Chapter 4

I sat to the side, indifferent, remotely replying to my project partners' questions.

My phone was suddenly knocked to the ground. The screen cracked from one corner and completely shattered.

Last time my phone cracked in one corner, he said he'd take me to get it fixed. He never kept that promise.

"Don't you know to hide such dangerous medication when you take it? Are you happy now that Vivian took it by mistake?"

I was stunned by the scolding. My phone kept vibrating.

"Who's messaging you?"

Derek was furious. Without even looking, he stomped on it and crushed it completely. The vibrations stopped.

I said nothing, just knelt down numbly and picked up the glass shards with my bare hands.

I stood up, looked him straight in the eye, and decisively shoved the glass pieces into Derek's mouth.

I had no computer. All the data I had just been transferring hadn't been backed up. Everything was destroyed in Derek's hands.

He was shocked and suspicious, using both hands to pull the glass from his mouth.

"What are you doing, you psycho!"

I was as calm as a real psycho. "Just demonstrating what a psychotic mental state looks like."

Meeting my eyes, he hesitated for a moment.

"Mmm..."

Vivian whimpered and began crying softly.

Derek instantly rushed to her, picked her up, and ran toward the hospital.

With tweezers, I picked out the glass shards from my palms one by one, then went out to buy a new phone.

When I returned to the villa, Derek was sitting on the sofa with a dark expression, holding a recommendation letter in his hand.

"You're joining Azure Lotus?"

Before I could answer, he tapped the recommendation letter on the coffee table.

"Give this recommendation letter to Vivian."

I thought I had misheard and asked in disbelief:

"Give it to her? You expect a mentally ill girl with no knowledge to go to Azure Lotus?"

As soon as the words left my mouth, he slapped my left cheek numb. It swelled up high.

From the corner of my eye, I could see his right hand was also trembling slightly.

"I caused her to be delayed two years in graduation. Her career has been struggling ever since. I looked into it—it's just a nominal position. You can help her with the work she can't complete."

I pressed my tongue against my swollen cheek with a half-smile.

How come when I was forced to drop out of high school and go abroad, no one thought to compensate me?

"Fine, you give it to her."

With that, I walked past him, sat on the sofa, and started booking a plane ticket.

The second before my phone was snatched away, I locked the screen.

"What have you been doing lately?"

I was used to his inconsistent controlling behavior.

"If you want to know, just open the phone and look, won't you?"

But even when the phone showed it was locked, he never opened it.

The password had always been my birthday. I had repeated it countless times. He never remembered it.

I snatched it back.

"Let me tell you how long it's been. It was yesterday."

I didn't know if he felt even a moment of guilt in his heart. I only saw him flee in panic.

Tonight's dinner was made by a hired housekeeper, all sweet dishes.

I frowned and picked at a few bites.

A piece of mango cake was pushed in front of me.

"Not to your taste?"

I casually tossed it in the trash. His expression turned ugly.

"How can Elena waste food?"

Vivian immediately squatted down, trying to dig through the trash can for something, but Derek stopped her in time.

I was dazed, remembering when Vivian had forced my head into a bathroom trash can to search for a necklace with my mouth.

"Stop being unreasonable!"

Derek's angry shout pulled me back to reality. The dishes in front of me trembled from the force.

"Derek, I can't eat high-sugar foods. And I'm allergic to mangoes."

The man's rage immediately died down. He stared at the mango cake in the trash, lost in thought.