Chapter 8
The memories from my past life surged through my mind, a sharp pain piercing my heart.
Ryan held my shoulders firmly, his warm palm radiating reassuring warmth through my clothes.
“Zoe,” Marcus’s voice suddenly choked up, “Father has abandoned me, and now eyen you don’t want me…”
“We never began anything.” I cut him off. “Please leave.”
Stella suddenly threw herself at me, clinging to my legs. “Ms. Carrigan! Please send me to the police station! Don’t let him send me back to that drunk–he’ll kill me…”
She trembled all over, her nails nearly digging into my flesh.
In the end, I had someone take Stella to a small city down south.
Watching the car disappear into the distance, Ryan gently squeezed my fingers. “Feeling soft–hearted?”
“Not soft–hearted,” I leaned against his shoulder, “I just don’t want to become like them.”
Two months later, at the Mitchell family’s mountain resort, the roar of propellers suddenly cut through the peaceful afternoon.
Marcus jumped down from the helicopter, the fierce wind whipping his clothes. Before I could react, he grabbed my arm and pulled me off the ground.
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Chapter 8
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“Don’t try to get rid of me this time.” He whispered in my ear as the cabin door slammed shut behind us.
On the ground below, Ryan’s figure was rapidly shrinking.
Inside the helicopter cabin, the engine’s roar was deafening. My fingers gripped the armrest tightly as I stared at this nearly insane man before me.
“Marcus!” I raised my voice. “What on earth are you trying to do?”
With trembling hands, he pulled out a velvet box from his pocket.
A diamond ring refracted blinding light in the sunlight.
“Zoe,” his voice was hoarse, “I’ve thought about this for a long time… you obviously love me…”
The ring trembled slightly in his palm. “It was all that tramp Stella’s doing! I know I was wrong now!”
“I refuse,” I said decisively.
His expression instantly twisted, a crimson glint appearing in his eyes. “Why?”
He suddenly lunged for the control stick. “I have nothing left now! The Aldridge family doesn’t want me, and neither do you!”
The helicopter suddenly dove, making my stomach lurch. He frantically shoved the pilot. “Marry me! Or we’ll die together!”
In the violent turbulence, I lunged forward to fight for control.
Outside the window, a lake sparkled under the sunlight.
At the critical moment, I used all my strength to pull the emergency brake.
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Boom!
The icy lake water instantly swallowed all
“ound. In the last moment
before losing consciousness, I felt as if I had returned to that iron cage, hearing him say coldly, “Lock her up.”
When I opened my eyes again, I saw a white ceiling.
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Ryan’s haggard face came into view, his bloodshot eyes instantly lighting up when he saw me awake.
“Zoe,” his voice was full of heartache, “you’re pregnant.”
Suddenly there was a “thud” from the doorway. Marcus, wrapped in bandages all over his body, knelt there stiffly..
His lips trembled as his gaze fell on my flat abdomen, then moved away as if burned.
“I’m sorry…” his voice was broken, “I shouldn’t have… shouldn’t have locked you in that cage…”
Ryan immediately stepped in front of me, and over a dozen bodyguards instantly pinned Marcus to the ground. He didn’t resist at all, just stubbornly looked up at me, his eyes filled with endless regret.
“Get out.” I turned my face away,
Soon after, television news began broadcasting Marcus’s latest activities on a loop. In the footage, he knelt before the iron cage that had once imprisoned me, frantically banging his head against the ground. Blood stained his face and the cage’s bars.
He remembered everything. The sins of his past life had finally driven him insane.
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Ryan gently covered my eyes. “Don’t look.”
I leaned into his embrace, listening to his strong heartbeat.
In this life, I had finally broken free from fate’s shackles.
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The hospital room door opened. My father and Ryan’s family all gathered around my bed.
Outside the window, the warm spring sun shone brightly. I finally
understood that all the suffering had been for this moment. What awaited
me
he was eternal and stable happiness.
