Chapter 5

Mia POV

"Let go! Let go of me!"

"Help!"

I struggled, landing a punch on Victor's face, which completely enraged him.

His eyes were vicious, and he clamped his hands tightly around my throat.

"You want to die, don't you?!"

A sudden wave of suffocation washed over me. He really intended to kill me, and I couldn't break free.

Gradually, I lost my strength.

Just as I despaired, the private room door was kicked open.

The next second, Victor was yanked up by Caleb, his fists smashing into bone with increasing force.

Caleb's voice was as cold as ice.

"Who gave you the guts to lay a hand on my person?!"

Caleb was in a frenzy, his eyes blazing with a terrifying crimson.

After dealing with Victor, he carefully took off his jacket and draped it over me, his hands shaking as he held me.

"Mia, are you okay? It's over, I'm here."

Tears streamed uncontrollably from my eyes. I tried to say something but passed out.

When I woke up, it was night.

The marks on my neck had been treated with medicine. Caleb stood a short distance away, talking on the phone.

"Mom, Dad, I will press charges against Victor. Even if you object, even if it jeopardizes our collaboration with his family and costs the company, I will make him pay."

"I can't let Mia be wronged."

On the phone, his parents vehemently opposed him, but Caleb was no longer listening to them as he usually did.

His mother, furious, blurted out, "Mia is about to divorce you! Are you still going to jeopardize the company's development for her?"

My heart skipped a beat at her words.

Caleb frowned.

"Mom, what are you talking about?"

"I told you, even if Mia can never have children, I will not divorce her."

"She only has me now."

With that, he hung up the phone.

Seeing me open my eyes, he walked to the bedside, his coaxing voice so gentle it could melt ice.

"You're awake? Does anything hurt?"

"It's okay; the bad guy has been dealt with. No one will hurt you again."

My throat was terribly sore, and I couldn't speak for a moment.

"Throat hurts? Here, the doctor said drinking this medicine will help."

Caleb held the medicine and personally fed it to me.

For a moment, I was lost in a haze, feeling as if I had returned to the days when we relied on each other.

"Oh, right, I prepared a birthday gift for you."

After feeding me the medicine, Caleb pulled out a beautifully wrapped gift box.

Inside was a thick gold bangle, with roses carved all around its surface.

"You always said you'd buy gold when you had money. It's a bit late, and I didn't expect tonight to turn out like this, but... happy birthday, Mia."

He put the gold bangle on my wrist, held my hand, his expression sincere.

"I hope my Mia is always happy and joyful."

I was speechless.

If it had been before, I probably would have been moved to tears.

Moved that he remembered my casual remark.

But this gift came truly too late.

My throat injury wasn't severe enough to require hospitalization. Back home, I collapsed from exhaustion and fell asleep.

I woke up in the middle of the night due to discomfort in my throat and got out of bed to get a glass of warm water.

Passing Caleb's study, I overheard him talking on the phone with his lawyer friend.

"Caleb, I didn't realize you'd sacrifice your own wife to get revenge for Willow."

"But your plan was brilliant: drug Victor, make him lust after Mia and sexually harass her, then you swoop in as the hero, taking the moral and legal high ground to punish him."

"After this incident, the Thorne family is doomed, and he'll never dare to offend Willow again."

I was stunned, my blood freezing in my veins.

"But why didn't you let Willow handle Victor herself? With the Fairmont family's connections, Victor could have gotten a harsher sentence."

Caleb frowned.

"That method, while effective, carries risks."

"Victor is quite strong, and Mia has been good at fighting since she was a child, so she wouldn't truly be harmed. Unlike Willow; she's never even gotten a scratch since she was little, how could she endure a beating?"

"Aren't you afraid your wife would get hurt? No matter what, she's still a woman. Victor was so brutal then, what if..."

Caleb pressed his lips together, and there was a moment of silence.

After a while, he spoke softly:

"But what you said didn't happen, did it? Mia has always been strong. A few injuries are nothing. A little hardship, and I can compensate her."

"Besides, Mia offended Willow a few days ago, so this was a good opportunity to make amends to her."

"Willow is different."

His voice carried a note of preciousness. "She's a princess; how could I bear to let her suffer any hardship?"