Chapter 3

I still couldn’t escape.

Because, no sooner had Caleb left, than two men in black suits and sunglasses dragged me into a car.

“Meeting someone right under my nose, Scarlett, you’ve really grown audacious!” In the extended limousine, Asher squeezed my chin with one hand, making tears well up in my eyes from the pain.

“For the sake of the love we once shared, let me go!”

I almost pleaded.

“Love we once shared?” He sounded as if he’d heard the funniest joke in the world. “Scarlett, after all these years, you’re still so delusional!”

“What do you mean?”

I knew he wanted to tear me apart limb by limb, to make me suffer a slow, agonizing death.

But I didn’t blame him.

“I never loved you!” His thin lips parted, slowly spitting out the words.

It felt like a lightning bolt had struck me, leaving me utterly shaken and about to collapse.

“So, the one you’ve always loved is Willow?” Despite the immense humiliation, I couldn’t help but ask.

His narrow, phoenix-like eyes stared at me. “What do you think?”

*What do you think?*

In that moment, my world imploded.

I was taken back to Deerwood Manor.

It was ironic, really. This manor, Asher had built it with his own hands for me. In the throes of our passionate love, he jokingly called it our “love nest.” Now, it felt more like an exquisite cage.

It trapped me, but not necessarily him.

“Quick, tell me, who was that man?” The moment we entered, Asher violently threw me onto the bed.

My forehead hit the headboard, and I immediately felt blood seeping out. But before I could even try to deal with it, he grabbed my throat and pinned me against the wall. “Tell me, who was that man?”

“If you don’t love me, why bother?” I looked at him.

Blood still flowed freely, down my face, my neck… finally blossoming into crimson stains on the pristine white bedsheets.

My brows were so tightly furrowed with pain that I knew I must look hideous.

But he stared at me, unblinking, his gaze so complex that for a second I almost thought he was worried about me. “Do you think I can’t find out?”

I stayed silent, my face flushed, slowly struggling for breath.

He sneered, not only refusing to let go, but tearing off the clothing I had used to cover myself. “Scarlett, we’ve known each other for so many years, and I never knew you could be so cheap.”

I still looked at him.

I watched him talking to himself, suddenly bursting into a furious rage. With a ripping sound, he stripped the clothes from my body, then bound my hands and feet.

Rescued from the brink of suffocation, I retorted mockingly, “Oh, so now you don’t find me dirty anymore? Mr. Asher is really desperate, isn’t he!”

*Slap!*

One blow, and half my face went numb.

He stood over me, looking down, and every word he spoke sent chills down my spine. “Scarlett, I’m dragging you to hell with me!”

Two hours later, he was done with me, sated and uncaring. He pulled up his pants and slammed the door shut, leaving without a backward glance.

I lay there like a dead fish, feeling nothing but profound humiliation.

On the bedroom wall, our framed wedding photo still hung. He had his arm around me, and I leaned on his shoulder, smiling as if we were a match made in heaven.

But it was all a cruel irony.

The next day, I received an anonymous email.

I opened it, and the content nearly made me faint.

“Scarlett, why do you think he married you? Do you think your parents’ car crash was merely an accident? Scarlett, you fool, stop being so delusional. Asher has always loved Willow, from the very beginning.”

Just a few lines, but they hit me like a lightning bolt, snapping me awake.

I thought everything he had said was just empty words, spoken in anger.

But it was all true.

Thinking back to how my parents both died in a car crash, forcing me to transfer all the shares of our family company to my name, I couldn’t help but feel a chilling dread.

So, that was it. That was his true motive.

And I, a complete fool, had thought he loved me!

Scarlett, how could you be so stupid!

I looked at the family photo in my wallet, wanting nothing more than to bash my head against the wall and die.

But I couldn’t.