeling shrimp for her.

Refilling her tea. Pouring her water.

A bitter ache spread through Rosamond's chest.

He had never done any of those things for her. Not once.

She had always assumed it was simply his nature, that he was too proud to bother with small gestures like these.

Now she understood. She simply wasn't worth the effort.

It didn't matter anymore. She had made her peace with it.

All she had to do was endure until the banquet ended, take back her grandmother's bracelet, and walk away, leaving Bryce to Olympia for good.

She would never insert herself between them again.

After a few rounds of drinks, the air inside felt suffocating. Rosamond slipped out alone to clear her head.

She had barely reached the pool when a hand closed around her arm.

Olympia stood there with a half-smile that wasn't quite a smile.

"What's Attorney Henson doing out here instead of inside? Couldn't stand watching me and Bryce together? Thinking of running?"

"I suppose it makes sense. You only got him because I went abroad. Now that you see how devoted he is to me, it must be unbearable."

"You really are shameless, you know that? He obviously doesn't love you, yet you cling to him like a barnacle. If I were you, I'd have been gone a long time ago."

Rosamond glanced at her, expression blank.

"I am leaving. Just not yet."

"I'm still waiting for you to return my bracelet."

Olympia ran her fingers along the jade on her wrist, a glint of malice in her eyes.

"And what if I said I have no intention of giving it back?"

Rosamond's voice was ice-cold.

"Then I'll have no choice but to call the police."

Olympia laughed, sliding the bracelet off her wrist as she did.

"Oh, right. How could I forget? You're the famous Attorney Henson. Getting a little bracelet back can't be that hard for you."

"But then again..."

She glanced at Rosamond, then slowly extended the hand holding the bracelet out over the swimming pool.

"What if this bracelet just... disappeared? Calling the police wouldn't do you much good then, would it?"

Rosamond's eyes locked onto Olympia's hand, every muscle in her face pulled taut.

"You wouldn't dare."

Olympia's expression twisted with malice.

"Wouldn't I? It's just a bracelet. Your own husband gave it to me. Even if I accidentally broke it, what are they going to do, throw me in jail?"

Her fingers began to loosen.

Rosamond lunged forward and grabbed her arm.

"Don't!"

"Whatever you want, I'll give it to you. Just give me the bracelet back!"

It was the last thing she had of her grandmother's. She would not stand by and watch it be destroyed.

Olympia's smile widened, bright and vicious.

"That's more like it. When you're begging someone, you should act like it."

"Now get on your knees. Maybe if I'm in a good mood, I'll give it back."

Rosamond stared at her, stunned. She hadn't imagined Olympia would stoop to this.

When Rosamond didn't move, Olympia raised the bracelet over the water again.

"I'll count to three. If you're not on your knees, it goes in."

"Three!"

"Two!"

"One!"

"I'll kneel!"

Rosamond clenched her jaw, stripped herself of every shred of dignity, and sank to her knees on the cold tile.

Olympia burst out laughing.

"Oh my God, I never thought I'd see the day. The great Attorney Henson, so proud, so untouchable, kneeling at my feet like a dog."

"Rosamond, I told you a long time ago. I'd take everything from you. Do you believe me now?"

"Your husband, your career, all mine. And now your dignity is under my heel. What do you have left to be proud of?"

"If you know what's good for you, you'll crawl away from Bryce and never come back. Otherwise, I'll make things so much worse."

Grief, humiliation, and fury crashed through Rosamond all at once. She forced herself to hold still, to not fight back.

"Fine. Now can I have the bracelet?"

Olympia held the bracelet out to Rosamond with a careless flick of her wrist.

Rosamond's eyes lit up. She reached for it.

The next second, Olympia yanked her hand back and flung the bracelet into the pool.

It hit the water with a small splash, sending ripples fanning outward.

Rosamond froze for half a heartbeat, then threw herself in after it.

She'd forgotten she couldn't swim.

Olympia watched Rosamond thrashing in the water and turned to leave.

But a shout rang out from somewhere behind her. Her eyes darted, calculating, and she jumped in after her.

The freezing water swallowed Rosamond inch by inch. Just as her lungs were about to give out, someone hauled her to the surface.

She barely had time to gasp before Bryce's palm cracked across her face.

"Rosamond, you've gone too far! You know Olympia can't swim, and you pushed her in? Are you trying to kill her?!"

Olympia sobbed in Bryce's arms, her voice thin and trembling.

"Bryce, please don't blame Attorney Henson. It's my fault. I shouldn't have shown my face around her and upset her..."

Cold seeped through every cell in Rosamond's body. She was shaking so hard she could barely form words.

"I didn't push her. She threw my grandmother's bracelet into the pool. I went in to find it."

"I don't know why she ended up in the water."

Before she could finish, Olympia cut in.

"Attorney Henson, I know you don't like me, but you can't just make things up like this."

"Bryce already promised to return the bracelet to you. Why would I throw it away right in front of you?"

The crowd was buying every word. Rosamond pressed on, desperate.

"She really threw it in. Send someone down to look. If it's not there, I'll apologize to her on the spot."

She turned to find a staff member.

Bryce stopped her.

"Rosamond, when did you become such a liar?"

Something cracked inside her. Even someone as strong as Rosamond felt the sting of being accused again and again of things she hadn't done.

"Bryce, I have never lied. If you don't believe me, just wait until I get the bracelet out of the water..."

The words died on her lips. She stood frozen, staring, the shock plain on her face.

Because Bryce had just pulled her grandmother's bracelet from his jacket pocket.

He looked at her, his expression heavy with disgust.

"This is your grandmother's bracelet, isn't it?"

"Olympia gave it to me before the party even started. Asked me to return it to you. I didn't think I'd need it as evidence."

