10
“Apologize,” she said, just two words.
“Skylar, I was wrong, it’s all my fault.”
“From now on, whatever you say goes. You’ve always been the one I loved, I was just deceived by Cassidy.”
“All those things were her doing, I never meant to hurt you,” Brandon Miller said, his face full of feigned sincerity.
Cassidy White looked at him in disbelief. *Brandon Miller, who claimed to love her so much, was saying such things!*
“Brandon Miller! Have you forgotten you snatched the black card by stepping on her hand yourself?”
“You were the one who thought Skylar Cross was getting out of control, and you deliberately pretended to defend her in front of me, purposefully provoking me to make things difficult for her!”
“You even told me to hire thugs to humiliate her so you could play the hero and rescue her!”
The two began to blame each other for their past actions.
I listened, gripping Damian Thorne’s hand tightly. Even after reading the investigation report, hearing these things firsthand still made me uncontrollably furious.
Damian Thorne allowed me to hold his hand, his eyes colder than ice.
Skylar’s frail body swayed. She pressed the dagger against both their throats.
“I don’t want to dirty my hands with you.”
“You both claim you’re innocent, but only one of you gets to walk out of here today.”
She placed the dagger on the ground.
1:08 PM
<
“Mommy, Daddy, untie them.”
I nodded. The assistant stepped forward and cut their ropes. They glared at each other, eyes blazing with a hatred more intense
than that of enemies.
“Let’s go,” Skylar said, taking one of my hands and one of her father’s.
As we walked out of the warehouse, a doctor waited outside. We never intended for her to get blood on her hands.
“Still too soft–hearted,” Damian Thorne commented.
“But you did very well,” he added, looking at his daughter.
12
Skylar Cross’s face immediately lit up with a smile, shining brighter than ever. “Thank you, Daddy. It’s so good to have Mom and
Dad.”
I lowered my head, knowing full well they wouldn’t have it easy.
In the end, Brandon Miller and Cassidy White stabbed each other, both collapsing in a pool of blood, only to be saved by the doctor in time.
After recovering from their injuries, they were repatriated.
The casino’s people were waiting at Brandon Miller’s mother’s house every day. As soon as Brandon returned to the country, he was taken to work off his debts.
He was eventually caught in a private room full of old men. With multiple charges including intentional assault, defamation, black card fraud, and solicitation/prostitution, he had enough crimes to rot in prison for life.
After her son was taken by the casino people, Doris Green blamed everything on Cassidy White.
She beat Cassidy daily, calling her “that cursed woman” who had ruined her academically brilliant and well–behaved son.
Eventually, Cassidy White couldn’t take it anymore and pushed Doris Green down the stairs, rendering her a vegetable.
Afterward, Cassidy fled, and was caught by the police just as she was about to escape the country.
She was charged with the same crimes as Brandon Miller and would spend the rest of her life in prison.
All the families of the students who had participated in bullying Skylar Cross faced Damian Thorne’s furious retaliation.
Some went bankrupt and into debt, fleeing back to their hometowns; the smarter ones moved their entire families and found safety.
We had accumulated many business affairs in Europe, and this time, we took our daughter with us.
Before, I was afraid she would suffer, so I kept her at home.
But a flower nurtured in a greenhouse can never compare to a tree that grows wild and strong.
1 began taking her to see elephant migrations on vast grasslands, to military bases to leam shooting, personally teaching her to fly a helicopter…
I taught her how to navigate the cutthroat world of business with its open attacks and hidden decelts
1 taught her how to navigate the cutthroat world of business, with its open attacks and hidden deceits.
Slowly, I watched Skylar Cross’s body get stronger, her entire being filled with confidence and sunshine.
Her eyes gradually began to hold a pursuit of power, no longer fixated on others‘ approval.
Her future was bright.
