Chapter 3

That night, I really did kneel in that private room all night.

I lost consciousness several times and was jolted awake by the pain.

Early the next morning, a cleaning lady came in to tidy up.

When she saw me covered in blood, she screamed in terror.

I forced myself to use my last bit of strength to crawl back to that dark, damp rental apartment.

There, I kept my only spiritual anchor.

It was the last album my mother had left me.

I studied oil painting and was once hailed as a prodigy.

Those hands were once praised by my mentor as "hands kissed by God."

But during that earthquake rescue, to dig Thorne out from under the rubble, my ten fingers suffered severe fractures and nerve damage. I could never hold a paintbrush again.

And Vespera became his lifesaver simply because she handed him a bottle of water when he woke up.

I fumbled to open the locked tin box.

Empty.

My heart sank. An ominous premonition instantly enveloped me.

That was my lifeline!

I frantically tore through the entire apartment. Nothing. It was nowhere to be found!

Just then, my phone rang.

It was a picture message. The sender was Vespera.

In the photo was a burning fire pit.

In the pit, that familiar album was being consumed by flames, only half of the tattered cover remaining.

Then a voice message came through.

Vespera's voice was filled with undisguised malice.

"Elara, I heard this was the keepsake your mom left you? I thought it was too old and moldy, so I helped you get rid of it."

"Don't blame me. Thorne said seeing your stuff annoyed him and told me to dispose of it however I wanted."

"Oh, right. Thorne also said that a useless person like you keeping an album is an insult to art."

That was the only memento my mother left me, the source of my will to survive in desperation.

Now, they'd burned it to ash.

My hand trembled violently as I gripped my phone.

"Vespera! I'll kill you!"

I stumbled out the door and ran toward Thorne's family villa.

In that moment, I forgot about the pain in my body, forgot about the Wolfsbane inside me.

My mind held only one thought-I would take them down with me!

When I burst into Thorne's garden, Thorne was helping Vespera prune flowers.

I rushed over, shoved Vespera aside, and grabbed her throat with both hands.

"Why did you burn my album! Why! Give my mother back to me!"

Vespera screamed and struggled desperately.

"Psycho! Help! Thorne, save me!"

Before I could apply pressure, a massive force struck me from behind.

Thorne kicked me hard in the waist.

I flew through the air and slammed heavily into the stone wall of the fountain.

My waist felt like it had broken. The pain was unbearable.

I lay on the ground, unable to get up for a long time.

Thorne rushed forward and pulled the frightened Vespera into his arms.

Then he turned his head and glared at me viciously.

"Elara, you're asking for death!"

"It's just a stupid album. So what if it's burned? How dare you come here and assault someone!"

Just a stupid album?

I raised my head, face covered in tears, and looked at him. My heart turned to ash.

"That was... my mom's keepsake... the only thing I had left in this world..."

Thorne looked down at me from above.

"Someone like you deserves to talk about feelings?"

"If your mom knew you sold your body for money and schemed to harm people to climb the ladder, she'd probably crawl out of her coffin just to die again!"

"Elara, I'm warning you for the last time. If you lay another finger on Vespera, I'll take your life!"

I lay on the ground, looking at this man I'd loved for ten years.

Every word he spoke was like a dull knife, cutting into my flesh.

I saved him. I loved him. I gave him everything.

And this was the result.

"Thorne..."

I called his name weakly.

"If one day... you learn the truth... will you regret it?"

Thorne paused, then laughed as if he'd heard the funniest joke in the world.

"Regret? The biggest regret of my life was meeting a hypocrite like you!"

"Guards! Throw her out! Don't let her dirty Vespera's eyes!"

Several guards came over and dragged me like a dog.

I didn't struggle. I let my body scrape across the rough ground.

But my gaze remained fixed on Vespera in the distance.

She hid in Thorne's arms, showing a victor's smile.

Just as I was being dragged out the gate, I vomited another mouthful of blood.

This time, the blood stained Thorne's family's expensive Persian carpet.

Thorne looked at the pool of blood, his brow furrowed tightly, a trace of inexplicable panic flashing in his eyes.

But he quickly turned away and stopped looking at me.

I was thrown on the roadside outside the villa.

Rain began to fall from the sky. It was bitterly cold.

I lay in the muddy water, looking up at the gray sky, and suddenly laughed.

I laughed until tears mixed with the rain.

Thorne, I don't owe you anymore.

In this lifetime, I'll never owe you again.