When I returned home, the familiar scent of gardenia greeted me.
Cassidy was here.
“Brother-in-law, I really wish the four of us could live together like a real family. But... Sister will be upset, won’t she? I don’t want her to be angry...”
Her voice was soft, sweet, and just fragile enough to stir a man’s desire to protect.
Of course, Joaquin fell right into it. He pulled her into his arms, his tall frame enveloping her as she sobbed delicately against his chest.
“Don’t worry. I won’t let anyone hurt our children,” he murmured, looking down at her tenderly. “That includes you. If anyone tries to hurt you two, I’ll make them suffer even more.”
I pushed the door open and rolled inside.
“So throwing a woman with fractured legs into a bullfighting ring wasn’t enough punishment?”
Joaquin clearly hadn’t expected me to come back. His gaze flicked toward the wheelchair I was in, a fleeting look of guilt crossing his face.
I ignored both of them and started wheeling myself toward my room.
“Sis...” Cassidy called timidly, but I didn’t spare her a glance.
That was when Joaquin grabbed my arm.
“Allison, don’t you want to know how they got here?”
I met his eyes—eyes burning with blame—and answered flatly, “It has nothing to do with me.”
Just then, the twins started crying. They squirmed out of the housekeeper’s arms, visibly frightened.
Joaquin sighed, as if he had finally made a difficult decision.
“It’s because of you. Every time it gets dark, they cry themselves to sleep in fear. Cassidy’s claustrophobia has also relapsed.”
I looked up at him, my tone was calm and cold.
“So?”
His thick brows furrowed deeper. “You’re being too selfish. You need to apologize to them.”
Before I could even respond, Cassidy stepped between us.
“Brother-in-law, please don’t fight because of me and the kids. I’ll talk to my sister. Go check on the children first.”
The moment he disappeared down the hallway with the twins, Cassidy’s expression twisted. Her sweet face contorted into something venomous.
“Dear sister, I suggest you step aside soon. Otherwise, a broken leg might just be the least of your problems.”
I narrowed my eyes. “It was you, wasn’t it?”
She feigned shock, covering her mouth dramatically. “Sis, what are you saying? I don’t understand.”
I turned away, unwilling to waste another word on her.
That’s when she suddenly let out a scream—and threw herself at me.
I instinctively shielded my injured leg. She missed me and crashed heavily to the floor on her own.
“Sister, please don’t be like this... I’m scared. I really love Joaquin, and he loves me...”
Her pitiful cries echoed through the house, just as Joaquin rushed back in.
With no hesitation, he kicked my wheelchair.
I fell hard on the floor.
Fresh blood seeped through my bandages as the stitches on my wound burst open again.
Joaquin didn’t care. He simply picked Cassidy up in his arms, glaring down at me with hatred.
“You really haven’t learned your lesson.”
Cassidy clung to his neck and sniffled.
“Brother-in-law... I just wanted the emerald necklace. I thought it might help purify the kids’ energy field. I didn’t think she’d get so upset."
"Maybe she still loves you too much. I remember... that necklace, you made it for her yourself, didn’t you?”
Joaquin’s gaze shifted to the green gemstone around my neck. His jaw clenched.
“If I made it with my own hands, I can take it back with my own hands.”
He yanked it off me. The delicate lace thread snapped under the force, leaving it misshapen and torn.
I clutched my chest, struggling to breathe through the pain that struck like lightning through my heart.
That emerald had cost him eighty million at a royal auction. It was my birthstone—my so-called “guardian stone.” And the lace cord that held it? He had spent 88 hours weaving it by hand.
But none of that matters now.
Cassidy fell beside me, deliberately pressing the full weight of her body onto my injured leg.
Her tone was soft as she pleaded, “Sis, I'm begging you... just one energy cleansing for the kids. They’ve been so traumatized by what happened the other day...”
Her words were gentle—but her eyes glittered with cruelty.
Then, without warning, she drove her elbow straight into the exact spot where my bone was fractured.
