“Hold him down! If you won’t, I will!” Tyler barked, his tone dripping with arrogance.
“You wouldn’t dare!” I snapped back, steady and unflinching.
Outnumbered and pinned, I had no way out. A fist drew back, ready to smash into my face, when the villa’s front door creaked open.
A voice cut through the chaos. “What the hell is going on here?”
Eliza Blackwell.
The moment she appeared in the doorway, I pushed myself off the floor, fury burning hotter than the pain.
“Eliza. Start talking. Now.”
Her face drained to ash. The warmth in her eyes vanished, leaving only panic.
“Eliza!” Tyler squealed, stumbling toward her and clutching her like a shield. His voice dripped with false sweetness, sickening to hear.
“Finally showed up, huh? This is your ex, the one who can’t let go? What a joke. He even tried passing himself off as the Ashcombes’ eldest son. Don’t worry, I already taught him his place for you.”
I briefly observed their tangled figures, then couldn’t help but let out a soft, incredulous laugh.
“Ex? Eliza, do you dare tell him what our relationship really is?”
I pointed straight at Tyler’s face, each word landing like a punch.
"Don’t you remember the term ‘betrothed’? Or maybe, after three years of running roughshod over the Ashcombes, you’ve forgotten who you really are?"
Eliza’s face flushed with rage, her breath shallow.
But Tyler, caught between confusion and disbelief, pulled away from her and stared at me.
Then, he turned back to Eliza. “Betrothed? What the hell is he talking about?”
I scoffed. “Tyler, for once, use your brain.”
I pointed to the framed photo of Mabel and me hanging in the living room.
“You’ve always said you’re Mabel’s lover. But now you and Eliza have kids. Did she actually give you any real title? If she had any real power, why would she still let you be known as my sister’s lover?”
Tyler’s face drained of color. He instinctively grabbed Eliza’s arm, looking to her for some reassurance. “Eliza, is what he’s saying true? Did you lie to me?”
Eliza instantly quipped, “Shut up!”
The last trace of Eliza’s fake gentleness disappeared, replaced by a savage edge to her expression.
She then spat, “You bastard, how dare you stir up trouble between me and Tyler!”
Eliza pointed sharply toward the door, her voice slicing through the air like a blade.
“Weren’t you going to hit him? Go ahead! A madman like him deserves a beating before he stops spouting nonsense!”
The bodyguards exchanged uncertain glances, but eventually, they moved toward me.
I glanced at Eliza’s twisted face. All warmth in me evaporated completely.
So, this is the person I’d trusted with Ashcombe Enterprises for the last three years.
“Eliza.”
I straightened up, my back pressing against the cold wall.
My voice came out eerily calm, almost detached. “If you dare touch a single hair on me today, even if I can’t do anything to you right now, my sister will make sure you disappear from this world forever.”
At my words, Eliza sneered even more coldly, as if she’d just heard the funniest joke. She suddenly grabbed my hair, yanking me forward with a forceful tug and pulling me outside the villa.
The sharp pain in my scalp forced my head back, and I stumbled, struggling to keep my balance.
“Mabel?” She sneered again, her voice dripping with disdain. “You’re relying on that fool I toyed with? She’s probably still out there somewhere in a club, drunk and waiting for me to send her money to spend.”
With that, she released my hair.
I stumbled back a few steps, almost losing my footing.
Before I could steady myself, the bodyguards’ slaps rained down like a storm—across my face, forehead, and mouth.
The fiery pain mixed with the taste of blood that filled my mouth.
Eliza’s mocking laugh echoed around me as she leaned in close, her voice barely above a whisper but just loud enough for me to hear.
“Patrick, after you left for overseas, your parents took off to travel the world. Your useless sister? Don’t even think about it. No one’s coming to save you today.”
“How about this,” Eliza smirked, her tone dripping with malice, “The eldest son of the Ashcombes has been gone for years, and after a little digging, we find out he died overseas under mysterious circumstances?”
I gritted my teeth, feeling my patience snap. “Eliza, don’t you dare!”
“What’s there to be afraid of?” Eliza retorted, her eyes narrowing. “While you’ve been away, I’ve spent these years getting a firm grasp on the Ashcombe's business.”
She leaned in, her voice dripping with fake sweetness. “If the Blackwells hadn’t fallen from grace, do you really think I’d have ever betrothed you?”
I shut my eyes for a moment, fighting the anger that was building in my chest. I could still remember how Eliza's pride had kept the Ashcombes from ever publicly acknowledging her as my betrothed. Only the family knew the truth, and even though that truth was hidden, they’d never mistreated her.
The shouting between us had attracted the attention of some bystanders.
To make matters worse, Eliza spun a story, claiming I was an imposter pretending to be her fiancé and the eldest son of the Ashcombes.
The murmurs started up, and people began pointing at me, talking behind my back.
"So it’s true, he’s pretending to be someone else’s fiancé. How shameless!"
"He looks decent, but does something like this? Unbelievable."
"Mr. Ashcombe must be unlucky to be stuck with a madman like him."
Eliza stood off to the side, arms crossed, her innocent expression making it seem like she was the victim and I was the crazy one.
Tyler stood beside her, covering his mouth with a sly smile, his eyes gleaming with satisfaction, as if he had been the one to win.
I clenched my jaw and let their slander roll off me. Every word only honed my focus, and the cold in my eyes cut sharper.
My family carried two faces: one for the world to see, and one buried in the shadows.
I was tied to the public front. Mabel, the sister they dismissed as useless, belonged to the hidden faction.
“Mabel.” My voice wasn’t loud, but it cut through the noise and reached every ear around. “If you keep hiding back there, I’ll send you overseas to freeze in the northwest, and you’ll never be able to come back!”
