Chapter 3

Upon hearing this, Stella turned pale at once. Jasper refused firmly. "I don't agree!" Frederick thwacked him on the back with his staff. He looked angry and disappointed in Jasper. "You accursed thing! You were the one who insisted on being with Lissie back then. You even promised in front of your parents' graves that you would make her happy, but now look at you! "You've dragged this on year after year, and five years have gone by. How many more years of Lissie's time are you going to waste?" Lisette lowered her gaze. She suddenly remembered that she and Jasper had also once had wonderful memories together. Jasper was decisive and ruthless to outsiders, but he had once been considerate of her and had taken her wishes into account. Jasper had once let an enemy of his go, even though they had tried to assassinate him, all because Lisette had said that she was scared. From then on, everyone knew that Jasper had a weakness. Although he was a thorough materialist, he had prayed all night up on a mountain when Lisette had had a high fever for three days in a row. He had planted a copse of cherry blossom trees around the villa because she had casually mentioned that she liked them. However, those rows of cherry blossom trees had ended up being named after Stella. The same thing was happening at that very moment. As soon as Stella's eyes reddened, Jasper would oppose the entire world for her. "I won't marry Lisette. She's not worthy of me," he declared. He actually took Stella's hand, and there was a crazed look in his eyes, as if he no longer cared about anything else. "Ella is the person I truly love. I won't marry anyone but her. I can promise to announce publicly that Lisette is my fiancee, but I can't marry her." He fell to his knees with a loud thump. Stella followed suit and knelt in front of Frederick as well. Her eyes brimmed with tears, but they were filled with a stubborn light. "Grandpa, please give Jasper and me your blessing!" Frederick's breathing had quickened, and his chest was heaving. "Get lost! Go and kneel in the shrine!" As countless pairs of eyes stared at them in shock, Jasper and Stella walked into the shrine, their fingers intertwined. Lisette watched the entire thing expressionlessly. She merely felt that it was ridiculous. She took out a wooden box from her bag. It contained an expensive emerald bangle that had been passed down through the generations in the Sullivan family. Frederick was startled. "Lissie, you—" Lisette took two steps back and bowed deeply. "Mr. Sullivan Senior, I'm very thankful for the care that you've shown me over the past five years, but I really cannot stay with Jasper any longer." Frederick wanted to ask her to stay, but Lisette did not hesitate. After she put down the bangle, she left without looking back. When she passed by the shrine, she heard urgent panting from inside. Through the crack in the door, she could see Jasper and Stella's bodies intertwined. They seemed to be defiantly announcing to their ancestors that they were truly in love. Lisette did not linger. She turned around and left the Sullivan residence. First, she went to the bank and transferred all 2.5 million dollars to Jasper's account. After that, she went to Sullivan Group and resigned from her position as Jasper's secretary. The human resources manager was one of the few good friends that Lisette had. She said sincerely, "Congratulations on being free of your suffering, Lissie." Lisette felt as if a great burden had been lifted from her shoulders. She no longer owed Jasper anything. When she got back to the villa that night, a glass smashed right in front of her. Shards flew everywhere and left scratches on her calves. Jasper strode toward her and grabbed her around her neck. "Lisette! Grandpa's always treated you like his granddaughter. Why did you push him down the stairs to try and kill him?" Lisette had turned bright red from being strangled. The veins on her neck were bulging. She instinctively slapped Jasper's hands in despair. "I didn't—it wasn't me!" A piteous voice came from upstairs. "Ms. Jones, the butler has already testified that you were the one who pushed Grandpa down the stairs. Are you still going to lie about it? Jasper, is this the woman you chose? She's a coward who can't admit to what she's done!" Lisette was flung roughly aside to a corner of the room. She coughed violently, but out of the corner of her eye, she could see the smug look in Stella's eyes. Her scalp prickled. It was obvious that Stella had been the one who had pushed Frederick down the stairs. There was an urgent ringing, and the butler's voice rang out. "Mr. Jasper, Mr. Sullivan Senior suddenly experienced massive bleeding. However, there isn't enough blood in the hospital's blood bank—" Lisette could not hear the rest of the butler's sentence clearly. Stella had jumped in and said goadingly, "Jasper, Ms. Jones has the same blood type as Grandpa, doesn't she?" A deep terror in Lisette's bones seemed to spread from the soles of her feet up to her heart. Immediately, Jasper took her to the hospital by force and bundled her into the emergency room. "Take her blood. As long as you can save Mr. Sullivan Senior, it doesn't matter if she dies!" Lisette was restrained by thick ropes as an ice-cold needle plunged into her arteries. Lisette's eyes were filled with disappointment and helplessness. "Jasper, I would have been willing to donate my blood for Mr. Sullivan Senior even if you hadn't said anything. "However, I didn't push him down the stairs! You cannot insult my character in this manner!" Jasper scoffed. "How can you keep lying? Is this how you repay Grandpa when he's treated you so well? You'd better pray that Grandpa is alright, or I'll make you pay with your blood!" Lisette could feel rage, pain, despair, and all kinds of other emotions churning in her chest. She felt her blood flowing out of her, and her body temperature was dropping. She seemed to have reached the end of her life. Had Fiona suffered this much pain when they had stopped her treatment? Lisette was weeping, but she suddenly laughed. She seemed to hear Fiona calling to her. Had Fiona come to meet her?