Chapter 3

Noticing my silence, Bruce snorted coldly, a sarcastic smirk curling his lips.

"Grandpa, no matter what Ashlee told you, I'm not leaving Alisa. She's given me a son already, and now she's pregnant again—I hope you'll understand.

"Plus, I've already passed on the bracelet Grandma left me to her."

He was addressing Donovan, but it was clear the jab was meant for me.

The bracelet Roxanne Riley had bequeathed on her deathbed was intended for Bruce to give to the woman he saw as his true love.

But I'd never dreamed that the one he'd promised to me had already been handed over to Alisa.

Even with my complete disillusionment in Bruce, a fresh surge of bitterness still hit me hard.

Seeing he was gearing up to say more, I turned on my heel and walked out.

Bruce stared daggers at my back, his face darkening further as he shouted after me, "As soon as Alisa has this baby, I'm hosting a party to introduce her to everyone!"

I quickened my steps and left the estate behind.

By the time I returned home, it was the middle of the night.

I packed a few outfits, snatched up my passport and ID, and went to the living room. Placing the signed divorce papers on the coffee table, I couldn't help but let out a wry, self-mocking chuckle.

If I'd known it would come to this, I never should have looked back.

No more hesitation—I grabbed my suitcase and swung open the front door.

Bruce, from here on out, we were done for good.

I was just about to head out when the light suddenly switched on behind me.

"Ashlee, where are you off to at this hour?"

It was Alisa.

She stood there holding Felton's hand, right at my back.

I spun around, unable to stop myself from frowning. "What are you up to?"

She twisted her lips into a smirk. "Ashlee, if you pull the same trick as two years ago—ditching a divorce agreement and disappearing, leaving Bruce so heartbroken he can't eat or sleep and races off overseas after you—that'd really mess things up for me."

I was taken aback.

"Aren't you dying for me to bow out and make way for you? If I'm gone, what could you still be griping about?"

Jealousy flashed in her eyes as she let out a cold laugh. "Bow out? If I let you just vanish like that, Bruce would never sign those papers, and I'd never become Mrs. Riley!"

An uneasy knot formed in my stomach, and I took a step back without thinking. "What exactly are you scheming?"

A strange smile spread across her deceptively sweet face.

She opened her mouth to respond, but then I heard tires screeching to a halt outside.

Bruce was back.

In an instant, Alisa grabbed Felton and shoved him hard into the cabinet by the door. Then she slapped her own cheeks twice, fast and fierce, before collapsing to the floor.

Little Felton bashed his forehead on the cabinet's sharp corner, opening up a nasty gash that wouldn't stop bleeding.

My eyes went wide. "Are you insane?"

Alisa's face was puffed up and red, her body sprawled limp on the ground. Felton lay beside her, pale and bleeding, while I stood there frozen in shock.

That was the exact sight that greeted Bruce as he burst through the door.

He roared almost immediately. "Ashlee! What the hell did you do?"

I stammered a denial on instinct. "It wasn't me!"

Alisa scooped up Felton—his eyes clamped shut—and wailed pitifully. "If not you, then who? Me? Ashlee, how could you be so heartless! Hit me, yell at me—I wouldn't mind—but my little Felton is only three. How could you hurt him like that?"

Bruce shot me a look that could kill. He dialed for an ambulance, then hauled off and slapped me across the face before wrapping his hands around my throat.

"Ashlee, if anything happens to them, I won't let you live to regret it!"

His grip was choking the air out of me.

"I... really... didn't..."

One by one, the upstairs lights snapped on—my in-laws had been roused by the noise.

When my mother-in-law Vilma caught sight of Alisa and Felton's sorry state, she charged at me like a banshee.

"You filthy bitch!"

Suddenly, Alisa clutched her belly, her face contorting in agony. "I think the baby's coming... When Ashlee shoved me earlier, I slammed into the cabinet..."

The whole house erupted into pandemonium. Bruce glared daggers at me, grinding his teeth. "You can't have kids yourself, so you target Alisa's? A poison like you doesn't deserve children!"

I clutched my aching neck, my cheek stinging like fire.

Tears clouded my eyes, and a gnawing pain started twisting in my gut.

Before long, the ambulance pulled up and rushed Alisa and Felton to the hospital.

On his way out, Bruce snapped at the family guards. "Lock up Ashlee for now! I'll handle her when I get back!"

He stormed off without so much as a glance over his shoulder.

The guards hauled me upstairs and dumped me in the attic.

The pain intensified with every passing second. I huddled on the floor, hugging my stomach as the agony fogged my mind.

Was this how I was going to die?

I dug my phone out of my pocket and, mustering my final ounce of strength, texted Donovan. Then the world went dark, and I blacked out.