Chapter 4
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“Don’t make me hate you, Aaron.
Rachel looked at Aaron, her voice barely above a whisper.
Her heart felt like it was being shredded, yet she fought to maintain a calm facade.
Aaron startled himself by seeing through Rachel’s mask. His chest tightened with a dull ache as if squeezed by invisible hands. His expression flickered, but Amy suddenly grabbed his arm, pleading in his ear for Rachel.
“Please don’t be like this, Aaron! She’s still your fiancée… What if she resents me? I… I’m terrified!”
“That won’t last much longer.”
Aaron kissed Amy’s forehead before snapping at the bodyguards, “Why are you standing
there?
Do it!”
“Aaah!”
Agony shot through Rachel when her first fingernail was torn off along with the flesh. Cold sweat drenched her clothes instantly. Her heart seemed to have been ripped apart.
This couldn’t be Alex!
Absolutely not!
Alex would never hurt her. Years ago when Rachel cut her fingertip while working odd jobs, Alex had gently held her injured finger in his mouth, mumbling that saliva could ease the pain.
Then the second knuckle was pulled off. Rachel clenched her teeth so tight her jaw ached, muscles trembling uncontrollably. Blinding pain blurred her vision.
In her daze, she saw Alex again–Alex shielding her desperately, never retreating even with blood streaming down his face. “I won’t let anyone hurt you. No one.”
–
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Then came the third, the fourth… Fingernails torn off one by one, tossed carelessly to the floor like bloodied shards. Rachel collapsed. hands drenched crimson, too weak to scream. Like a dirty rag discarded on the ground, her face slick with sweat and tears, she kept gasping, “Alex… Alex… save me….
But Alex was gone from this world.
Bystanders gathered, murmuring as they stared at Rachel gasping for air.
“…I know her. That’s the shameless hussy who schemed her way into Mr. Jones‘ bed while he had amnesia!”
“Now that Mr. Jones remembers everything, she’s still clinging to the fiancée title, bullying the rightful Scott heiress… Tsk tsk, what nerve!”
“Serves her right!
Born trash, through and through!”
If I were her, I’d have called off the engagement myself long ago. Never would I humiliate myself like this.”
Rachel wanted to deny it, to say she hadn’t done those things, but before a single word could escape her lips, she passed out from sheer
agony.
When she woke, it was already the next afternoon. She lay in a hospital bed, all ten fingers meticulously bandaged.
Turning her head, she was startled to find Aaron sitting by her bedside.
Rachel instinctively flinched backward, accidentally brushing her injured hands. Instantly, she was drenched in sweat.
A flicker of guilt and remorse crossed Aaron’s face, vanishing as quickly as it appeared.
He took a deep breath, steadying himself before saying coldly, “Rachel, if you promise to stop hurting Amy, I’ll marry you by year’s end as Grandpa demands.”
”
‘…And the conditions?”
Rachel was surprised by her own calmness. Not a single tremor shook her voice.
Perhaps all her tears and pain had bled out with yesterday’s wounds.
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“The true Mrs. Jones can only be Amy. I’ll marry her legally.”
“…Oh. I see.”
Rachel responded softly before calmly lying back on the bed.
Rachel’s reaction clearly caught Aaron off guard. He frowned at the woman lying in the hospital bed.
Her pale face almost blended with the sheets, nothing like the vicious woman everyone
described.
He noticed her delicate earlobes and instinctively reached out, but before his fingers could brush her skin, a splitting pain tore through his skull.
His headaches had grown more frequent lately, though he’d been too busy for follow–up checks.
Aaron gritted his teeth until the agony passed. When he recovered, Rachel had fallen into deep sleep.
After two days, Rachel discharged herself against medical advice. She intended to wrap up pending work before leaving.
But upon arriving at the office, she froze. A company–wide reprimand accused her of professional negligence–two contracts lost by Amy were pinned on her. Demoted to the lowest rank,
Amy had seized Rachel’s former position as department director by claiming credit for the stolen project.
She’d commandeered Rachel’s office, dumping all personal belongings–even the hand–carved keepsakes Alex made for Rachel!
“Where are my keepsakes?”
“Where did you lose it?”
Rachel pressed Amy relentlessly.
It was her last tangible memory of Alex in this world.
“Don’t worry, sis, I’ve got them all right here.”
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Amy, with her legs crossed, leisurely pulled one out from her bag
The hand–carved keepsake was crudely carved but meticulously polished, clearly a labor of
love
“Aaron made this for you back then. didn’t he?
Hah, how adorable!”
Amy’s sharp fingernail scraped hard across the keepsake’s cheek, leaving a deep gouge, then she smirked sarcastically at Rachel. “Want it?
Then at the dinner party tonight. sis, put on a good show and I’ll give it back.”
Rachel was severely allergic to alcohol: just one sip would make her break out in hives and itch all over, and of course Amy knew it
But at the table, she deliberately led the others in forcing drinks on Rachel.
Rachel’s hands were both injured, so she couldn’t fend off the strong liquor being shoved to her lips, and had to gulp down one glass after another.
Less than an hour into the party, Rachel had already thrown up twice in the restroom, her face and body covered in hives, her stomach aching as if filled with shards of glass, her head throbbing heavily.
Drunk and disoriented. Rachel felt someone groping her. She instinctively fought back, kicking the man between his legs during the struggle. He groaned like a boiled shrimp, curling up and collapsing onto Amy
“Idiot!”
Amy shot the man a contemptuous glance before turning to Rachel’s bewildered face, smirking triumphantly. Then she suddenly screamed.
Rachel’s eyes widened in shock. The next second, the private room door burst open as Aaron
stormed in, face thunderous.
“You’re dead!”
Aaron yanked the man off Amy and pummeled his face with a vicious punch, knocking him unconscious instantly.
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But Aaron didn’t stop. Blow after blow rained down until the man’s face was a bloody mess, his breathing shallow. Only then did Aaron toss him aside like garbage.
“Wuwu… Aaron! You… you finally came to save me!”
Amy threw herself into Aaron’s arms at the perfect moment, sobbing pitifully.
“My sister said I had to fix the order I ruined. She forced me to… entertain those bosses. Threatened to make colleagues sabotage me if I refused! I was terrified!”
