In reality, Susan had always been terrified of cramped, dark environments. Once, in an attempt to save Juan from a kidnapping, she had been held captive in a cellar for an entire week—beaten and verbally abused—leaving her in unbearable pain.
Juan had known she was afraid of the dark, of confined spaces. Still, he had stuffed her into that dark, damp basement.
Susan curled up in a corner, her eyes so dry she couldn’t even shed a single tear. It was as if she had become completely numb to the pain Juan inflicted on her.
And so, in the basement, Susan counted down the days, enduring the torment. Six days, five days, four days... She was terrified of missing her flight.
Luckily, with only three days left, the basement door finally opened. A pair of ten-centimeter high heels appeared before Susan. Ashley looked down at her, eyes brimming with mockery.
"Susan, you're so shameless. Even after all this, you're still thinking about withdrawing your divorce application from Juan? Do you really want to be his dog?"
She reached out and thrust an electric baton into Susan. The searing pain nearly took her breath away. She collapsed to the ground, eyes bloodshot, yet no tears came.
Hearing all this, she remained strangely calm, even managing a faint smile, "Ashley, is Juan really that good to you?"
Ashley sneered, "You should know better than I do, right? Otherwise, you wouldn’t have clung to Juan for so many years. It’s not him who’s so amazing—it’s the mighty Parkston Family behind him."
Ashley bent down and jabbed the baton into her again.
Susan's face turned ghostly pale from the pain, "Soon, everything will be as you wish."
"Ideally," Ashley scoffed. "After all, from beginning to end, Juan’s heart has only ever belonged to me."
Susan froze. Her eyes widened as a chill spread through her body, "What do you mean?"
"Oh, so you didn’t know!" Ashley covered her lips, feigning surprise.
"You chased Juan for years and he never said yes. Did you never wonder why he suddenly confessed to you in college? Of course, it was because he wanted to confess to me!"
Ashley laughed triumphantly, "It’s a pity that back then, I didn’t realize how important the Parkston Family would be to me, so I rejected him. I never thought that, out of spite, he would turn around and confess to you—and even marry you!"
A low thunder rumbled from above, as if the world cracked open. All the strength in Susan’s body vanished. Her eyes turned bloodshot. She sprang to her feet, shoved Ashley aside and bolted upstairs.
No. Impossible!
Juan had clearly liked her. He clearly had feelings for her.
Susan rummaged through her closet and finally found the glass bottle filled with paper cranes—Juan’s gift when he confessed his love.
With a crash, she smashed the bottle, the flying shards slicing her skin. Susan, completely oblivious to the pain, crouched down like a madwoman, picking up each paper crane and unfolding them one by one.
[Ashley, I fell in love with you the first time I saw you.]
[Ashley, you're so adorable when you're angry.]
[Ashley, there's really nothing between Susan and me. Don’t misunderstand.]
Susan had treasured these confessions to Ashley like precious tokens, hoarding them for a full ten years. She was truly ridiculous.
Her entire body trembled uncontrollably as she let out one mournful laugh after another. Finally, two lines of tears streamed from her eyes, washing away the dryness—tears of anguish and devastation.
