Chapter 4

Tyler looked at me for a few seconds. Maybe it was my pale face, or the bandages wrapping half my head, but some of the anger faded from his expression.

"She freaked out about the property division. She didn't mean to hurt you that badly," he said. "She's young, emotional because of the pregnancy, and she cut her hand on the glass too.

"She's already suffered. I'm apologizing on her behalf. Don't hold this against her."

I thought I had it under control, that I wouldn't let him get to me anymore.

But I was still so mad I was shaking all over.

I looked at him, on the verge of losing it. "Tyler, you used to protect me. You used to say anyone who hurt me would pay for it tenfold."

"Now she scratches her hand during the attack and you call that suffering? You won't even make her apologize to me face-to-face.

"What happened to all your promises? All that love you claimed to have for me—did you just let it all go to the dogs?"

He didn't soften. Didn't waver. He just looked at me with quiet impatience.

"Mia, don't play the victim. Your tears don't work on me anymore," he said coldly.

All that anger and frustration was just stuck in my chest, leaving me feeling choked up and helpless.

My expression twisted into something absurd and pathetic.

He looked at me calmly, his gaze steady and indifferent. "I treated you well because I didn't understand love. I mistook the affection between us for something deeper.

"After I met Alice, I realized how wrong I'd been.

"She's pregnant. I'm not letting her deal with your drama."

With that, he flung the documents right in front of me.

The papers landed open, the words "Share Transfer Agreement" staring up at me.

Tyler's face remained cold. "These shares are more than enough to compensate you for your pain. Take it, and move on."

I stared at him, my heart racing, as memories from my past life resurfaced.

This wasn't the first time Alice had tried to kill me.

I remembered attending a party where I ran into Tyler and Alice.

Alice was arrogant and reckless, declaring, "The ones who aren't loved are the mistresses."

Then, without warning, she shoved me into a champagne tower.

I lost so much blood that I had to be rushed to the hospital, where I stayed in a coma for three days.

Tyler stayed by my side for those three days, his eyes bloodshot from lack of sleep.

I just couldn't wrap my head around it.

Alice, a lowly and shallow woman, was treated like a princess by him. She was a gold-digger, but he adored her, while I, who had given him everything, was left broken.

I couldn't help but ask him one day, "What do you even see in her?"

Tyler paused, thinking for a moment before he answered, a soft laugh escaping his lips. "I know Alice is vain, shallow, spoiled, and greedy.

"I know she's ordinary, materialistic, and just a second-rate woman.

"But I like her. I like her directness, her ambition, and her raw, real charm."

"Because I'm no better. I'm selfish, cold-hearted, and indifferent. We're perfect for each other."

I knew at that moment I'd lost.

Not to Alice, but to Tyler, who had fallen into his own delusions.

I stared at the stock transfer agreement Tyler had tossed in front of me, then after a long pause, nodded slowly.

Looking at the "Share Transfer Agreement" in front of me, I nodded slowly. "Fine. I'll take this deal. I'll spare her this time."

I'd use his money to live the rest of my life in peace.

As for Tyler, he could keep his second-rate woman and be the fool he was.

After Tyler left, I dialed up Zachary without a second thought.

The call barely rang before he picked up.

Zachary Holmes sounded totally laid-back, his tone dripping with playful amusement.

He teased, "Well, princess, what's up? Didn't expect to hear from you. Something on your mind?"

His familiar, low voice threw me off for a second, leaving me a little out of it.

The Clark family and the Holmes family were tight, and they'd set up an engagement for me and Zachary when we were just kids.

But after I got lost as a child and finally came back, I only had eyes for Tyler Greene, so the whole thing with Zachary was dropped.

Zachary never said much, but Tyler had sabotaged his business ventures time and again.

Tyler, on the other hand, couldn't stand that Zachary used to be my fiancé, and honestly, they just rubbed each other the wrong way.

Before long, they became sworn enemies.