Chapter 2
The walls were all covered with portraits of Stella.
Portraits of her looking down shyly, of her in tears, or her looking back and smiling. Each one was carefully framed and sparkled under the light.
“Do you like it?” Marcus stroked her face gently. “From now on, you will have the most special gift every birthday from me!”
Stella’s cheeks flushed, and she said with a sickeningly sweet voice, “Marcus, you are too good to me!”
After saying that, she tiptoed and kissed Marcus on the face.
The two soon kissed pass This book had been added on your bookshelf.
I sneered and knocked on the door frame, and the two of them separated in a panic.
Marcus frowned. “Why are you here?”
“Do I need to report my business to you?” I felt a tightness in my chest. This was where I handed over my family business to this scumbag in my previous life.
Marcus raised his lips in a sarcastic smirk. “Why are you so angry?”
He sneered. “Zoe, haven’t you always been chasing after me since you were a kid? What kind of hard–to–get trick are you playing now?”
“Drop the act,” he said with contempt. “You like me so much, how could you really be willing to let go?”
08.26
“Security!” I said in a cold voice, “Get rid of all this trash–both the people and the paintings!”
“Don’t throw them away! These are gifts from Marcus!” Stella suddenly rushed over and grabbed my hand, but the moment she touched me, she fell onto the coffee table. The glass fragments cut her calf, and blood gushed from the wound.
“Zoe!” Marcus pushed me away angrily.
I stumbled into the metal easel. Warm liquid ran down my cheeks, but I felt no pain.
Marcus picked up the paint bucket and threw it at me. “Zoe! You’ve gone too far!”
He picked up Stella and strode away.
I knelt down in the mess and suddenly thought of something. “Where is Mom’s painting? Where is ‘Spring Valley?”
The staff member pointed to the corner tremblingly. The painting left by my mother before her death was now stained beyond recognition by the red paint.
“Mom…” I murmured to myself while holding the painting, tears mixed with blood dripping onto the canvas.
“Tick, tick…”
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The sound of a wheelchair moving came from far away.
I looked up and saw a figure sitting at a spot where the light met the shadow. The silver mask glowed coldly, but it couldn’t hide his slightly trembling eyelashes.
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08:26
Chapter 2
It was Ryan.
“Stop crying.” His eyes locked onto my bleeding forehead and quickly moved closer.
288 Vouchers
“Here’s something for it.” He handed me a tube of ointment. His fingers were long and clean, but they curled slightly when they met my line of sight. “Otherwise, it will leave scars.”
I stared blankly at the ointment tube in my hand, and then I remembered that the Mitchell family was the most prestigious family of medical practitioners in New York, and they almost monopolized the city’s pharmaceutical industry.
When I took the tube, his fingertips trembled and quickly retracted.
“I knew you were forced to choose me.” His voice was hoarse, and each word was spoken out slowly. “I will cancel the engagement. You don’t have to do this to yourself.”
The wheelchair squeaked as he turned to leave.
“Wait!” I rushed over to stop him.
He froze and turned his face away in a panic.
“I’m serious.” I looked him straight in the eye. “You are my choice.”
His fingers were tightly gripping the armrests of the wheelchair, and the tips of his ears were red as blood.
After a long while, he replied with a very soft “hmm.”
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