Adrian Preston agreed, then picked up the fruit knife from the table.

"I am her husband. I failed to properly discipline my wife and was unable to restrain her behavior, so I am also at fault. I will take the blame for her, suffer in her place, and double the penalty. I will cut myself twice."

"Brother—"

Shannon Preston panicked, but it was too late to stop him.

In a flash, Adrian brought the knife down, carving two long gashes into his left arm. Blood dripped incessantly from the wounds.

The wounds were deep; it was impossible to tell if he had damaged any tendons.

"A doctor! Quick, a doctor..."

Veins bulged on Adrian Preston’s forehead, but he remained utterly silent.

"Is that enough? If not, I can add two more cuts. I’ll take responsibility for her mistakes."

"That’s enough, that’s enough! Doctor, hurry, a doctor!"

Shannon Preston cried even more hysterically.

A doctor rushed in and quickly began to bandage Adrian Preston’s arm.

Fortunately, the timely treatment meant the injury wouldn’t affect the use of his left hand.

Shannon Preston was a mess of tears. "Adrian, is she really worth all this?"

The bleeding had stopped, but Adrian Preston’s face remained pale.

"She’s worth it. Don’t tell her about this. The last thing she wants is to feel indebted to anyone."

Hearing this, Shannon Preston was consumed by jealousy.

’By what right!’

’Why should Mia Kane be the one my brother sacrifices so much for? What gives her the right? She’s not worthy!’

She clenched her fists in silent fury. ’I have to find a way to make Mia Kane disappear from this world for good.’

Adrian Preston didn’t return home for a while. His injuries were severe—the two cuts were deep enough to expose bone.

He could have just put on a show, but he knew he had to punish himself severely to appease Shannon Preston’s anger. She truly had been wronged, and the matter needed a resolution.

He went to the company as usual every day, then made time in the afternoons to visit Shannon Preston at the hospital.

"Adrian, you’re pushing yourself too hard. Why don’t you check into the hospital and rest, too?"

"No, an injury like this is nothing to me."

"Then you shouldn’t come see me. It’s too tiring for you to be running back and forth."

Although Shannon Preston longed to see him every day and have him all to herself, her heart ached for him even more.

"It’s my duty to take care of you. And... it’s for her sake, too."

The words caught in Shannon Preston’s throat. 𝘧𝓇ℯℯ𝑤ℯ𝘣𝓃ℴ𝓋𝑒𝑙.𝑐𝘰𝑚

’In the end, it was still all because of Mia Kane.’

’Adrian was only taking care of her to atone for what Mia Kane had done.’

After Adrian Preston left, Shannon Preston opened her phone to a text message from Mrs. Lowry, the family’s housekeeper.

"Don’t worry. We didn’t give her any food today, either. There’s only water in her room. We won’t let her off easy."

Shannon Preston put down her phone, but she still couldn’t stomach the injustice.

’Just cutting off her food and starving her... The punishment is far too light.’

’I want Mia Kane to die—’

A glint appeared in her eyes as an idea formed. She picked up her phone and began to type.

After sending the message, she quickly deleted it, leaving no trace.

...

Mia Kane had been locked up for three days. She was dizzy with hunger, able to do nothing but fill her stomach with water.

But it wasn’t long before it felt as if countless hands were reaching out from her stomach, clawing at her throat.

The internet in her room had been cut off and her phone had been taken away. The maids claimed that she had committed a grave error and that Adrian Preston had ordered them to leave her to quietly reflect on her wrongdoing.

They also said they were deliberately starving her to teach her a lesson she would remember.

’Before, her heart would still flutter for Adrian Preston, but now... that feeling was all but dead.’

’So, it turns out all men are the same.’

’Chase Lockwood had Vivian Lynch.’

’Adrian Preston has Shannon Preston.’

’The moment those women get teary-eyed and hurt, their men will rush to their side, abandoning all else.’

’It turned out that from beginning to end, she was the only pitiful fool.’

She rose weakly to her feet. She was so hungry, her only option was to drink water from the tap.

