Hearing that from her came as no surprise at all. “You know he doesn’t love you, and yet you stubbornly cling to him? Listen to yourself, Rylee, and tell me who the shameless one really is! Ten years have passed, and the only thing you’ve managed to accomplish is disgust him further! Nothing happened between you two even during my four years of absence. On the other hand, a single glance at me in R Province was all it took for him to miss me dearly!”
I let out a chuckle at the sight of the increasingly cold look on her face as I continued, “You had plenty of chances to win him over, and yet you’ve failed to do it. Do you realize how much of a failure you are, Rylee? You lost your dignity and pride as a woman, only to have him find you repulsive! Heck, you don’t even come close to Nancy, who at least gets to attend events with him! To say he’s practically forgotten all about you wouldn’t be an overstatement.”
“You’re lying!” Rylee broke into tears. “Nancy is just an escort, so why should I have to compete with her?”
“I’ll take that as a compliment. You know, I would give you a chance if you’re actually confident in winning Anthony over, but that isn’t the case. Otherwise, you wouldn’t have come to me countless times just to insult me. Heck, Anthony wouldn’t even have looked at you if it weren’t for Parker’s sake! You’re only coming to me because it makes you feel better about your pathetic self.”
That’s right… Had Anthony developed even the slightest bit of feelings for her, he would’ve at least shown her some signs of affection. However, all Rylee has achieved is wasting ten years of her life. She’s obviously not too happy about it, but she won’t go to Anthony for fear of the look of disgust he’d give her.
“Okay… Fine…” Rylee stopped crying all of a sudden and broke into a bitter smile. “Since it has come to this, I might as well get rid of you for good! Since Anthony loves you dearly, losing you would be hell on earth for him! If I can’t have him, then neither can you!”
She then pulled out a knife from her purse and held it up high as she charged at me.
Wait… I wasn’t expecting this. Why does she have a knife on her?
It all happened too quickly, so it was too late for me to move out of the way.
I instinctively closed my eyes and braced myself for the worst, but nothing happened. When I slowly opened my eyes a few seconds later, I saw Anthony standing before me.
He was dressed fully in black and looked as handsome as always, except his forehead was covered in sweat.
He came running all the way here?
He had grabbed Rylee by the wrist and stopped her from plunging the knife into me. “I told you, your fate would be a hundred times worse if you so much as lay a hand on her!” he shouted coldly, his voice filled with rage.
Anthony then shoved her away and shielded me from her as he gave Joseph a call. “Call the police, Joseph!”
It was obvious that he had already told Joseph to be on standby before coming over.
After hanging up the phone, he looked at me worriedly and asked, “What are you doing here?”
“I brought her over to make her give up on you,” I replied.
He let out a sigh and turned toward Rylee. “You can choose to either leave K City forever or get arrested for breaking and entering.”
Rylee went pale and shook her head in disbelief. “You can’t do this to me, Anth! You promised my brother you’d take good care of me!”
Anthony shot her a fierce glare and said coldly, “You mentioning your brother now only disgusts me further. In fact, his biggest failure in life is having a sister like you.”
Rylee had barely steadied herself after getting up from the floor when his words hit her like a sledgehammer and sent her falling back down again.
Anthony stared down at her as he continued, “For Parker’s sake, I’m willing to pay you any sum of money as compensation, but you tried to hurt my wife today, and I will not let it slide. You’re looking at three years in prison for first-degree burglary. Of course, you do have the option to take the money and leave K City, under the condition that you disappear from our sight forever!”
The murderous intent in his cold voice was palpable.
Rylee had broken down completely and sat motionless on the floor while Joseph arrived with the police shortly after.
There were no security cameras in the villa, but Rylee still had the knife in her hand when the police came in. Given Anthony’s power and influence, getting her jailed for burglary was no problem at all.
However, he didn’t say a word, and the police simply took Rylee in for interrogation as per the normal procedure.
We were both quiet on the drive home. As I stared blankly out the window, I thought about what happened earlier. When did he get there? How much of our conversation did he overhear? Oh, this reminds me… He once told Rylee that she could only give but not ask for love. That makes sense… After all, love that you only receive by asking isn’t worth anything.
Right then, he stopped the car by the side of the road, snapping me out of my train of thoughts. I looked at him in confusion and asked, “We’re not home yet?”
Anthony nodded, got out of the car, and disappeared behind a corner on the street.
A while later, he came back with a box of chocolates in hand. “Here, try it!” he offered while holding it out to me, but I just stared blankly at the box without responding.
He then took my hand and whispered into my ear, “You can scold me all you like. Don’t keep quiet like this.”
His hand feels so warm… Maybe it’s because mine is icy-cold…
I looked up at him and said in a hoarse voice, “She didn’t break into the house. I was the one who brought her in.”
He started the engine and nodded as he placed the box of chocolates into my hand. “I know.”
“Why’d you let the police take her away?” I had no appetite for anything at all.
He let out a sigh and looked at me. “She has to learn her lesson, Sienna. I won’t always be around to protect you, you know? What do you think would’ve happened if I wasn’t around earlier?”
“I would’ve gotten stabbed,” I replied in a matter-of-fact tone.
He raised an eyebrow at me. “Is that all?”
“And I might have died.”
He let out another sigh. “I’ve waited four years for you, and this is what I get in return? Having to live a life where you only exist in my memories?”
Upon hearing that, I kept quiet.
“I have to do something to prevent her from hurting you again, Sienna. I can’t guarantee that I’ll always be able to save you in the nick of time if she comes after you, nor can I predict when such an incident will occur again. The only thing I can do is get rid of her completely.”
“What do you plan to do next?” I asked after a brief pause.
He had a cold look in his eyes as he tightened his grip on the steering wheel. “Either have her leave K City forever, or sue her and have her spend three years in prison.”
I frowned. “The hatred and resentment in her will only build up and give rise to new conflict. We can’t punish her for something she hasn’t done.”
“That’s why I’m planning on forcing her to leave instead,” he said with a stern look on his face.
I… Fine, I guess this is the best possible solution…
It was quite late when we got back to the villa. I had eaten while I was in the mall earlier, so I wasn’t really hungry.
Summer was munching on a slice of cake that Flora had baked. “I want some chocolates too, Mommy!” she said while staring at the box in my hand with those innocent-looking eyes of hers.
I let out a sigh and handed her the box. “You mustn’t eat too much of it or you’ll get cavities, okay?”
Summer nodded with a huge smile on her face.
Anthony shot me a glance and said with a chuckle, “Looks like I’ve got some competition for your affection.”
Ignoring his comment, I sat down on the sofa as I asked, “How much of my conversation with Rylee did you overhear?”
There is no such thing as a pure and beautiful soul, and anyone who appears that way is simply putting on a facade. When you get to know them, you’ll eventually see their hideous side.
He sat down on the sofa in front of me. “Just a little.”
“You must think I’m pretty evil, huh?”
New Book: Back Home to Marry Off Myself
Loredana’s father left the family for his mistress, leaving them to fend for themselves abroad. When life was at its toughest, her father showed up with “good news” after 8 years of absence: To marry off Loredana to a paralyzed son of the wealthy Mendelsohn family.
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