Chapter 3

I had 400 cc of blood drawn.

When I walked out of the blood draw room, my face was pale, and my steps felt weak.

Nikolas was waiting for me at the end of the hallway. As soon as he saw me, he hurried over to help.

I avoided him again.

"Cordelia..." he called out.

"I've already given the blood," I cut him off, raising the velvet box in my hand. "Our deal is done."

He stared at me, his eyes filled with emotions I couldn't decipher, including anger, frustration, and maybe even a trace of pain.

"Do you really have to remind me this way that there's nothing left between us but a deal?" he asked, his voice rough.

"What else?" I shot back. "Should I remind you there's still love between us? Nikolas, stop lying to yourself. The woman you love is in the operating room, and I'm just the tool you're using to save her."

With that, I turned and walked away without looking back.

Outside the hospital, there was an artificial lake.

I walked to the edge of the lake and opened the velvet box.

Even under the gloomy sky, the two rings still reflected a cold, steely gleam.

I stared at them, my mind drifting back five years.

Back then, I was the proudest red rose in Caelum City, passionate, bold, and when I loved someone, I wanted everyone to know.

I chased Nikolas for three whole years, cooking for him, taking the hit for him at parties, and humbling myself to be by his side.

Everyone laughed at me, said I was foolish and reaching too high. In Nikolas's heart, there was only his childhood sweetheart, Wilhelmina.

But I still ended up marrying him.

I used a few underhanded tricks and leveraged my family's power.

On our wedding night, he was dead drunk, and all he could do was call out Wilhelmina's name again and again.

The very next day, he took off his wedding ring, saying he was afraid Wilhelmina would be upset if she saw it.

That moment should've told me everything.

No matter how fiercely I bloomed, I could never outshine the first love he kept in his heart.

I let out a bitter smile, lifted my hand, and tossed both rings from the box into the lake.

Two soft splashes sounded, the water rippled briefly, then settled back into silence.

Just like my love that died, gone without a single trace.

Behind me, Nikolas shouted, his voice a mix of disbelief and rage, "Cordelia! What are you doing?"

I didn't look back. Step by step, I walked away, steady and determined.

I didn't want Nikolas's guilt, his attempts to make it up to me, and I sure as hell didn't want him anymore.

All I wanted was to destroy, with my own hands, the things that once belonged to me.

The night I threw away the rings, I had a dream.

In my dream, I found myself back in that dark, damp prison.

Three years ago, Wilhelmina's depression got the best of her. She lost control behind the wheel and killed someone downtown.

The Zorion and Scott families pulled every string they had, trying to sweep it under the rug.

But the victim's family wouldn't let it go, and the whole thing blew up.

That night, Nikolas came to me, and for the first time, his voice was almost begging. "Cordelia, please, I need your help. Wilhelmina can't take the fall for this. Her life can't have any blemishes."

He went on, "Trust me, I've taken care of everything. Three years, tops, and I'll make sure you get out. While you're gone, I'll look after your father and the Styles family."

I stared at him and couldn't help but ask a stupid question, "If I do this for you, will you... maybe try to love me, even just a little?"

He stayed silent for so long, I felt the warmth drain from my heart.

Finally, he nodded.

So, I became the scapegoat, the one who took the wheel and the blame.

I took the fall for everything and got three years in prison.

I thought this was the closest I'd ever get to him. I gave up my freedom for a nod and the promise that maybe, just maybe, he'd try to love me.

But I was wrong.

Prison was a hell even worse than I could've imagined.

As soon as I stepped inside, being Mrs. Zorion made me a target.

They cut my long hair, shoved my head into a filthy toilet, and hurled the vilest abuse at me.

One time, just because I glanced out the window at a bird, a group of inmates dragged me into a dark corner and kicked and punched me.

Three of my ribs broke, and the pain drilled right through me.

I begged the guards for help, but they just stared back with icy indifference. One even sneered, "Mr. Zorion said to make sure you get extra 'care.'"

In that moment, it felt like I'd been thrown into an icy abyss.

Nikolas... He didn't just want me to take the blame. He wanted me out of the picture for good.

It was during that brutal beating that I lost the baby.

I didn't even know I was pregnant.

As warm blood ran down my legs, soaking my gray prison uniform, it felt like my whole world was draining away with it.

I lay on the cold floor, waves of searing pain tearing through my lower abdomen. I begged them through tears to save my baby, but they just circled me, laughing, saying that someone like me didn't deserve to have children.

That night, I ran a high fever, teetering on the edge of life and death.

I thought I was going to die.

But I survived.

The one who saved me wasn't Nikolas. It was an old prison doctor about to be released. She secretly gave me some fever medicine and half a loaf of bread.

She said, "Don't die, sweetheart. If you die, it's all over. Only by staying alive can you get out."

Yeah, only by staying alive could I get out.

From that day forward, I stopped crying. I stopped fighting back.

I turned into a zombie, eating in silence, working in silence, putting up with everything in silence.

Only one thing kept me going. I had to make it out alive and then divorce Nikolas.

I used every bit of strength I had to claw my way out of that nightmare.

When I finally woke up, morning had already broken. I was soaked in cold sweat, my pillow damp beneath me.

I sat up, gazing at the sunlight streaming through the window, breathing deeply.

It was all over now.

I told myself it was all in the past.

I was out now. I was free.

My phone buzzed on the nightstand. It was a text message.

It was from Nikolas. [Wilhelmina made it through. I'm sorry. I lost control yesterday.]

I stared at the message, then deleted it without a flicker of emotion.