Chapter 4
He immediately saw Isabella and me tied together, connected to a complex device, and his face instantly turned grave.
I understood at once: this was Isabella’s self-orchestrated kidnapping!
The device connected to two ropes, each tied to Isabella and me.
The other end of the ropes connected to two syringes filled with venom.
Once the device activated, both ropes would tighten simultaneously. One would snap, pulling its syringe into the person it was tied to.
Meaning, Roman could only choose one of us to save.
Isabella looked at Roman, feigning vulnerability. “Roman, save me…”
I looked at Roman, my heart a desolate void.
Roman, the formidable crime lord… he was once such a proud man.
But Isabella had left him utterly broken.
When he was at his lowest, before being acknowledged by his family in the underworld, Isabella brought people to humiliate him, forcing him to eat dog food and live in a dog kennel.
He endured endless torment. When he finally returned to his family, his personality had warped, becoming ruthless, cruel, and unapproachable.
I had placed my last hope in him, wanting to save him.
As his exclusive sparring partner, I silently endured his relentless torment, staying by his side, never leaving.
One day, he beat me black and blue. I turned to leave, utterly desperate.
But he suddenly pulled me back from behind, holding me tightly in his arms.
His deep voice rumbled in my ear: “Where are you going?”
“Stay here.”
My ear rested against his chest, listening to his powerful heartbeat, thinking my redemption efforts had finally paid off.
I thought he, having been hurt the most, would be the most resistant to Isabella’s allure.
But I was wrong, so terribly wrong.
In the end, he was the one who remained devoted to Isabella, refusing to marry anyone else, even holding such a grand wedding for her.
And all the suffering I’d endured by his side, helping him transition his empire into legitimate ventures, had become a colossal joke.
To prevent Isabella from discovering our past, he found 99 other women, stand-ins for her.
As if to prove I wasn’t special, wasn’t unique.
He was just so desperate for Isabella that he found so many women who resembled her.
To prove his loyalty to her, he even sacrificed me to his sworn enemy.
I was tortured for a day and a night, and the tiny life growing inside me was lost.
Roman looked at the intricate device, a flicker of hesitation in his eyes.
Seeing this, Isabella immediately feigned weakness again. “Roman, save her. She was with you for a long time when you weren’t around…”
“I’m content marrying you now, I couldn’t ask for more.”
She then brought up old memories from the orphanage, each word hitting Roman where it hurt the most.
Roman’s heart ached. He turned to me, furious. “Scarlett, aren’t you satisfied? Must you cause such a scene! You saw Isabella and I were getting married, so you deliberately set up this scheme, only to be kidnapped yourself. Are you happy now?!”
Just then, Julian and Ryder also rushed in.
Seeing Isabella in danger, they both grew anxious, vehemently accusing me of being manipulative and bringing this on myself.
I looked at them, their past gentleness and promises now turned into icy accusations and condemnations.
I’d given everything, only to be met with their disgust and scorn.
Why did it come to this?
My heart felt as if it was being torn apart; I couldn’t breathe from the pain.
I didn’t want to waste any more time. I scoffed directly:
“You were all manipulated like puppets by Isabella, and now you’re fawning over her like desperate dogs! How pathetic! I must have been blind!”
“You idiots! You were all played by that bitch Isabella, wrapped around her little finger!”
“And now you’re still fawning over her like a bunch of tail-wagging dogs, completely devoted!”
“It’s the most pathetic joke in the world!”
“I, Scarlett, must have been blind to ever think of saving you ungrateful bastards!”
Roman was indeed enraged. His eyes turned bloodshot, veins throbbing on his forehead.
With the three men’s unspoken coordination, Ryder quickly subdued the kidnappers, and Julian immediately shielded Isabella.
Roman, meanwhile, lunged at me, savagely plunging his dagger into my shoulder!
Agony ripped through me, blood instantly staining my clothes.
I looked at his bloodshot eyes, filled with madness and hatred.
“I never wronged you. Why do you hate me so much?”