Chapter 4

Right in front of my face, the heel repeatedly ground the pill into the carpet.

It was Chloe.

She smirked, looking down at me, her foot still grinding.

“Oops, almost let you take your medicine.”

My blood rushed to my head.

“Get lost! I’ll kill you! My mom won’t let you get away with this!”

The suffocating sensation overwhelmed me.

After screaming that, I collapsed back onto the sofa, like a dying animal trapped in a cage.

“Hehe, watching you rage so helplessly makes me so happy.”

Chloe crouched down, poking my face with her long fingernails.

“You deserve this, trying to steal what’s mine. Liam is *mine*. Even if I don’t want him, he’s certainly not for you.”

With that, she forcefully grabbed my hair.

“Alright, you can die now.”

My scalp screamed in pain from the tugging.

I tried to struggle.

But I didn’t even have the strength to lift my hand.

“I’m… Scarlett Vance—”

Through my blurred vision, Chloe’s face was a distorted, grotesque mask.

She cut me off.

“Liam’s over there drinking.”

She leaned closer to my ear, her voice sickly sweet.

“He couldn’t care less about you. Do you think he’d be sad if you died right now?”

I tried to bite her hand, but she easily dodged me.

She stood up, patted my cheek, then yelled to Liam in the distance.

“Liam, come look! Scarlett seems really mad!”

Liam was called over by her.

He looked at me, limp on the sofa, his brows furrowing even deeper.

“What are you throwing a fit about now? It’s just period cramps, don’t act like you’re dying. Every woman gets cramps.”

“I… I really have…” I whispered, my voice barely audible. “Have asthma…”

Liam’s gaze swept over my pale face, then to Chloe.

Chloe shrugged helplessly, indicating she couldn’t do anything.

Liam’s gaze settled on me, filled with utter disappointment.

“Scarlett, I’m so sick of this. If you keep acting like this, we’re over.”

With that, he turned sharply and walked away.

Chloe scurried behind him, not forgetting to turn back and flash me a ‘V’ sign.

I felt like my lungs were a leaky bellows, every breath a tearing pain.

The snowflakes in my vision grew denser.

Chloe’s face in the distance shimmered in the halo of light, appearing and disappearing, like a demon from hell.

My eyelids felt incredibly heavy.

Over there, a group of people were cheering around Chloe.

In my peripheral vision, Liam and his good friends raised their glasses.

Chloe pretended to be drunk and leaned into Liam’s arms; he didn’t push her away, instead, he tightened his arm around her waist.

“Liam…” I called out, using every last bit of my strength.

My voice was a mere whisper, barely audible.

He inexplicably glanced back.

Chloe immediately tiptoed and whispered something in his ear.

He frowned, impatiently shaking his head.

In that moment, the last shred of warmth in my heart turned to ice.

I slowly closed my eyes.

I regretted it so much.

Why did I ever get involved with Liam?

Liam was just a poor student from an ordinary family.

My mother, on the other hand, was a billionaire entrepreneur.

I was afraid Liam would feel insecure, so I never told him any of this.

He always thought I was just slightly better off than him.

Chloe walked back over.

She crouched in front of me.

“I heard you grew up in a single-parent household. If you die, your mom will cry her eyes out, won’t she?”

“But it’s fine, Liam can go handle your funeral as the future son-in-law. Maybe your mom will be so soft-hearted, she’ll give all her family fortune to Liam…”

Chloe was certainly dreaming big.

But before she could finish, the private room door was suddenly thrown open.

“Scarlett!” It was my mom’s voice.

Before I lost consciousness, I saw Mom rushing towards me like a madwoman.

“Scarlett!”

The world before my eyes plunged into darkness.