Chapter 6

Clarissa's friends frantically waved their hands. "Mr. Frey, we didn't do anything! We were only talking to her when she suddenly started coughing up blood! This really has nothing to do with us!" Stanley's brows knitted as he looked at the pool of blood on the floor and Tessa's pale face. Instinctively, he took a step forward. Clarissa clutched his arm at once, exclaiming, "Don't fall for it, Stanley! She has to be faking it. She probably got a blood pack from somewhere and is acting all pitiful to make you feel bad for her, just so she can get the necklace back and ruin my birthday party!" Stanley stopped in his tracks. As he stared at Tessa, the look in his eyes slowly shifted to a look of deep disgust and suspicion. After a few seconds of silence, he coldly said, "If she likes to put on a show and attract attention so much, then hang her upside down from that pear tree. Keep her there for an entire day and night." That pear tree was the one Stanley had planted for Tessa because Tessa once clamored that she loved eating pears. He had promised he'd pick them for her every year. The bodyguards hesitated. "Mr. Frey, for most people, two hours of hanging upside down would cause cerebral congestion. It is life-threatening… 24 hours of it could be fatal…" Stanley's cold eyes showed no hint of wavering. "If she dies, then so be it." Tessa was roughly dragged to the tree. After a rope was tied around her ankles, she was hoisted into the air to be hanged upside down. Blood rushed to her head instantly. As her temples throbbed, her eyes felt ready to burst. The noisy banquet, Stanley and Clarissa's entwined figures, that pear tree that had once stood for their love, and everything else in her sight blurred into a blood-red, inverted chaos. The pain and suffocating pressure tormented every nerve in her body. Time stretched unbearably long. By the time she was freed a day and a night later, she was barely alive. Tessa was dumped in her room like a discarded rag doll. Her illness worsened after that. She coughed up blood more often, her mind slipping in and out of haze. The pain grew so consuming that she started to hallucinate. After one particularly violent wave of pain, she hazily thought it was five years ago, back when they had loved each other most. Without thinking, Tessa dialed the familiar digits she could never forget. She spoke with tearful reliance, echoing the countless times she had once sought comfort in him. "Stanley… It hurts so much…" On the other end of the phone, silence dragged on for so long that Tessa thought the call had disconnected. Then came Stanley's strained and conflicted voice. "Where does it hurt?" That familiar voice, carrying a whisper of concern, shattered her daze as if she had been doused by ice water. As Tessa snapped back to her senses, the cold weight of reality caused her chest to tighten in agony. Frantically, she hung up, buried herself under the blanket, and sobbed soundlessly. In the end, trembling, she swallowed handfuls of painkillers, and only then could she fall asleep. After who knew how long, a splash of ice-cold water jolted her awake. Clarissa stood by the bed with arrogance and rage on her face. "Tessa! That phone call of yours was perfect timing. How dare you call when I was sleeping with Stanley, using that disgusting, whiny tone! Have you forgotten? "Stanley doesn't want you anymore! Who do you think you're fooling?" Her tirade went on and on before ending in a sneer. "If you're so desperate for a man, I'll give you one!" She clapped her hands. A greasy, leering stranger sauntered in, closing in on Tessa with predatory eyes. "No… Don't!" Terror gave Tessa a burst of strength. She shoved him away, bolted barefoot out of the room, and stumbled headlong into a hard, warm chest. She looked up, straight into Stanley's dark, fathomless eyes. "What's going on?" His brows furrowed as he took in her disheveled clothes and terrified face. Tessa opened her mouth, desperate to explain, but Clarissa beat her to it. Flinging herself into Stanley's arms with a sob, Clarissa exclaimed, "Stanley, I just… I just caught her in the room with that man… How could she do this to you?"