Chapter 2

Just as I put down my phone, an unknown number called.

On the other end, it was a young woman’s voice.

"Is this Ms. Sterling? I'd like to talk to you about your husband."

I recognized the voice instantly. It was the mourner.

She then gave an address and hung up.

I looked it up; it was a café in a secluded, remote area.

Initially, I didn't want to go.

But the next second, my phone vibrated, and she sent me a photo.

In the picture, I was lying on a bed, disheveled, my eyes unfocused, clearly drugged.

My fists clenched, and I decided to go to the meeting.

The café was indeed isolated, with barely any customers.

I spotted her immediately.

Scarlett was wearing a white dress, just as she had on the day I first saw her.

Seeing me sit down, she smiled at me, then pulled out a stack of photos.

The pictures showed me in various poses while I was unconscious, each one extremely explicit.

"Ms. Sterling, you're calmer than I expected. I assume you already know the whole story from the surveillance footage."

"I suggest you be reasonable and agree to a divorce with nothing. Otherwise, these photos will appear at your company and on all major platforms tomorrow."

I picked up the photos, tearing them into tiny pieces without hesitation.

"Expose them, then. But making me leave with nothing? Impossible."

She seemed surprised by my reaction and let out a sneer.

"Ms. Sterling, why are you making this difficult? Julian loves me. Why don't you just graciously step aside?"

"Why should I step aside?" I retorted, unable to hold back.

Her smile widened, carrying a cruel certainty.

"Because he can't live without me."

The next second, she snapped her fingers.

From a dimly lit corner of the café, several tall men emerged and surrounded me.

Before I could even react, punches and kicks rained down on me.

Pain forced me to curl up. After a brutal beating, they shoved a rag into my mouth and pushed me into a dog cage under the table.

Scarlett watched my pathetic state for a while, then, right in front of me, called Julian.

"Ten minutes. I want to see you here."

She hung up, not giving him a chance to speak.

A faint, uncontrollable flicker of hope ignited in a corner of my heart.

After all, Julian and I had loved each other for ten years.

Surely, he wouldn't just stand by and watch me being treated like this.

But today was the launch day for his company's biggest annual project.

Julian was a complete workaholic.

I remembered one time, during another important project, I simply asked him to come home early because I had a fever, and he gave me the silent treatment for three days.

Would he abandon everything and rush here just for Scarlett's vague command?

Time ticked by in the silence, second by agonizing second.

Every moment felt like a dull knife slowly carving into my heart.

I even started counting in my head.

Just as I reached 299, the café door burst open.

Hurried, yet steady, footsteps grew louder, stopping right by the table.

Through the gaps in the iron cage, I saw a pair of familiar, perfectly polished leather shoes.

It was Julian.

He actually came.

He didn't even take five minutes.

"Master." Julian's voice was respectful, laced with a breathless urgency, clearly having run all the way here.

"Sit in that chair now. You have ten minutes to relieve yourself."

Scarlett's voice was like she was ordering a well-trained dog.

I heard the chair scrape as it was pulled out.

I struggled to reach out my hand, letting Julian step right on my fingers.

The excruciating pain made my body tense instantly, and a muffled whimper escaped past the rag in my mouth.

Julian’s foot froze.