Chapter 3

“Kneel.”

Adrian didn’t even look at me.

As if what I was about to endure were nothing more than a minor inconvenience.

The bodyguards clamped their hands around my shoulders.

One of them kicked the back of my knee.

My leg gave out, and I crashed down.

Sharp shards of glass drove into both knees.

Warm blood streamed down my legs and quickly spread across the floor.

My entire body shook from the pain, but I bit down hard on my lip and refused to make a sound.

Once, I had accidentally bruised my knee, and Adrian had been so worried that he carried me to the hospital.

He had blamed himself for failing to protect me.

Now, he had personally ordered his men to force me onto broken glass.

Once a man stopped loving you, even the tenderness he had once shown could disappear without a trace.

Adrian lifted Serena into his arms and turned toward the stairs.

Resting against his chest, Serena looked back at me with a mocking curve to her lips.

Yet when she spoke, her voice remained sweet and concerned.

“Adrian, maybe this is enough. Claire is already bleeding so much.”

Adrian glanced coldly at the osmanthus cakes scattered across the floor.

“Wasn’t it because of these cakes that she went crazy and attacked you?”

“Then she can stay on her knees and eat every last one.”

“If she leaves even one piece, send her back to the psychiatric hospital.”

They soon disappeared upstairs.

The two bodyguards picked up the osmanthus cakes and held them in front of my mouth.

The pastries were covered in dust, blood, and tiny shards of glass.

“Sorry, Ms. Bennett.”

I pressed my lips tightly together, refusing to eat.

One man pinned down my shoulders while the other pried open my jaw and forced the crushed pastries into my mouth.

Sharp fragments cut the inside of my mouth.

The cloying sweetness of osmanthus mixed with the taste of blood, making me retch uncontrollably.

Through the haze, I saw Noah again.

He was holding out the largest osmanthus cake, his face glowing with expectation.

“Mommy, this one is for Daddy.”

“He’s going to love it.”

But Noah had never known.

His father had never treasured the things Noah had denied himself to save for him.

Just as he had never treasured Noah’s life.

As I struggled, the back of my head slammed into the wooden cabinet behind me.

Before my vision went completely dark, only one thought remained.

Six more days.

If I could survive six more days, I would be free of Adrian forever.

When I opened my eyes again, Adrian was sitting beside my bed.

Noticing that I was awake, he filled a bowl with plain rice porridge and handed it to me.

“You’ve been asleep for three days. The doctor said you should eat something light.”

My expression shifted slightly, but I accepted the bowl and began to eat.

Adrian stepped outside to take a phone call.

Moments later, Serena appeared in the doorway, dressed from head to toe in luxury.

Her gaze fell on the porridge in my hands, and her lips curved maliciously.

“It looks like you really enjoyed the porridge I sent you.”

My entire body stiffened.

I knew instinctively that something even crueler was coming.

Sure enough, Serena walked into the room, her heels clicking against the floor.

A taunting light flashed in her eyes as she leaned close to my ear and deliberately lowered her voice.

“How did your son’s ashes taste?”

My body reacted before my mind could process the words.

A violent wave of nausea tore through my stomach.

I doubled over and retched weakly over the side of the bed.

Serena stood above me, savoring every change in my expression.

“What’s going on?”

Adrian returned after finishing his call, his concerned gaze landing on me.

As he passed Serena, she looped her arm through his and gave a gentle tug.

His body stiffened for a moment.

Then he stopped walking toward me.

“Adrian! Wasn’t Noah’s body supposed to remain untouched?”

I had retched so violently that my voice came out rough, but I still forced out the question.

After Noah died, I had insisted that his remains be kept intact.

Adrian had promised that no one would touch him.

But now Serena was telling me that Noah’s ashes had been mixed into the porridge I had just eaten.

Adrian frowned.

“Noah is still at the funeral home. No one has touched him.”

My body went rigid.

I lifted my eyes toward Serena.

She was staring back at me with open triumph and provocation.

“Adrian, I was only joking with her. I didn’t expect her to take it so seriously.”

“People from poor little backwaters are always so petty.”

Adrian affectionately tapped the tip of her nose.

Then he turned to me, and his gaze immediately cooled.

“Since it was only a misunderstanding, let it go.”

The color drained from my face.

For a long time, I said nothing.

I already knew that Adrian would always take Serena’s side.

But I hadn’t realized there was no limit to what he would allow her to do.

When Adrian and I had first fallen in love, he had never protected me like this.

He had only told me, “Claire, I don’t care about your family background, but I need you to learn how to stand on your own.”

“When I’m not there, you have to be capable of taking care of yourself.”

Yet Serena was allowed to remain a carefree little princess whenever she was with him.

A bitter smile touched my lips.

In Adrian’s eyes, someone like me could never compete with a woman born into Serena’s world.

No matter how complete my evidence was, all Serena had to say was that it had been an accident.

That was enough for Adrian to dismiss a human life.

After that incident, Adrian didn’t visit me for two days.

But the rumors about him and Serena never left the trending lists.

One moment, they were in Sweden watching the northern lights.

The next, photographs showed them locked in a passionate kiss out at sea.

Every romantic thing I had dreamed of doing with Adrian over the years, he had already done with Serena.

Notifications kept appearing on my phone.

I silently swiped each one away.

Then I opened my conversation with the lawyer.

After confirming that there were no problems with the divorce process, I forwarded the update to the Whitmore family.

I also saved the contact information for the elite criminal attorney they had found for me.

Noah, Mommy will make sure you get justice.

When I looked up again, Adrian was storming into the room.

His expression was cold with rage.

“Claire Bennett, who gave you the nerve to try to kill Serena?”

“She played one harmless joke on you, and you tried to take her life!”

“You’re vicious!”

I stared at him in confusion.

“I didn’t do any of that. I only went to handle some paperwork today—”

Adrian cut me off before I could finish.

“Enough.”

“You had Mrs. Davis deliver pastries to Serena and claimed they were a peace offering.”

“But you mixed crushed peanuts into them.”

“Serena is severely allergic to peanuts. Even a trace could kill her.”

“Mrs. Davis has already named you as the one responsible. What else is there for you to deny?”

My entire body went still.

A sharp pain tore through my chest.

Adrian was always like this.

Whenever Serena was involved, he abandoned every trace of reason.

He was the one who had taught me to stay calm whenever something happened, search for clues, and reach a conclusion only after uncovering the truth.

But when it came to his precious childhood sweetheart, the truth no longer mattered.

I looked into Adrian’s eyes and found no trace of love there.

My throat tightened until every explanation remained trapped behind it.

“Bring the cake,” Adrian ordered expressionlessly.

Two bodyguards stepped forward.

One pinned me down while the other grabbed the cream cake and forced it into my mouth.

Sticky frosting filled my mouth.

I tried to cry out and beg them to stop, but my throat began swelling shut from my allergy to the cream.

After they forced the entire four-inch cake down my throat, my body began convulsing.

I vomited uncontrollably.

Every inch of my skin itched until I scratched the exposed areas raw, leaving blood running down my body.

“Please…”

“Please call…a doctor…”

The moment I forced out those words, I lost consciousness.