Chapter 4

Perhaps some primal self-preservation instinct finally kicked in.

I fell ill, my mind sinking into a dense fog.

Maybe out of pity, Sebastian never filed for annulment.

Instead, he took a two-month leave and brought me from one doctor to the next.

In therapy, I refused to speak.

When given medication, I refused to open my mouth.

He even resorted to strapping me down for electroconvulsive therapy.

The side effects were devastating, often causing lasting damage.

That's why I can never hold a paintbrush again.

Back then, I had no will to get better.

I'd hidden a razor blade behind the mirror, waiting for the day of my father's sentencing to finally set myself free.

Sebastian, however, was furious.

He forced my mouth open, making me swallow the pills.

"Do you still think you're that spoiled princess from before? Can't you stop being so stubborn?"

In the past, every time I had to take medicine, I'd throw a minor fit.

And Sebastian would always patiently coax me.

"Come on, sweetie, once you swallow it, I'll give you a candy."

This time, there was no candy.

The moment he let go, I threw up everything.

Sebastian lost his patience, looking down at me.

"Look at you now. I shouldn't have bothered with you."

The door slammed shut, and he smoked in the living room all night.

The next day, Chloe showed up.

Their argument erupted almost immediately.

"Sebastian, you're an officer with a future! She's a criminal's daughter. Why are you still tied to her?"

A long silence hung in the air before his low voice finally cut through it.

"I looked after her for ten years, Chloe. You wouldn't just abandon a stray dog you'd raised that long."

A stray dog. How compassionate of him.

Their shouting match somehow twisted into another desperate kiss, right there in the foyer of the new home my father had bought for me.

It felt like a desecration.

I snapped.

I stormed out and smashed everything I could get my hands on, aiming straight for the wedding portrait with their blissfully smiling faces

.

Sebastian shielded Chloe behind him, just as he used to shield me.

He watched my breakdown, my frenzy, with cold indifference.

Chloe feigned fear.

"I told you, didn't I? She has a criminal's blood flowing in her veins, selfish, violent... truly terrifying."

Mentioning Dad, I became hysterical.

I picked up a shard of glass, lunging at them.

But Sebastian kicked it away.

His words were full of disappointment.

"Stella Harrison, you've exhausted the last shred of my compassion for you."

The day Sebastian went to file for annulment,

My father's final sentence also came down.

Life imprisonment.

Through the iron bars, Dad's old eyes filled with tears.

He saw my desire to die instantly.

"My girl, live, please, your father is begging you."

He had already prepared a fallback for me.

A substantial trust fund in an overseas institution.

My dad had never said "please" in his life.

So I thought, then I'll live.

The last time I saw Sebastian, in front of the precinct,

Those were his final words to me.

"Take care of yourself."

The car entered a tunnel, darkness enveloped us, leaving only a warm, dim glow.

Suddenly, the stark white light of my phone flashed.

An unknown number.

"Hello?"

It was Sebastian.

"You left your ID behind. Can we meet?"