Chapter 3

3

I struggled to crawl out of the villa.

The maid at the door saw me and turned pale, but she whispered:

"Ma'am, Mr. Rhodes gave orders. You aren't allowed to leave..."

I looked up, my face white as paper, my eyes as dark as a hunted animal's.

"Can't you see I'm bleeding?"

She swallowed hard, about to speak, when the butler approached from nearby.

"Go upstairs!" he told her.

When he looked at me, his eyes flashed with disgust.

"Ma'am, stop pretending. Mr. Rhodes will be furious if he finds out."

He slammed the door shut and went upstairs as well.

In that massive house, no one cared if I lived or died.

I could feel the life draining out of my body.

I looked up at the ceiling in despair as thunder crashed outside.

The maid came back down eventually.

I grabbed her pant leg. "Please... I'm begging you. Call me a taxi."

She jumped back as if she'd been shocked.

She looked around nervously before whispering, "Don't tell them I helped you."

Then she fled like she was being chased.

I looked around at the other servants standing in the distance.

They watched me with cold indifference, as if they were waiting for me to die.

I knew they all hated me.

In their hearts, Daisy was the true Mrs. Rhodes.

I was eventually taken to the hospital by the maid's son.

His name was Nico Banks. He was a good man, and he carried me inside.

The nurses saw I was covered in blood and immediately brought a gurney to rush me in.

At the elevator, we ran right into Daisy and Cillian.

They were pushing Daisy's mother on a stretcher, waiting for the same elevator.

The moment the doors opened, Cillian tried to push inside first.

The nurse handling me said coldly, "Can't you see this patient is covered in blood? We're going first!"

Daisy immediately burst into tears. "I'm so sorry, but my mother... she might not make it..."

Cillian rubbed his temples and his voice went cold.

"Is this the only elevator in this damn hospital?"

The next second, he pulled a black card from his pocket and threw it at my face.

"We go first. Name your price."

Nico's face darkened before I could even react.

"Mr. Rhodes, look closely. This is your wife and child!"

Cillian froze.

He stepped forward, as if he was seeing my face for the first time.

However, a look of pure disgust flashed in his eyes.

"It's you?"

"Elara Thorne, are you insane? Haven't you caused enough trouble?"