"Rosamond, you keep saying your grandmother loved you more than anyone. But now you're using her bracelet as a prop to frame Olympia."

"You are a complete disappointment. Since you care so little about this bracelet, let's put it out of its misery. At least then you can't use it to hurt anyone else."

Something dark and final crossed his face. He hurled the bracelet at the ground.

It shattered into pieces, just like her heart.

"No!"

Rosamond dropped to her knees, scrambling across the ground like a woman possessed, gathering every fragment she could find.

Bryce glanced down at her with flat, empty eyes.

"Pathetic."

Then he gathered Olympia in his arms and walked away.

Rosamond clutched the broken pieces to her chest and wept. She wept until she couldn't breathe, couldn't see, couldn't feel the shards slicing her palms open, blood running between her fingers.

"I'm sorry, Grandma. I'm so sorry..."

"It's all my fault. I couldn't even protect the one thing you left me..."

In the darkness, her phone screen flickered to life. A message from her mother.

Rosamond, your immigration paperwork is finalized. Your father and I will be waiting for you at the airport the morning after next.

Something stirred in the numb wasteland of her chest.

She could finally leave.

Rosamond stumbled back home and packed her things like a marionette, every movement hollow and mechanical.

All she wanted was to leave this place that had given her both boundless joy and unbearable pain, and never come back.

But the moment she reached the door, several bodyguards seized her and forced her into a car.

Rosamond fought with everything she had.

"What are you doing? Let go of me!"

She was no match for them. They dragged her to the hospital and threw her to the ground.

Every bone in her body screamed on impact. She forced herself to lift her head, and there stood Bryce, his face dark as a storm.

He stared down at her, his voice cutting through the sterile air.

"Satisfied now?"

"How did I end up with a wife this vicious? You'll stop at nothing to get rid of Olympia. Aren't you afraid of what's coming for you?"

Rosamond frowned, unable to understand what he was talking about.

Bryce caught the confusion in her eyes and scoffed.

"Don't tell me you didn't know Olympia has a clotting disorder."

"You heartless woman. You deliberately scratched her wrist underwater. She's still bleeding and they can't stop it."

"You're a lawyer, Rosamond. Don't you know that killing someone means paying with your life?"

Rosamond rushed to defend herself.

"How could I have scratched her? Have you forgotten? I can't even—"

Bryce cut her off before she could finish, impatience carved into every line of his face.

"Olympia got hurt because of you. You're going to take responsibility."

"Take her in. Draw her blood. However much Olympia lost, that's how much comes out of her."

A deafening buzz filled Rosamond's skull. She never imagined Bryce could be this unhinged.

Her chest caved inward, as though something had clamped down on her lungs and refused to let go.

The bodyguards closed in. Rosamond thrashed against their grip.

"Bryce, this is illegal!"

"You can't do this to me!"

Bryce walked over and crouched in front of her. His fingers seized her chin, tilting her face up. His eyes were pure malice.

"Now you want to talk to me about the law?"

"Why didn't you think about consequences when you were hurting Olympia?"

"Take her in."

They dragged her into the operating room. She fought every inch of the way, and none of it mattered.

The needle slid into her vein, cold as ice, and the pain tore through her as though it had pierced her heart.

She felt her blood leaving her body. And with it, the last trace of love she had ever held for Bryce Delgado.

She told herself to endure it. He wouldn't actually let her die.

But the minutes crawled by, and no order came from outside to stop.

Rosamond felt herself being hollowed out. Her body grew so weak she couldn't even keep her eyes open.

A bitter ache rose in her chest.

Was she really going to die here today?

She wasn't ready. She had been so close to starting over.

Meanwhile, in the hospital corridor, a doctor stood before Bryce, sweat dripping from his forehead.

"Mr. Delgado, your wife has already had 1500cc drawn. She's at her absolute limit. If we continue, something will go very wrong."

Bryce barely glanced at him.

"How's Olympia?"

The doctor hesitated, stammering.

"Miss Galloway, her wound is quite deep. She's still in emergency treatment."

Under Bryce's withering stare, the doctor wiped his brow and forced the words out, his voice shaking.

"But rest assured, Miss Galloway is no longer in critical danger."

Only then did the edge in Bryce's gaze soften, just barely.

The doctor ventured carefully.

"Then... your wife..."

Bryce considered this for a moment, his tone flat.

"Keep going. Draw the full 2000cc."

"If I don't teach her a lesson this time, there's no telling what she'll do to Olympia next."

The doctor opened his mouth to protest, but under the weight of Bryce's stare, the words died in his throat.

Rosamond woke in a hospital bed.

She was so weak she couldn't sit up.

She reached for her phone to call her mother and knocked over the glass of water on the nightstand.

A familiar hand appeared, offering her a cup of warm water.

Rosamond forced her eyes open. Bryce's face filled her vision, inches away.

He propped her up and brought the cup to her lips.

"I know you're still upset, but you went too far yesterday."

"If I didn't teach you a lesson, how would I face Olympia?"

"Come on, don't be angry. I'll take you to visit your parents in a couple of days. That should make up for it, right?"

Rosamond listened to his magnanimous tone and, for the first time, felt a wave of pure disgust at herself.

How pathetically small had she made herself, that Bryce Delgado believed a visit to her parents was a grand enough favor to offer?

Grand enough to cancel out having 2000cc of blood ripped from her body.

When she didn't respond, Bryce took her silence for surrender. He smiled and ruffled her hair.

"I knew my Rosa would be a good girl."

"The person you should really be thanking is Olympia. She knew perfectly well you scratched her on purpose, and she still chose not to press charges."

"So to show your gratitude, don't you think you should hand over all your professional contacts and resources at the firm to her?"