“If this is your revenge on me for stubbornly keeping my child, then shouldn’t his death have pleased you enough?! I was incarcerated for a year! I’ve lost everything I’ve ever had! Everything… God… What will it take for you to be satisfied? To let me go? “I’ve already regretted ever taking up the… the toxic mantle of being the fake Mrs. Brighthall, and I don’t want it anymore… Let me go, I’m begging you… I don’t want it anymore. I don’t want to be Mrs. Brighthall anymore…”She swooned after that. Brendan released her. His chest was filled with pain, a pain so great that he could not contain it. It pressed against his lungs, denying him any chance to breathe. What was going on?He had always seen himself as an ubermensch—unstoppable and almost omnipotent. And yet he could not answer this one simple question. His mind was beleaguered by sheer frustration. He stood on the balcony and began to empty his cigarette pack, as though he was trying to self-medicate, however temporarily,

Brendan turned back to Sterling. “I’ve got some unfinished business with this *sshole over here,” he snarled. “I’m itching to see if I can beat a man’s lust for another man’s woman out of him!”Deirdre’s heart missed a beat. Panic possessed her, and she immediately clawed at Brendan’s arm. “No, what are you planning to do, Brendan?! This is between the two of us! You can shout and throw punches, but please… don’t drag an outsider into this!”Her instinct to defend Sterling made Brendan’s eyes grow colder. “‘An outsider’?” he parroted mockingly, smirking. “I don’t think any woman would happily elope with an outsider, do you? And now he’s suddenly just some random what’s-his-name to you? Oh my God, Deirdre McKinnon, aren’t you a callous b*tch! You could murder Sterling with heartache alone, my dear.”Deirdre’s eyes watered again. Her—heartless? Who was the heartless one among them? What had happened to the man who had appeared at that charity event all those years ago? The man with

Deirdre’s situation was critical. It took the emergency staff hours of grueling effort and focus to operate on her. Everyone was working with bated breath, and no one dared to relax. When it was finally over, they breathed a collective sigh of relief. She was sent back to the mansion after that. Or to be more accurate, she was quarantined. Brendan hired more watchers to mind her, and now, she was a blind woman who had lost even the privilege to walk outside.Brendan himself seemed to have vanished from her life. She asked one of the bodyguards where he was, and all she received was a dismissive, “No idea.”A few days later, while Deirdre was on her way down the stairs, she overheard the bodyguards chatting among themselves. “No kidding. This sh*t is still boggling to me—why is Mr. Brighthall keeping Mrs. Quasimodo in his bell tower, man? I almost think he’s planning to have her replace Miss McKinney as his babe!... If it weren’t for the fact that he’s been on these non-stop vacatio

Brendan had an abrupt heartache. He couldn’t understand why Deirdre would harm herself.He then strode toward Deirdre, held her wrist, and demanded, “Come with me to get something to eat!”Smelling the familiar scent only made Deirdre feel disgusted. “Don’t touch me!”Biting her lip, Deirdre struggled to withdraw her hand. However, because she was starving, she was feeble. Without much effort, Brendan pulled Deirdre into his embrace, grabbed her chin, and snapped her head up. “What the hell are you doing? Do you think you can do as you please because you managed to threaten me the other day?”Deirdre felt a sharp pain in her chin. Eyes red, she lifted her head and said, “You promised you wouldn’t disturb Sterry! You made a promise! So why has he turned out to be so miserable?”Brendan was startled for a moment before bellowing angrily, “So you starved yourself to get me here just for this f*cking reason?”Deirdre was hurt and disappointed. Emotions couldn’t be shared between two

Charlene was still in a wheelchair. Her eyes reddened as she felt the injustice of it all. “Brendan, you want me to donate my blood to Ms. McKinnon? You should know that I haven’t recovered yet…”“When she was pregnant, she still donated her blood to you, didn’t she?” Brendan stopped Charlene from objecting. “She must not die! I’ll tell the nurse to be careful when taking your blood so she doesn’t hurt you.”Brendan’s remark was akin to him telling Charlene that she couldn’t refuse.Charlene looked gloomy and scratched the leather cover on the wheelchair with her fingernails so hard that she almost tore it. She forced a smile and said, “Well, the life of Ms. McKinnon is a human life after all. As long as she can survive, it doesn't matter if I die, let alone donate my blood.”As soon as she finished her sentence, the nurse appeared in a hurry again. “Is the blood donor here? And who's the patient’s next of kin? I need a signature for the emergency medical consent form!”“I am!” Br