I went to the Montgomery Group that morning and resigned as Argus’s secretary. Just like that. No hesitation, no second thoughts.
The HR manager, one of the few people who ever treated me kindly, looked at me and sighed. “Dahlia, congratulations! You finally got out. I’m serious, you escaped something ugly.”
I forced a small smile. “Yeah… I guess I did.”
And for the first time in a long while, I actually felt a little lighter. Like something heavy had finally loosened its grip on my chest. I didn’t owe them anything anymore. Not the money, not the pain, not the version of myself I became just to survive.
But that feeling didn’t last long.
The moment I walked into the villa that evening, a glass shattered right in front of me.
I flinched as sharp pieces scattered across the floor, one of them slicing into my arm. I barely had time to react before Argus stormed over.
His hand came fast.
The slap rang loud, my head snapping to the side as pain exploded across my face.
“Dahlia!” he shouted, his eyes cold and furious. “Grandpa treated you like his own, and this is how you repay him? You pushed him down the stairs? You tried to kill him?!”
My ears rang, my cheek burning, but none of that mattered.
“What?” I breathed, panic rising fast. “What are you talking about? How did Grandpa fall? What did the doctor say? Is he okay?”
Before Argus could answer, a weak voice came from upstairs.
“Miss Connelly, the butler already said it was you,” Celine said, her tone trembling, almost pitiful. “Are you really going to pretend you’re innocent even now?”
My body went cold.
“Argus, is this really the person you chose?” she added softly, like she was hurt. “She did something like that and still won’t admit it. She’s a coward.”
I staggered back as Argus shoved me hard against the wall. Pain shot through my back, but I barely felt it.
Because I saw her. Celine.
For just a second, her eyes met mine. And she smiled. A small, smug smile.
My scalp tingled. I didn’t need to think twice. She did it. She pushed Grandpa. And now she was blaming me.
Before I could say anything, my phone started ringing sharply. Argus picked it up, and the butler’s voice came through, urgent and panicked. “Sir, the master just had a massive hemorrhage! The hospital’s blood bank is running low, we might not have enough supply—”
I couldn’t hear the rest.Because Celine spoke again, like she just remembered something important.
“Argus, Dahlia’s blood type is the same as Grandpa’s, right?” she said softly.
My heart dropped.
A cold fear crawled up from my feet, wrapping around my chest.
No…
The next second, everything turned chaotic. Hands grabbed me. I struggled, but it didn’t matter. I was dragged out, shoved into a car, and taken straight to the hospital.
Before I could even process what was happening, I was tied down in the emergency room.
“Hold her still,” someone said.
Cold ropes tightened around my wrists. A needle pierced into my vein.
“Draw her blood,” Argus’s voice came, cold and final. “As long as it saves Grandpa, I don’t care what happens to her. Even if she dies.”
My heart clenched.
I turned my head, looking at him through blurry vision. “Argus…” My voice shook. “Even if I didn’t say anything… I would’ve given blood for Grandpa. You didn’t have to do this. You didn’t have to tie me up like this…”
My throat tightened.
“But I didn’t push him,” I said, forcing the words out. “I swear I didn’t. You can’t just decide that and treat me like this. You can’t take what little dignity I have left.”
He let out a cold laugh.
“Still lying?” his eyes was full of disgust. “Grandpa treated you so well, and this is how you repay him? Dahlia, you really have no bottom line.”
“I didn’t—”
“Enough,” he cut me off sharply. “You better pray he survives. Because if anything happens to him, I’ll make you pay for it. In blood.”
In blood.
The words echoed in my head.Anger. Pain. Fear. Something broke inside me, quietly and completely.
I could feel it… my blood leaving my body, little by little. My fingers turned cold, my vision dimming at the edges.
Was this how it felt? When you had no way out? When no one believed you? A tear slipped down the side of my face.
Dad…
Did it hurt like this when you were lying there alone? When you needed help and no one came?
My breathing grew weaker, my thoughts drifting. For a moment… I thought I heard his voice.
Soft.
Calling me.
Dad, are you here? Did you come to take me with you?
…
I had a long dream.
In that dream, Celine hadn’t come back yet, and everything was different.
Argus and I were still together like a normal couple. No tension, no fear. He would introduce me to his friends without hesitation, his hand always around my waist like he was proud of me. Like I actually belonged there.
He even took me to the hospital to visit my dad. He would talk to him, sit beside his bed, and try so hard to please him. I still remembered how awkward he looked sometimes, like he didn’t know what to say but still tried anyway.
“Sir, I’ll take care of Dahlia,” he said once, almost seriously. “You don’t have to worry about her.”
Back then, I believed him.
I really thought… we had a future.
He gave me so many firsts. First time feeling wanted, first time feeling like maybe I wasn’t alone. I held onto those moments like they were real.
Then suddenly—
Cold water poured over my head.
I gasped, my whole body jerking as freezing liquid soaked through my clothes, biting straight into my skin. The cold hurt so much it almost felt like knives.
My eyes snapped open.
The dream shattered.
Reality came back all at once.
Argus was sitting in front of me, high above like he was looking down at something worthless. His eyes were cold, completely detached.
“You should be grateful,” he said, his tone flat. “Grandpa made it through. If something happened to him, you wouldn’t even be alive right now. You would’ve died on that operating table.”
My body stiffened.
Before I could even process that, he continued, “Until he wakes up, you’re staying here. Reflect on what you’ve done. And be ready anytime if he needs more blood.”
Reflect?
My mind went blank.
Then it hit me where I was.
This place…
My skin broke out in goosebumps.
I knew this room.
It was where Argus dealt with people who crossed him. I had heard things, whispers, rumors. People didn’t come out the same… if they came out at all.
There were no windows. No light. The air felt thick, heavy, like it was soaked with something I didn’t want to name.
Blood.
I remembered once, I laughed and asked him, “What if one day we end up as enemies? Would you throw me in there too?”
He looked at me back then, serious for once. “No. That’ll never happen. We won’t become enemies.”
I almost laughed now.
Look at me.
Standing right in the middle of his hell.
All because of a lie that didn’t even try to hide its cracks.
Something inside my chest twisted slowly, painfully.
“I didn’t push Grandpa,” I said, forcing the words out one by one. “I didn’t do it. I’m not lying. I didn’t do anything wrong, so I’m not staying here to reflect on something I didn’t do.”
I tried to stand.
My body didn’t listen.
It felt like it was falling apart, like every part of me was too weak to hold together. My legs trembled and gave out before I could even get up properly.
Argus let out a low scoff.
“Dahlia, you really are something,” he said, shaking his head slightly. “Still pretending. Still acting like the victim. I won’t believe a single word from you ever again.”
Ever again. He turned and walked out. The door slammed shut.
