Chapter 5
"Mandy just can't control herself. Serves her right, honestly. But Mr. Webb is way too soft. He still keeps her by his side and hasn't even divorced her."
"If it were me, I would've killed her the day she cheated."
Mandy had heard people talk like this for three years straight.
She hid in the restroom, splashed some water on her face, and thought, 'Mr. Webb doesn't need to kill me. I'll be dead soon.'
Meanwhile, the auction was in full swing at the party.
"Next up for auction is a sapphire hairpin. The starting bid is 10 thousand dollars," the auctioneer announced.
Mandy glanced at the hairpin, her eyes going wide in shock.
It was the one her grandmother had left her, a family heirloom that had been passed down for nearly ten generations in the Colton family.
Five years ago, after her mother passed away and their house was robbed, the hairpin had vanished without a trace.
"Mandy, do you like that hairpin?" Sienna asked, catching the look in Mandy's eyes and giving John's arm a little shake.
"John, why don't you try to win it for Mandy? Please?" Sienna said, her voice soft and sweet.
Without even looking at Mandy, John said, "She doesn't deserve it."
Mandy's body trembled a little.
She remembered how, when the hairpin first disappeared, she cried herself to sleep every single night. John spent a fortune, did everything he could, and hired countless detectives, all just to get it back for her.
When nothing turned up, he held her close, his face full of defeat and sadness, and swore, "Mandy, even if I have to give up everything, I promise I'll find that hairpin for you."
The hairpin was right there in front of them now but he actually said she wasn't worthy of it.
"Then buy it for me as a present, okay?" Sienna said.
"You want it?" John asked.
"Yes," Sienna replied, her eyes sparkling with excitement.
John raised his paddle.
"300 thousand dollars," he said, his voice calm and steady.
With a bang of the gavel, the sapphire hairpin was brought over to John. Sienna picked it up and handed it to Mandy with a sweet smile. "Mandy, isn't today your birthday? Happy birthday!"
Mandy's gaze darkened.
'I'd even forgotten it was my birthday,' Mandy thought.
Back then, it was always John who remembered her birthday.
John would give her a birthday gift every year.
Some gifts were priceless, like Webb Group shares or a villa in Garner City. Others were handmade, like the scarf John knitted for her himself. One year, he even flew in her favorite singer to perform just for her for three whole hours.
This year, she actually had to depend on his lover just to get a birthday present.
She felt bitter, and her heart clenched up tightly, but she still reached out to take the hairpin.
Just as her fingers touched it, Sienna suddenly let go.
The hairpin slipped from her grasp and fell to the floor, shattering into two pieces.
"Mandy, John spent 300 thousand dollars on this. Even if you don't like me, you can't just hurt him like this." Sienna pouted.
She snuggled into John's arms, looking all hurt and pitiful. "John, does Mandy hate me?"
John's eyes were cold as ice. "Mandy, you really don't know what's good for you."
Mandy looked up, stunned, her heart aching with disbelief.
'Seriously? He's actually buying Sienna's act?' Mandy thought. 'He really thinks I'd smash my family's sapphire hairpin just to spite him?
'Since when did I become so worthless in his eyes?'
Fighting back the ache in her chest, Mandy knelt down quietly and started picking up the shattered pieces.
Suddenly, Sienna called out from above, her voice sharp. "Mandy, what happened to your neck? Why do you have bruises?"
Mandy instinctively tugged her collar up to hide them. The bruises were from her organs failing, because her blood couldn't even clot properly anymore.
She stuffed the broken pieces into her pocket and turned to leave, but John snagged her by the collar.
His voice was low and unhappy, tinged with a fear even he didn't notice himself. "Are you sick?"
Mandy hunched her shoulders, shaking her head quickly.
"No," she said.
John's expression turned even colder. He shoved Sienna aside and grabbed Mandy's arm, not caring about being gentle. "Let's go. You're seeing a doctor, now."
Before Mandy could protest, Sienna latched onto John's arm, her voice soft as she whispered, "John, don't touch Mandy. She looks like she's really hurting. And who knows what she's got?"
John's brows knitted together when he saw the pain on Mandy's face.
"Aren't those bruises a sign of syphilis? You know, the one people get from messing around?" Sienna said.
Disgust flashed across John's face as he instantly dropped Mandy's arm.
"You're disgusting, Mandy. Besides Matthew, just how many guys have you messed around with?" John snapped.
Mandy had been gripped tight by him, and when he suddenly let go, she stumbled backward, her head hitting the wall with a thud.
Her ears buzzed, and her heart hurt so bad it felt numb.
For the past three years, John had basically kept her a prisoner in the villa, never letting her see anyone, especially not another guy.
There was no way she could have been with another man.
His suspicion hurt so much, it made her wish she was dead.
John gritted his teeth, veins popping on his forehead as he leaned in close to Mandy's ear and snarled, "Go get yourself checked. I want that report on my desk by tomorrow morning. Understand?"