Chapter 3

As soon as Scarlett's command left her lips, Trevor swung his arm back and forth, relentlessly slapping my face, his expression exhilarated.

Scarlett's friends held me down tight. I couldn't fight back.

Trevor kept hitting me, a nasty grin on his face. "I've hated your guts for a long time. You're just a gold-digging pretty boy, but you always walk around acting all aloof. Aren't you fake?"

"Becoming a kept man in the Scarlett family? That's the luckiest break you could ever get."

"If Mr. Scarlett hadn't favored you, there's no way a poor kid from a dirt-poor background like you would ever get to marry Scarlett!"

"Do you know how jealous I am of you? And yet, you're so oblivious to your good fortune..."

Trevor continued to slap and insult me.

Scarlett seemed satisfied with Trevor's words. She looked at me with cold eyes and snapped, "Liam, don't test my patience any further!"

"Bowing your head and apologizing isn't some impossible task for you!"

"For the past three years, you've bowed before me countless times. Your dignity has been long gone in my presence. Don't be a stubborn idiot and make me angry now."

"Today..."

Her words were cut short by the wail of police sirens from outside the dilapidated warehouse.

Scarlett and her friends froze.

Then, Scarlett exploded. She lunged forward and kicked me hard in the chest with her high-heeled shoe, roaring, "Liam, you actually called the police?"

"If I were really kidnapped, just that move of yours would make the kidnappers kill me without hesitation! Don't you understand that?"

Scarlett's kick, delivered with her high heels, was powerful, making me cry out in pain and pass out.

As I lost consciousness, I was confused.

I didn't call the police!

How did they find this remote, rundown warehouse?

...

I had a dream, going back four years.

At that time, my mother was terminally ill, and all my savings had been spent on her medical treatment.

Scarlett reached out to me then, lending me a sum of money. The interest was high, but for me at that moment, that money was a lifesaver.

I arranged my mother's funeral, paid off my family's debts, and then, as agreed with Scarlett, I started working at Scarlett Corp.

I worked diligently, and with my outstanding abilities, I quickly repaid Scarlett, principal and interest.

However, in Scarlett's eyes, the favor I owed her was something I could never repay in this lifetime.

Our relationship deepened then, and Mr. Scarlett, her grandfather, also thought highly of me.

Three years ago, Mr. Scarlett personally arranged our engagement ceremony.

I thought I had found my happy ending, but the harsh reality told me my thoughts were too naive.

Not long after Scarlett and I got engaged, Mr. Scarlett passed away. Trevor returned from studying abroad and attended Mr. Scarlett's funeral.

The Trevor family and the Scarlett family had a deep friendship. Scarlett and Trevor had been childhood friends, but Trevor moved abroad with his family in high school, and Scarlett lost contact with him.

After Trevor returned, he announced he planned to develop his career in the country.

Scarlett wholeheartedly helped him, constantly introducing herself as his "big sister" and enthusiastically bringing Trevor into her circle of rich friends.

She was very attentive to Trevor's affairs, and Trevor often showed concern for her. It was Trevor who suggested that she "test" whether I truly loved her.

From then on, Scarlett began her so-called "tests of love."

I had argued with her before, but each time she would impatiently say, "If you can't even get through these small tests, how can you truly love me?"

"Liam, you have no money, no background. I pulled you out of the mud. You should be grateful."

"All I want is a man who thinks only of me. Is that too much to ask?"

"And don't always complain about Trevor and my friends. My god-brother and my friends are all doing this for my good. You have no right to criticize them."

"I'll say it again: once you've passed ninety-nine tests of love, we'll get married."

And this kidnapping was Scarlett's final test of love for me.

Was she satisfied with the outcome?

I didn't know!

I only knew that our relationship had reached its absolute end.

When I woke up from my dream, I found myself in a hospital bed.

A woman was sitting beside the bed, holding my hand tightly. The moment I opened my eyes, she smiled gently and said, "You've been unconscious for two days. You're finally awake!"

I stared blankly at the woman beside the bed and blurted out, "Aurora? What are you doing here?"