When Mia Kane heard his words, it was as if a bomb had gone off in her head.

Her mind went completely blank, and a buzzing filled her ears, drowning out the rest of what William said.

Her hand, clutching the phone, was trembling.

"The one who assaulted you on the boat that day was Chief Inspector Preston..."

"Chief Inspector Preston..."

’Adrian Preston... How could it be Adrian Preston?’

"You’re lying! You’re just trying to drive us apart, to get revenge on Adrian, aren’t you? Well, you can forget it! Adrian would never do something like that. He just wouldn’t!"

"You think he’s some kind of perfect gentleman? When he was undercover, he got together with my sister. They did everything and even held a wedding in Trivium. He’s ruthless and will do anything to achieve his goals. You’ve never truly known him!"

"Do you know what happened to my sister? She took a bullet for him, saved his damn life, but he was heartless enough to send her to prison. My sister lost her mind, she went insane. She is a cautionary tale for you."

"Impossible... Impossible..."

Mia repeated, as if she had lost all control.

"If you don’t believe me, why don’t you just go and ask him yourself?"

William, sounding as if he’d achieved his goal, let out a sinister cackle and hung up.

Mia clutched her head, desperately trying to remember that day.

She’d been blindfolded and drugged; her memories were already a blur.

But she remembered that the man was tall with an excellent physique, and his voice... his voice...

His voice was so similar to Adrian’s. William also had a deep, masculine voice, but the two were still distinct.

Every time she saw William, she was overwhelmed by fear, which must have made her overlook that detail.

’Their voices were different...’

She still remembered the first time she met Adrian. The moment he spoke, she’d been scared out of her wits.

’She had been suspicious. Why hadn’t she stayed suspicious?’

’Because of who he was.’

’Because there was no bite mark on his shoulder.’

’But he was definitely on the ship.’

’Physique, height, voice... It all matched perfectly.’

’He’s a police officer, not a saint. People make mistakes.’

She remembered that after she was drugged, but before the effects had fully kicked in, the ship had rocked violently before slowly settling.

So, by the time the drug took hold, Adrian was already on board.

’It was Adrian...’

’Then what about the bite mark?’

’How could the bite mark be explained?’ 𝐟𝚛𝕖𝚎𝕨𝗲𝐛𝚗𝐨𝐯𝐞𝕝.𝐜𝗼𝗺

Mia clutched her head in agony, trying to sort through the timeline and recall more details.

’She didn’t even know if she’d actually bitten him. Was it just a hallucination?’

’Maybe the drug had just muddled her memory?’

’And... Shannon had deliberately lured Carter King there.’

’Were the siblings working together? Did they deliberately use me as bait, a small sacrifice to lure in a bigger fish like William?’

’Did they both know the truth all along? Was I the only one who was kept in the dark?’

At this thought, Mia started to laugh and cry at the same time, a maddened look on her face.

’The man she’d worshipped like a god was the very criminal who had assaulted her.’

’He must be so pleased with himself, right?’

’And she had been stupid enough to walk right into his trap.’

There was probably another, very important reason why Adrian had never slept with her.

’Adrian didn’t dare.’

’Once they did, she would recognize him.’

’The memory of her first time was unforgettable.’

’Did Adrian like her... because of that one time?’

Mia’s mind was a chaotic mess. She didn’t want to stay in the hospital. The acrid smell of disinfectant was making her sick to her stomach.

Most importantly, this place was saturated with Adrian’s presence.

It was all-pervasive.

She left the hospital, desperately wanting to escape this place.

She hated Argent.

Hated everyone here.

Everyone was tormenting her.

She walked down the street, and it felt like every passerby was staring at her.

Mia, dressed in a hospital gown and wandering barefoot, cut a crazed figure as she walked down the street, muttering to herself.

Thinking she was having a psychotic break, someone quickly called the police.

Soon, a nearby police officer found her.

"Ma’am?"

Young Zane recognized her at a glance.

When Mia saw him, her first reaction was to run.

Young Zane quickly chased after her. "Ma’am! What’s wrong? Why are you running?"

"Let go of me! Let go of me!"

Mia had a traumatic reaction and struggled wildly. The emotional turmoil was too much; her vision went black, and she fainted.

Young Zane quickly called Adrian Preston.

When Mia woke up, she was lying in the familiar hospital room.

She stared blankly at the ceiling, her eyes vacant and hollow.

"Mia, what’s wrong? Please don’t scare me like this, okay?"

Adrian Preston looked at her with concern.

Hearing that familiar voice, a door in Mia’s mind swung open.

It was the exact same voice she had heard when she was assaulted on the ship.

Adrian had been hiding in plain sight!

"Mia..."

Adrian Preston grabbed her hand.

He started to say something else, but Mia viciously flung his hand away.

"Don’t touch me!"

Her voice was sharp, like a cat whose tail had just been stepped on.

"Mia, what’s wrong?"

Adrian frowned, realizing something was terribly wrong. She was staring at him, her eyes bloodshot and filled with pure hatred.

It was a look that could kill.

His heart seized, as if caught in the grip of a huge, invisible hand.

’Why... why was she looking at him like that?’

"Adrian, let me ask you..."

Her voice was trembling.

"Who... was it that assaulted me?"

Adrian’s brow furrowed and he pressed his lips together, a flicker of shock and panic in his eyes.

He didn’t speak.

Mia sneered. "Maybe I should ask a different question. Did—you—assault me?"

Adrian silently clenched his fists, the veins on the back of his hands bulging.

His face paled. He looked at her, wanting to speak but holding back.

He looked like he wanted to explain, but nothing came out. Perhaps any explanation would be useless now.

Under her gaze, he nodded.

In that instant, Mia was utterly devastated. She closed her eyes in despair as two silent streams of hot tears rolled down her cheeks.

’So it was true... It was him.’

’She’d been living with her rapist!’

’And she’d seen him as her savior!’

’How ridiculous. Utterly, ridiculously pathetic...’

"Mia, let me explain..."

SLAP—

Without a moment’s hesitation, Mia slapped him hard across the face.

It was a solid slap.

With Adrian’s reflexes, he could have easily dodged it, but he didn’t.

His head snapped to the side. A clear red handprint bloomed on his cheek, which began to swell before her eyes.

The corner of his mouth was even bleeding.

He licked the corner of his mouth and sat up straight.

"You were in such a state. My only option was to help you."

All his explanations sounded like excuses, so he could only state the facts as they were.

"Help me? So I’m supposed to thank you for that?"

Mia sneered. "Adrian, what’s the difference between you and those other men?"

"No, there is a difference. You’re even more terrifying. You wear this mask of a righteous hero, so no one ever knows when you do something despicable. I actually saw you as the man who saved my life. You must have gotten a real kick out of that, didn’t you!"

"Adrian, I was truly blind. To fall for the wrong man not once, but twice... I guess I deserve it!"

"From this day forward, we’ll go our separate ways. It’s over between us! Divorce! I want a divorce!"

Mia had said it before, but she’d never really meant it.

But this time, she couldn’t wait.

Spending another minute, another second with Adrian made her want to vomit!