Chapter 2
My voice was so quiet that nobody could hear it with the chandelier swinging wildly overhead.
He leaned in closer, trying to catch what I said.
Suddenly, a crisp clang rang out.
Everyone looked up.
"Watch out!"
Matthew grabbed Lydia and held her close.
I just pushed him away without thinking.
Thud.
Something warm slid down my neck.
Next thing I knew, a dull pain throbbed at the back of my head.
"Are you crazy?" Matthew snapped.
Seeing a trace of anxiety on his face, I just shook my head.
Just as I was about to speak, Lydia let out a startled cry.
"Matthew, my hand hurts..." she moaned.
His expression shifted instantly from concern to alarm, and he frantically scooped her up in his arms.
"Lydia hates pain. Let me call the driver to take you to the hospital," Matthew said.
He was gone in a flash, disappearing right before my eyes.
Tears blurred my vision, making their figures fade away.
Why did he always leave me behind?
He hesitated for a second, but still left.
When I came to, I found myself in the hospital.
Matthew's brows were furrowed, as if he was afraid I'd use saving his life to hold it over him.
"You know I can't stand clingy people. Since you risked yourself for me, I'll give you three days to recover and remove any sign you were ever at the villa. I don't want Lydia to be upset by any of this," he said.
I nodded, my gaze dimming.
Maybe my reaction was so calm that it didn't even seem like I ever loved him.
He was about to say something else when his phone rang.
Lydia was sobbing so hard she could barely catch her breath.
Matthew's eyes were clouded with concern and heartache that just wouldn't go away.
"Matthew, I'm so sorry. I never should've come back! If I hadn't, Charlotte wouldn't have felt threatened and gone so far as to put on that whole act of saving you just to win your favor.
"At least it was only me who got hurt. If anything had happened to you, how could I ever explain it to your parents?" she added, her voice trembling.
But he didn't say anything more about it. He just offered a few words to comfort her and hung up.
We locked eyes for a long moment before I finally spoke up, my voice barely above a whisper.
"It wasn't me," I said.
He let out a heavy sigh.
"I know. You've been getting punished all day, and my friends never liked you—they wouldn't listen to you anyway. One of my friends already told me. She probably saw I was still thinking about you and felt uneasy, so she set it up herself," he said.
With that, he took my phone and deleted all his friends' contacts.
"Alright, I'm heading out. Get some rest," he said.
As he turned to leave, the hospital room door opened.
Matthew's mother walked in with the butler, carrying a box of disciplinary implements.
Without saying a word, she slapped me hard across the face.
"You actually went so far as to hurt Matthew just to compete for his affection? If I don't teach you a lesson today, what will become of you once you're married?"
They dragged me down to the floor.
Matthew was just about to speak.
Lydia came running in.
"I was the one who told your mother. You're not mad at me, right? I just wanted to make sure anyone who hurt you paid the price!" Lydia said, her voice sweet but triumphant.
The butler pulled out a pair of pliers, grabbed my jaw, and forced my mouth open.
I looked at Matthew, my eyes tearful and swollen.
"It wasn't me, it was her..." I choked out.
But before I could finish, Matthew, terrified I'd spill Lydia's secret, snatched the pliers and jammed them into my mouth.
With a harsh crunch, two of my lower teeth were yanked out.
His voice was cold and ruthless, but there was a slight tremble in it.
"If you do something wrong, you deserve punishment—even if you're my fiancée! Today, I'm pulling your teeth as a warning. Remember this: never speak out of turn, and don't ever manipulate others into wrongdoing!" he said sharply.
Blood flooded my mouth, stinging and making me gag.
The group stormed out, leaving me kneeling there in utter humiliation.
After a while, my phone rang.
It was a message from Matthew.
[I haven't told my family about the bride swap yet. Lydia's just a little too possessive about me, so she acted out and set you up.]
[If my mom ever finds out that Lydia framed you, she'll never treat her kindly. You're already used to the punishments, so one more round won't make a difference. Just consider it payback for all the years Lydia had to wait for me. You should be grateful.]
My heart ached with a thousand tiny stabs.
He knew perfectly well I wasn't the one he was going to marry.
He knew perfectly well none of this was my fault.
But he still dumped all the pain on me.
Tears fell onto my phone.
That person would never treat me this way.