Chapter 2

"End what?" Water was still dripping from Charles' hair as he dried it. He slowly advanced toward me.

I kept washing the oil off my hands, not saying a word.

Seeing this, Charles frowned, a flash of displeasure crossing his eyes.

Just as he was about to speak, Emily emerged wrapped in a towel. Charles' attention immediately shifted to her, and his displeasure instantly vanished.

Suddenly, he narrowed his eyes sharply. "Emmy, what's with those red marks on your skin?"

I looked up at Emily. Her normally flawless skin was covered in red streaks, which, coupled with the dark bruises from their lovemaking, looked quite alarming.

When Emily heard Charles' question, she awkwardly tightened the towel around herself. "It's nothing, Charlie. I probably just bumped into something while bathing."

Despite her words, tears immediately gathered in her eyes, and her gaze kept flicking toward me.

Charles instantly got the hint. He slapped me hard across my face without a second thought. The crisp sound was piercingly loud in the dead of night.

I covered my stinging cheek, but my heart didn't skip a single beat. After all, Charles hitting me for Emily's sake had become par for the course.

Charles' furious voice exploded in my ears. "Sophia, who gave you the nerve to pick on Emmy?

"Everything you have—our food, our home, even the kidney inside you—is mine. And now you turn around and bite the hand that feeds you? Just as expected from an orphan with no manners whatsoever.

"Now, get out of my house immediately."

With those words, he roughly shoved me out the door.

It was three o'clock on a winter morning, and the cold wind cut like a knife.

I was wearing only a thin nightgown and had nowhere to go. The lights in the villa behind me snapped off the moment I left. I looked away and started walking aimlessly toward the main street.

I wasn't an orphan. I had loving parents. Back at the estate, my father only ever married my mother, and once I was born, they gave me all their love.

But after I was thrown into this world by some freak twist of fate, everything changed.

In the end, I called Charles' mother and asked her to take me in for the night.

Being at someone else's mercy always sucked, but at least I'd be gone soon. It was the only thing keeping me going.

*****

The next day, Charles angrily yanked me out of bed. "Sophia, you've really upped your game. You're tattling to my mother now? She despises Emmy so much—was that your doing?"

I pushed his hand away coldly and straightened my clothes. "Believe what you want."

Charles was so furious he laughed, repeating the word "fine" three times. Then he immediately locked the bedroom door and forcefully pinned me down. "Sophia, you're just jealous of Emmy getting all my affection, aren't you? Fine, then today, I'll let you get a taste of it, too."

I realized instantly what he was about to do, and my heart clenched in fear.

Back in my old world, I was unmarried. Even after marrying Charles, he never showed any desire for me. For ten years, I had remained untouched.

But now, it felt like everything was about to come crashing down.

I struggled with all my strength, scratching and biting Charles, my voice raw with tears. "Let go of me, Charles, please, I'm begging you. I'm on my period. I really can't..."

Charles was all over me, and my hands were pinned down. "So what if you're on your period? Isn't this exactly what you wanted? Why the charade now?"

"Let go of me!" Tears ran down my cheeks and soaked the pillow. But my hoarse cries fell on deaf ears.

Charles savagely gnawed at my lips. I bit down hard, and before he could react, I rolled off the bed.

He wiped the blood from his mouth. His face darkened with rage. He strode toward me and yanked my wrist. Just then, a sudden, insistent knocking at the door gave Charles pause.

"Looks like someone is trying to spoil our fun." He squeezed my jaw, forcing me to look up at him.

The knocking grew more frantic, and Charles impatiently flung the door open.

Emily stood in the doorway, her body trembling, tears splashing onto the floor as she looked at him.

The moment Charles saw who it was, the impatience on his face instantly dissolved into panic. "Emmy, what are you doing here?"

When Emily turned and ran, Charles frantically chased after her, screaming her name.