Outside the door, Zoe pounded on it like a woman possessed, her voice shaking beyond her control.
“You ungrateful brat! Let go of Susan right now, or when Douglas gets home, he will skin you alive.”
Paul let out an irritated growl.
“Stop using my uncle to threaten me. I'm helping my fiancée change clothes. What family rule does that break? What right does he have to tell me what to do?”
I fixed my eyes on Paul, every word deliberate.
“I'm your uncle's wife.”
A scornful laugh came from above my head.
Paul leaned into my neck, twirling a strand of my hair around his finger.
“Susie, if you're going to lie to make me jealous, at least come up with a better excuse.”
“Everyone knows my uncle has zero interest in women. Thirty years single and he's never so much as looked at anyone.”
He kissed the side of my face. I recoiled, skin crawling.
Zoe screamed for the servants to break down the door, ready to tear Paul apart with her bare hands.
“You bastard! You really are going to destroy me and your father!”
“Open this door right now and let go of your aunt!”
Paul's brows knotted together, then smoothed out, as if something had just clicked into place.
He forced his fingers through mine, lacing them tight, his tone the kind you'd use on a frightened child.
“Susie, I know you probably haven't accepted the fact that I'm alive yet.”
“I swear I'll love you even more than before.”
Listening to Paul's self-congratulatory tenderness, acid churned in my stomach.
“Drop the act! You were never in any car accident. You faked your death so you could run off and travel the world with your secretary.”
“What made you think I'd just wait around for you? Paul, I'm married.”
Paul's eyes shot up in disbelief, his grip on my hand tightening until the bones ground together.
The pain forced tears out of me.
He wiped them away gently, a flicker of panic crossing his face.
“Susie, it's not what you think.”
I laughed, cold and bitter, and wrenched my hand free.
The tears came anyway, flooding out for reasons I couldn't name.
“After I heard about your accident, I tried to kill myself.”
“Every single night I couldn't sleep. All I saw was you, covered in blood.”
“I blamed myself. If I hadn't made you send Amber away, you never would've been in that crash.”
My nose burned. I shouldn't still hurt over this. I knew that.
But I couldn't stop myself from ripping that sickening mask of devotion right off his face.
Paul saw my tears and lost whatever composure he had left. He let go of my hand immediately.
He pulled me into a clumsy, desperate embrace, his voice raw.
“I'm sorry, Susie. But I'm back now, aren't I?”
“I came back to marry you. I promise I'll give you a happy future.”
I laughed through my tears, shoved him off me, and said it one final time.
“Paul, I am married.”
“Nobody waits in the same spot forever.”
Paul grabbed my arm regardless and yanked, tearing my blouse apart.
Bare skin hit the cold air and I shuddered.
He snatched up the wedding dress beside him and held it against me.
“Susie, what about this one?”
I looked down, too exhausted to reason with a wall.
Paul's gaze froze, landing on the faint stretch marks across my stomach.
His voice broke. His fingers slipped from my arm without him even realizing it.
“What are those?”
Outside, Zoe was already pacing in frantic circles, screaming herself hoarse trying to talk sense into her son.
“Disrespecting an elder is one of the highest offenses under family punishment. Do you want to face discipline the moment you set foot back in this house?”
The door shook violently on its hinges. Just before the servants broke through, I shook off Paul, who was standing there blank and hollow, and pulled my clothes back into place.
Zoe charged in the second the door gave way and slapped Paul so hard blood seeped from the corner of his mouth.
At the same moment, a car horn sounded from the driveway.
Douglas appeared carrying an iron whip lined with barbs.
He wrapped an arm around my waist and fixed Paul with a stare so cold it could have been aimed at a corpse.
“You've been bullying my wife?”
