###Chapter 3
Icy pool water rushed into my nose and mouth. I struggled desperately, trying to call for help.
“Bella, I will never marry a woman as cold as you!”
Victor spoke each word firmly.
If he had turned around, he would have seen the wound on my head reopen, blood gushing out and staining the pool red.
But no matter how much I struggled in the water, my strength waned and I slowly sank into the deep water. The last thing I saw was him carrying Brielle away.
When I opened my eyes again, I met the Uncle Sam’s worried gaze.
“I just went back to make you some soup, how could this have happened, Miss? The doctor said if we had been a minute later, you might not have woken up!”
I huddled on the hospital bed, trembling uncontrollably. The grievances and fear choked my throat, but I swallowed them back down.
After my mother left, Uncle Sam was the only one who truly cared for me. I couldn't bear to worry him anymore.
I forced a smile and gently shook my head. "I'm fine, Uncle. Don't worry."
The infection from my wound, coupled with the shock of nearly drowning, had left me with a fever for several days.
Meanwhile, Victor hadn't called once, only sent some tonics.
The bodyguard conveyed the message expressionlessly. "Mr. Wellington said that as long as you obediently apologize to Miss Brielle, he will forgive you."
Forgive me, he said?
What a joke.
I angrily swept the tonics into the trash can, looked at the faint scar on my forehead in the mirror and gave a bitter smile.
After being discharged from the hospital alone, I took a taxi back to pack my bags, most importantly to retrieve my mother's keepsake—a jade ring I had given to Victor as a token of our love.
But as soon as I stepped onto the stairs, I heard a woman's soft moans coming from the direction of the bedroom.
"Victor...it hurts..."
Then I heard a man’s voice, suppressing his emotions and spoke with utmost gentleness, "Okay, I'll go slower."
"Victor, my biggest wish is to have your baby, so I'll truly have a home... is that okay?"
After a moment of silence, the man's hoarse reply came. "As your wish, Darling."
No need to be genius to know what they're doing!
My stomach churned and I almost vomited.
Back downstairs, I sat there blankly for a long time.
Then Brielle came down. She was wearing Victor's oversized shirt, her legs bare, her eyes languid.
"Ah, you’re back, Bella? Don't misunderstand, my apartment's water's cut off, so I came to borrow the bathroom to take a shower."
Not long after, a tall figure appeared behind her.
Victor, for sure.
Seeing me, his voice was slightly tense. "Bella, when did you get back?"
I suppressed a wave of nausea. "Just now."
He immediately breathed a sigh of relief.
I continued, "I want my mother's jade ring back."
His eyes turned cold. "The ring?"
He grabbed my wrist, seeing me with a sharp gaze. "I thought you came back to apologize to Brielle, but you ask for the ring right away? You want back what you gave me?"
“Why? Then what about you? We’ve known each other for twenty years and you’d rather believe her than me?”
“I saw you push Brielle down with my own eyes, how can I believe you?!”
I was utterly disappointed, and with all my might, I shook off Victor’s hand. “Think what you want. Give me back the ring and we’re breaking up. Victor, you’re free now and I won’t be a laughingstock anymore.”
He was stunned, his anger intensifying. “Just because I’ve been neglecting you lately, you’re threatening me with a breakup?”
“I’m not threatening you,” I looked at him calmly, “I’m informing you. My things, give them back.”
Victor clenched his fists, gritting his teeth. “It’s lost!”
“What?!” I stumbled. He knew perfectly well what that ring meant to me!
Beside me, Brielle suddenly interjected. “Huh? You mean this one, Bella?”
She took a leather cord with a jade ring attached from under her oversized shirt.
My eyes lit up and I was about to grab it when I saw Brielle stumble, the ring suddenly slipping from her hand and shattering on the marble floor.
My vision went black. Then…
Slap!
I landed a hard slap on her face.
"Brielle, you did that on purpose, right? How could you be so shameless just like your mother?!"
But Brielle screamed and fell to the ground. Victor threw me onto the sofa and tenderly picked Brielle up.
Turning around, his eyes were filled with endless coldness.
"Lock her in the basement. Don't let her out without my permission!"
