Easton burst into my room, his eyes bloodshot, with Connor and the other two right behind him. Their faces were grim, but Easton’s was the darkest of all as he grabbed my arm with a violent jerk.
“What are you doing? Let go of me!”
I struggled with all my strength, but they forced me out, dragging me into a waiting car.
Before I knew it, they hauled me onto a helicopter. When we landed and I finally saw where we were—I froze.
We were standing on a platform a thousand meters above the ground. Below us stretched a dizzying abyss.
My legs instantly weakened, trembling uncontrollably. My face was drained of all colors.
They knew. They knew I was terrified of heights—and yet they brought me here.
“You lunatics!” I shouted hoarsely, clinging to what little breath I had left. “What the hell are you trying to do?”
Easton’s eyes were blazing red as he stared me down.
“Where did you take Charlie?!”
His hands shot to my throat, squeezing tight, as though he wanted to snap my neck.
“Yesterday—it was clearly me! Yet you dared to blame her for it?” he snarled.
My pupils shrank, vision darkening as my breath caught in my chest. I gasped desperately, forcing broken words past his grip.
“I... didn't’...”
He inhaled sharply, his gaze like ice.
“I know you like me,” he spat. “But I’ve told you before—I don’t like you. None of us do. Not me, not Connor, not any of them.”
He loosened his grip just enough for me to draw air again.
“If it weren’t for Charlie, we wouldn’t have bothered pretending with you. If you don’t tell us where she is, don’t blame us for what happens next.”
Gasping, I screamed back at him with all the strength I had left.
“I don’t like any of you! I was never going to choose you! What does Charlie’s kidnapping have to do with me? I told you—I didn’t do it!”
His expression darkened instantly. I could see it—his rage, though I couldn’t tell what fueled it more: my rejection, or my denial.
The others exchanged uneasy looks, but then closed in around me.
Connor spoke softly, almost coaxing, “Debbie, I know you’re upset about what happened last night. Just be good. Tell us where Charlie is, and we’ll treat you just like before.”
As he spoke, his hand tugged at the safety harness strapped to me.
My body lurched, swaying over the endless drop below.
A strangled gasp escaped my lips as my body stiffened in terror. My face was pale as death.
For a brief second, I saw something flicker in their eyes—hesitation, pity, maybe even regret. But none of them loosened their grip.
Easton drew in a breath, his voice sharp and merciless.
“Debbie, I’ll count. If you don’t give us an answer by the count of three, we’ll strip you bare. If you still don’t speak by ten—” His eyes narrowed to slits. “We’ll throw you down.”
I froze, staring at him in disbelief.
“You’re insane! I told you, I didn’t do it! If I die, the Sinclair family will never let you go!”
He laughed coldly.
“Even if they try, we are the heirs of the other four great families. Do you really think the Sinclair family can touch us?”
Tears of fury stung my eyes as I glared at them, one by one.
And then his countdown began.
“Ten.”
“I told you—I don’t know!” I screamed, but my cries fell on deaf ears.
“Nine.”
I bit down on my lip until I tasted blood, shaking violently.
“Eight.”
At his signal, Connor caught my wrist. His voice was tender, gentle, but his actions were ruthless.
“Debbie, don’t fight it. Think of this as a lesson.”
In one swift motion, he tugged at my clothes.
I was only wearing a thin nightdress when they dragged me from my room. If they stripped it away—nothing but my undergarments would remain.
“No!” I shrieked, twisting frantically. But my terror of height sapped all my strength.
Against them, I was powerless.
Connor’s hands moved with chilling ease, unfastening buttons one by one, even as he looked at me with feigned affection.
I clutched my chest desperately, screaming until my throat burned.
But Easton’s countdown continued.
Every number. Every snap of fabric undone.
Until the final count fell.
And with merciless indifference, Easton shoved me off the platform.
The abyss swallowed me whole.
The terror was so absolute, so consuming, that I didn’t even have time to scream. My mind went blank—and fainted directly.
...
When I awoke again, before my eyes even opened, I heard Kenji’s voice nearby.
“Connor, you really are cruel. If Hayden and I hadn’t tied a safety line to Debbie’s back… she’d be dead for real.”
Connor chuckled softly.
“She struck first at Charlie. And even if she died, with the four of us together, we could escape responsibility easily enough.”
Kenji sighed. “If she had died then, maybe we’d finally be free. Pretending all these years... I don’t know how much longer I can keep it up.”
“Fortunately, Charlie is unharmed,” Hayden's cultured voice added softly. “Now, I wonder which of us Debbie will choose as her fiancé after this.”
Silence followed.
Only after they left did I open my eyes.
There wasn’t a mark on my body. But my heart was already torn to shreds.
Thank heaven—I was leaving today.
Dragging my exhausted body upright, I left without hesitation.
From a distance, Connor and the others turned, as if sensing something. All they saw was my retreating figure.
“Strange… that looked a lot like Debbie,” Hayden murmured.
Connor sneered.
“Even if she woke up, she’d be bedridden for days. Don’t forget—she’s afraid of heights.”
...
When I returned home, I packed swiftly.
The engagement tokens they had once given me, I tossed carelessly into four boxes for the butler to deliver tomorrow. I no longer cared.
Grabbing my documents, I boarded the plane without looking back.
Easton, Connor, Kenji, Hayden.
From this moment forward, I was done with all of them.
—
The next day, at my birthday banquet, the four of them arrived.
Though clearly reluctant, they had no choice—forced by their families to attend, dressed to perfection.
They stood together, impassive, enduring the envious stares of the crowd.
Minutes stretched into hours, but I never appeared.
Hayden was the first to notice. His brows furrowed as he kept glancing between the entrance and backstage.
“Debbie still isn’t here.”
Easton sneered. “She has clung to us for so many years. Even if she were dead, she’d show up today to choose one of us. The only question is—which one of us will be unlucky?”
The four exchanged loaded looks.
But then, whispers rippled through the hall.
The Sinclair family’s butler stepped forward—holding four boxes.
The moment Easton and the others saw them, an inexplicable dread stirred in their chests.
Tradition dictated that once I chose my fiancé, the other three would have their engagement tokens returned.
They knew this, and they expected it.
But now—there were four boxes.
As the butler approached, their eyes widened in shock!
Expressionless, he announced, “Master Lovato, Young Master Wright, Young Master Ramirez, Young Master Lopez—Miss Debbie has returned all your engagement tokens. Please verify it.”
His words detonated like a bomb.
The hall fell into absolute silence.
