Chapter 5

Lila woke from the searing pain to find herself lying in bed. Both of her hands were wrapped in thick gauze, the burning throb pulsing with every heartbeat. "Mrs. Carter, you're awake?" Helen Brooks, the housekeeper, sat at her bedside, eyes red and puffy. "Your hands… I'll call Mr. Carter right away and get him to return—" "No need." Lila shook her head weakly. "He's the one who gave the order." Helen gasped. "That can't be! Mr. Carter used to follow you to and from school every day, afraid you might get even the slightest scratch." Tears slipped silently from the corners of Lila's eyes. Look at that. Everyone said he loved her. So why? Why did he suddenly stop? She didn't understand. Not at all. While she recovered, Chloe's social post was flooded with public displays of affection. Evan took her to Bellmoire Fashion Week, rented out an entire amusement park, and even arranged a private fireworks show on her birthday. A week later, they finally returned. The first thing Evan said was, "Lila, Chloe's birthday is coming up. You'll organize the party. Think of it as you making up to her for scalding her." Lila was too exhausted to argue. She didn't want more trouble before the divorce, so she nodded. "Alright." During the week of preparation, she barely slept. With her hands still bandaged and raw, she personally selected every bouquet and confirmed every dish. The staff looked at her with sympathy, but none dared to help. On the day of the party, the entire Carter estate was lit up like a palace. Guests whispered behind their champagne glasses. "The wife throwing a birthday party for the mistress… never seen that before." "Mr. Carter is really in deep. Look at those gifts—any one of them is worth a fortune." Lila stood in the corner, deaf to the gossip. Her eyes fell on Evan at the center stage, looking sharp in his tailored suit. He checked his watch repeatedly, clearly waiting for Chloe. Minutes passed, but Chloe never showed. Evan's face grew darker. Eventually, he sent Ryan to look for her. "Mr. Carter!" Ryan came running back, panic on his face. He held a letter in his hand. "Ms. Carrington is gone. She left this behind." Evan snatched it and scanned the contents. His expression changed instantly. Suddenly, he hurled the letter in Lila's face. "Lila!" he hissed, clenching his teeth. "You better have a damn good explanation!" The letter floated to the floor at her feet. She bent down with trembling hands and picked it up. Chloe's handwriting was graceful. "Evan, by the time you read this, I'll already be gone. I've loved you deeply and always dreamed of growing old with you. But Lila threatened my parents' lives. I had no choice but to leave. From now on, we'll never meet again." "It wasn't me." Lila handed the letter back numbly. "I didn't do this." "You always say that!" Evan roared, grabbing her by the throat. "But somehow, you never miss a chance to do the worst!" Lila struggled to breathe, yet still met his eyes stubbornly. "I… really… don't know." But Evan didn't believe her. Convinced she'd driven Chloe away, he took things even further—he had her parents, Richard and Margaret, tied up and suspended from the rooftop of Carter Corporation. The two elders dangled around 300 feet in the air, their lives hanging by a single thin rope. "Speak! Where is Chloe?" Evan's voice was ice-cold. His fingers gripped Lila's jaw, forcing her to look toward the edge of the rooftop. "Only if you tell me where she is will your parents survive." "Dad! Mom!" Lila had never imagined that Evan could love Chloe to the point of madness—mad enough to kill her parents. Her voice cracked, and she broke down completely. "I really don't know. I didn't even know when she left. Evan, I'm begging you, please let them go. Please, they're innocent! They didn't do anything!" Evan sneered and raised his hand. The bodyguards pulled out knives and slowly began sawing through the rope. "No!" The sound of the rope being cut was like a blade dragging across her nerves. "I swear I don't know." She collapsed to her knees with a loud thud, forehead nearly splitting open against the concrete. "Evan, I swear! If I sent her away, may I die a horrible death! Is that not enough?" The blade kept slicing. The rope frayed, strand by strand. Evan leaned down and gripped the back of her neck. "Last time. Where is she?" Lila looked up at him, eyes full of despair. Her mind blurred. Was this merciless man really the same person who once cut off his own fingers to save her in their past life? At that final moment, just before the rope snapped entirely, a bodyguard burst through the door. "Mr. Carter! We found Ms. Carrington! She's at the airport!" he shouted. Evan let go of Lila and bolted out the door without a glance. The bodyguards scrambled to pull her parents up. The rope gave out just as they cleared the edge—only a single thread had remained. Lila crawled across the ground, grabbing their cold hands before collapsing in sobs. "Dad! Mom!" The deep rope burned on Margaret's wrists. The torn-up abrasions on Richard's back from being dragged across the rooftop. Every wound cut into her like a blade. In the ambulance, Margaret trembled as she wiped Lila's tears. "Lila, he used to panic if you so much as scraped your finger…" Lila's eyes burned red, and in that moment, she couldn't hold it in any longer—she broke down, sobbing uncontrollably.