Chapter 1

On our wedding anniversary, what I received wasn't a gift. It was a settlement agreement thrust at me by Peyton.

"Sign it, and I'll release your brother."

My eyes reddened as I asked him, "Peyton, my mother had six organs harvested by your mistress, and you want me to forgive her?!"

He handed me a photo without expression.

My brother was bound to a chair, covered in wounds, with someone holding a knife to his throat.

Peyton asked coldly, "Will you sign or not?"

Through tears, I signed my name, then turned and dialed another number.

"Felix, that condition you offered back then... does it still stand?"

Later, Peyton knelt in the rain begging me to come back. He didn't know-

I was already carrying someone else's child.

Jenna Frost POV

On our third wedding anniversary, what I received from Peyton wasn't a gift, but a settlement agreement.

"Sign this, and I'll have your brother released."

I looked at the man's sharply defined face through the cigarette smoke, feeling for the first time like I couldn't see him clearly.

"Peyton, my mother is dead. You want me to let Carmen go?"

Peyton took a drag of his cigarette and exhaled slowly.

"Jenna, she's a professional medical assessor. It was her job, not intentional."

"Not intentional?"

I shot to my feet, speaking through clenched teeth.

"Six. Six whole organs! Peyton, you're actually saying she removed six organs from my mother, ultimately causing her death, and it wasn't intentional?"

Thinking of my mother's pallid face before her death, waves of pain crashed through my heart.

It had been simple gastritis, but Carmen insisted she was in mortal danger and needed emergency surgery. My brother Wade was so frightened and confused that he signed form after form.

But in the end, what we received was a death notice. My mother had died after having six organs removed.

Later, Wade found out that Carmen had no surgical skills and had only wanted to experience holding a scalpel. Enraged, he stormed into her office. But the next second, Peyton's men grabbed him.

I immediately took Carmen to court.

But I never imagined Peyton would show up with a settlement agreement for me to sign.

"What if I don't sign?"

I reached out and tore the agreement before me into shreds.

Peyton said nothing, only threw a stack of photos in front of me.

"Don't be rash. Look first, then decide."

The moment I saw the photos, my pupils trembled.

In the pictures, my brother was bound to a chair, his head lolling to one side, his body covered in bruises, with electric shock devices placed nearby.

"You..."

I choked up instantly, unable to hold back my shout.

"Peyton, you bastard! That's my brother!"

Peyton stood and walked over to me, bending down to pick up the torn settlement agreement, tapping his fingers on it twice.

"Before court tomorrow, I need to see a signed agreement. I'm sorry, but Carmen can't go to prison. This is the only way."

"What about my mother? She just deserves to die at Carmen's hands?!"

I gripped the table, my veins bulging in anger.

But Peyton pressed me back down into the chair, his hands braced on either side of my armrests, his voice low.

"Your mother is already dead, but your brother is still alive. Jenna, think it through carefully."

"Being alive is always more meaningful than being dead, isn't it?"

I took a deep breath. The scent of cedar mixed with tobacco flooded my nostrils.

This fragrance that once made me feel so secure now made me feel sick.

"Sign the papers, and Wade comes home tonight. Don't sign..."

Peyton's fingertips gently traced my earlobe, the gesture intimate, but his voice ghostly.

"Next time, it won't be photos I send."

With that, he pulled out a fountain pen, methodically unscrewed the cap, and handed it to me.

His long, clean fingers rested on the pen's end-these hands had once caressed my face with such tenderness countless times.

But now, the moment I touched his fingertips, I felt only endless cold spreading through my entire body.

I signed my name stroke by stroke, each one feeling like cutting into my own flesh.

Peyton collected the agreement with satisfaction, then turned and glanced at me.

"Tomorrow when the reporters ask, you know what to say."

Even after the door closed, I remained in the position of holding the pen, though tears dripped onto the table without making a sound.

The phone rang abruptly, and only then did I hazily come back to myself and answer.

"You called me? Sorry, I was in a meeting."

A slightly cold voice came through.

Only then did I realize I'd accidentally touched the screen.

I was about to hang up, but as the words formed, I suddenly had another idea.

"That condition from before... does it still stand?"

I gripped the phone tightly, my breathing quickening with the silence on the other end.

Finally, when I heard him respond with a simple "Mm," I let out a breath of relief.

"Good. A phone call isn't convenient. Let's meet in person."

The second the call ended, Peyton sent me a message reminding me to attend court on time tomorrow.

I pulled at my lips, tossed aside my phone, and left.