Chapter 3

3.

The hospital reports came back clean. There was nothing physically wrong with me.

Yet every bone in my body was screaming in agony.

The doctors were baffled and could only give me high-dose painkillers.

Three days later, the moment I was discharged, I drove straight to a construction site.

My men had Maisie pinned down under a crane. She was white as a sheet.

"How are you doing this?" I hissed, grabbing her by the collar.

She bit her lip, staring back at me with stubborn defiance.

"Maddie, I don't know what you're talking about."

"You can't do this to me. If Adrian finds out, he'll never forgive you!"

"Is that so?" I asked.

Since she wanted to play the martyr, I decided to give her a real scare.

I signaled my men to start the crane.

"Maybe we should see how you feel hanging from that?"

The steel cable began to lower. Maisie didn't panic.

She just looked shocked.

"Are you crazy? I really don't know anything!"

"You don't?" I leaned in close.

"You're the reason I'm living in a nightmare of pain, and you expect me to believe that?"

"Maisie, I'm asking you one last time. How are you doing this!"

I watched her face like a hawk, looking for any crack in her armor.

Suddenly, her defiance melted away into a flood of tears.

"Maddie, I swear I don't know anything!"

"Thud!"

She slammed her forehead hard against the concrete wall next to her.

My head felt like it exploded. The pain was blinding.

Before I could recover, someone grabbed me and delivered a stinging slap to my face.

I stumbled back, dazed.

Through the haze, I saw Maisie throwing herself into Adrian's arms, sobbing.

"Adrian! What did I do wrong? Maddie wants to kill me! Please..."

She was shaking like a leaf, looking like the victim of a lifetime.

"Save me..."

Adrian's eyes filled with pity for her.

He looked at me with a cold, terrifying hatred.

Without a word, he picked Maisie up and ordered his guards to throw me into the car.

I curled up in the back seat, trembling from the pain.

Back at the house, Adrian threw me onto the floor.

His parents and Sophie came running at the noise.

Maisie had a bloody forehead, clinging to Adrian like a wounded bird.

And there I was, pathetic and disheveled on the floor.

I didn't even have the strength to stand.

"Maddie Miller!" Adrian roared.

"I've put up with your spoiled attitude, but kidnapping? You've gone too far!"

"If I hadn't arrived, you would have murdered her!"

His parents looked at me in horror.

Sophie added fuel to the fire.

"You're obsessed with my brother. You're so jealous you've lost your mind."

Maisie sobbed heart-wrenchingly.

"I'm sorry, Maddie. I just look up to Adrian. I don't have any feelings for him! I didn't do anything!"

"Please let me go. I worked so hard to get into college. My whole family is counting on me..."

"I don't know anything about pain transferring. I really don't..."

She kept crying and began banging her head on the floor again.

Each hit looked devastating.

"Thud! Thud! Thud!"

It felt like a sledgehammer was hitting my skull. I was on the verge of fainting.

I wanted to tell her to stop, but I couldn't breathe.

Adrian watched with pure disgust.

"Maisie has been banging her head for minutes and you haven't flinched. Clearly, your 'pain transfer' story is a total lie!"

Suddenly, Maisie bolted for the kitchen.

She grabbed a bottle of bleach and tried to pour it down her throat.

"I'll prove my innocence with my life!"

Adrian snatched the bottle away.

His face was grim. "Maddie! How long are you going to keep up this act?"

He pulled out my hospital records and threw them at me.

"Look at this! Even the doctors say there's nothing wrong with you!"

He tenderly helped Maisie up.

Then, Adrian pulled out his phone and pointed the camera at me.

"I'm going to show the board members exactly who their 'heiress' really is. A total psycho!"