She shuffled laboriously to the bathroom, but then her vision suddenly went black, and she passed out.

She didn’t know how long she had been unconscious. When she came to, she found herself collapsed in the bathroom doorway.

Her body ached. Her forehead had hit the floor, raising a large lump.

She scrambled up in a daze and looked around the empty room.

’No, I can’t just sit here and wait to die. Why should I let Adrian Preston be my judge?’

’If it comes to it, let them call the police and have me arrested.’

’At least in jail, they’d feed me. They wouldn’t torture me like this.’

She rallied, pushing herself up and steadying herself against the wall.

First, she filled her stomach with water until she felt she had a little strength, then she made her way to the balcony.

It was late at night, and all the maids were asleep.

She glanced at the building’s exterior. Next to the balcony was an air conditioning unit.

’If I can climb over the railing, jump to the AC unit, and then shimmy down the drainpipe, I should be able to land safely.’

’And if... if I slip and fall, the maids wouldn’t dare treat a human life as a joke. They’d have to send me to a hospital.’

’It’s either starve to death right here or risk it. Maybe there’s a way out.’

’I refuse to just sit here and wait to die!’

She glanced down. It was like a bottomless black abyss, hiding a beast that threatened to devour her whole.

Suppressing her fear, she tremblingly climbed over the railing.

Whether from hunger or fear, her head spun, and she nearly fell.

Fortunately, she managed to grab hold of the railing just in time, preventing a disaster.

She pinched herself hard. The jolt of pain cleared her head, and her dizziness subsided.

Looking out from the balcony, the air conditioning unit hadn’t seemed that far.

But now that she was actually about to jump, she realized it was more than three feet away.

’If I don’t make this jump, it’s really all over.’

She took several deep breaths, then leaped with all her might.

One foot landed on the unit while the other dangled in the air. Her body swayed precariously, and the feeling of weightlessness sent her heart leaping into her throat.

In a panic, she desperately hugged the nearby drainpipe, finally steadying herself.

She was drenched in a cold sweat, her clothes practically soaked through with fear.

Not daring to look down, she could only shimmy slowly down the pipe, bit by bit.

The skin on her hands was scraped raw and dripping with blood, but she couldn’t afford to care about that now.

The moment her feet touched the ground, her legs gave out, and she collapsed, gasping for breath.

Her head swam for a long time before she could steady herself. She struggled to her feet and staggered toward the back gate.

With Adrian Preston and Shannon Preston away and Mia locked up, the staff had grown lax. They were sleeping on the job, and no one noticed her.

Her fingerprints were registered for both the front and back gates, so she was able to let herself out easily.

Her heart was in her throat the entire time. Only when she had slipped out did the taut string of tension in her mind finally snap.

She swayed on her feet, the scene before her blurring and becoming unreal.

She had to walk for a while to reach the main road, where there would be traffic and people.

She forced herself to keep going, a voice in her head repeating a mantra.

’Just a little longer. Just a little more. Once I get to the main road and find a kind person to help me, I’ll be saved.’

Running on sheer willpower, she finally reached the side of the road.

She saw a taxi and immediately raised her hand to hail it.

The next second, she collapsed bonelessly to the ground.

She groggily opened her eyes to see the driver pull over, get out of the car, and walk toward her.

"Miss, are you all right?"

She wanted to cry for help, but she had no strength left.

"Is she drunk? Doesn’t seem like it. I don’t smell any alcohol."

The middle-aged driver muttered to himself, glancing around. There was no one else in sight.

He helped her into the car and tried to make conversation on the way, but Mia Kane was too weak to respond.

"Don’t be scared, miss. It’s your lucky day, running into me."

The car swayed. Her head felt heavy, and she quickly passed out again.

She didn’t know how much time had passed before she was jolted awake by the car lurching violently.

She realized the driver had taken her to a deserted area, overgrown with weeds and surrounded by abandoned, unfinished buildings.

She was being dragged out of the car and hauled toward one of the abandoned buildings.

Her heart plummeted.