chapter 2

The next day, Ethan smiled as he slipped a pigeon blood ruby ring onto my finger.

"When I married you, I promised to give you a pigeon blood ruby ring once I took over the Vanderbilt family."

"This promise was delayed by three years due to unforeseen circumstances, but now I'm fulfilling it for you."

But all I could think about was how he called me a "bad person" in front of Zoe last night. I wanted to rip the ring off and throw it away.

As I began to do it, he panicked, then suddenly grabbed my hand and pinned me down.

He kept kissing me and swearing, "Amelia, I really only love you."

"Please don't do this, if you don't want me, I'll go crazy."

His rough hand pressed down on the ring as if I was trying to take out his heart.

He begged and nibbled at my neck, his fingers inching down to my most sensitive areas.

I could feel his arousal, and just as I was about to push him away, he abruptly stopped and ran to the bathroom.

As the sound of running water filled the room, I peeked in and saw him holding his phone, video chatting with Zoe.

"Zoe, I didn't touch her, like you asked, don't be jealous, okay?"

The woman pouted playfully, her fingers caressing the dazzling pigeon blood ruby necklace around her neck.

"Since you gave me such a precious gift, I forgive you."

"Clean her scent off and come find me."

I clenched my fists, the edges of the ring cutting into my skin.

It turned out that what he gave me was just the scraps that Zoe didn't want.

I watched silently as he came out of the bathroom and lied to me about going to the office.

Later, my phone kept flashing with intimate photos sent by Zoe, along with the message. "Amelia, take care from now on!"

Sure enough, when Ethan came home that night, he was holding Zoe in his arms. The woman snuggled up to him, smirking at me triumphantly.

"Amelia, be obedient. You hurt Zoe first, so now you're taking care of her at home, making up for your mistakes."

I just nodded faintly and stepped aside for them.

Seeing me like this, Ethan felt inexplicably flustered and quickly tried to make amends.

"I meant to have the maid take care of her, I'll only be with you."

He did spend the whole night with me, but the next morning when I opened the door, I was greeted by walls covered in gruesome photos of chopped meat.

My vision blurred, my stomach churned, and I turned around to vomit bile.

Ethan was furious and called the instigator, Zoe, over.

He scolded her harshly, "You're out of line, apologize to Amelia right now!"

The woman bowed with red eyes, apologizing, and the next second she rushed out the door without even putting on her shoes.

"Ethan, since you can't tolerate me, then I'll go back to the casino to be a card dealer!"

Ethan mobilized the entire network of connections in the city to search for Zoe.

Finally, on the highway leading out of the province, he found the woman who had fainted from hunger.

Zoe cried and threw herself into the man's arms.

"Ethan, that's a photo of our fetus. I just wanted Amelia to mourn the child and bless him to go to heaven."

He didn't say anything, but wrapped the woman tightly in his clothes and carried her back home.

That night, I was informed by the maid that food and water had been cut off.

"Mrs. Vanderbilt, don't blame me, this is Mr. Vanderbilt's orders."

"He said... since you wouldn't listen to Miss Zoe, he can only starve you for a few days to teach you a lesson."

When the door closed, I couldn't help but cry out loud.

From then on, I tried to avoid Zoe as much as possible, even if she deliberately pulled Ethan into my bed to have an affair.

I just quietly closed the door and moved to the guest room to sleep.

But she kept pushing it, always trying to provoke me.

A new racetrack opened in the city, and she begged Ethan to take her there.

"Take Amelia with you? I'm willing to help you reconcile with her."

Inside the racetrack, she intimately linked arms with me to pick out horses, like we were the best of friends.

At that moment, a sudden change occurred. The horse in front of us suddenly went out of control, kicking up its hooves towards us.

Zoe instinctively protected me, and was kicked in the back by the wild horse.

When Ethan rushed over, he saw Zoe standing in front of me.

"Zoe..." he instinctively went to save Zoe.

But after seeing the disappointment in my eyes, he abruptly changed direction. "Honey, are you okay?"

Then he placed the rosary beads from his chest on my forehead, "The Lord will keep you safe."

It was the rosary beads I had knelt and prayed for 99 days with, for his safety, and he had been wearing them all along.

My dead heart had a brief moment of softening.

But that same night, I saw him pressing Zoe down on the hospital bed, kissing her without restraint.

"Who told you to protect her? Are you trying to hurt me?"

The woman gasped, "I... was worried about Amelia... you... were upset..."

"Her life is not as important as yours! Amelia caused you harm. What punishment should she receive?"

Ethan actually slowly inserted the rosary beads, that I had spent months praying over, into Zoe's body.

"Let her devotion bring you pleasure... babe, go deeper..."

It felt like my heart had been cut open, and with every breath, blood was oozing out.

The hospital bed creaked, the woman's moans filled the hallway, and I silently left the hospital.

I saw Ethan again, a day later.

He burst in, without a word, and grabbed my neck tightly.

"The startled horse was tampered with, Amelia, why won't you listen?"

I looked at him in disbelief, "You suspect it's me?"

The man took a deep breath, "Zoe is my savior, and she went to the racetrack to mend things with you."

"She even got hurt trying to save you, why can't you forgive her?"

I bit my lip, not saying a word, afraid that if I spoke, I wouldn't be able to control my tears.

The person who once trusted me unconditionally was gone.

Seeing that I refused to admit my mistake, his face grew darker and he ordered coldly.

"Lock Amelia in the dark room to reflect on her behaviour."

I still didn't speak, a cold smile playing on my lips, feeling helpless.

He didn't believe me anymore, what's the point of explaining?

It's better for me to be locked up. At least I can have a few peaceful days before leaving.

But on the day I was leaving, Ethan actually wanted to give me a surprise?!