James lifted my chin.
"You can only stay by my side."
I should have been happy to hear that he wanted to keep me, but for some reason, I felt numb.
Maybe I gradually realized he was very different from the boy in my memory.
I would rather die to atone for my sins than stay by James' side.
Jordyn's voice froze when she heard James' words.
"James, what this woman wants most is to stay by your side. If you keep her, aren't you just granting her wish? Sending her away is the real torture for her."
James' grip on me loosened and his eyes were gradually covered with hatred again.
"You're right. She's like a dog, you can't get rid of her no matter how hard you try. Since she wants to stay by my side, I'll make sure she doesn't get her way."
"Put her in a box and send her to the Wades."
Only then did I struggle violently.
"No! Don't put me in a box, it's very dark in there. Please, no!"
The last time I ran away from home to elope with James, I got caught just a few hundred meters away from him.
My father locked me in a pitch-black basement and tortured me for half a month.
Ever since then, I have developed severe PTSD.
Whenever I got trapped in the dark, I couldn't breathe. Sometimes, I felt like I was going to die.
When Jordyn Nolan heard me, she laughed.
"Wow, Jennie. You really go all out to stay with James. You never run out of tricks, do you?"
James looked me over carefully, trying to see through my desperate lie.
"Jennie, do you think I'm stupid? You were never afraid of the dark before."
He looked at my desperate struggles and his mood inexplicably improved again.
"But your desperate expression today satisfies me. I can grant you one wish. Anything but marrying you, I can agree to."
Jordyn's expression changed, but James ignored her.
I stopped struggling, looked at the box and suddenly calmed down. Anyway, I was going to die soon; dying in a box might even be cleaner.
I looked up, meeting James' gaze.
"Aunt Zelda is ill. I hope you can find someone to help her with her treatment."
Zelda was one of the few people genuinely caring about me and now I couldn't look after her anymore.
James gritted his teeth, his expression somewhat distorted.
"You gave this opportunity to a maid? You could plead for a maid, yet you stood by and watched my mom being driven to her death! Jennie Jarquín, you hypocrite, why don't you just drop dead!"
He slammed the door and stormed out.
I watched his back disappear, then silently said goodbye in my heart.
Goodbye, James Jorgensen.
I will soon grant your wish and die.
Jordyn watched me with schadenfreude.
"Garrett is infamous for his games. I really hope you come back in one piece, Jennie."
Expressionless, I climbed into the box myself.
James drank one glass after another. The people around him thought he was celebrating sweet revenge and feeling great.
"Giving that woman to Garrett Wade is really letting her off easy. James, you should have kept her by your side and tormented her more."
James scoffed.
"No rush. She's like a dog, you can't drive her away even if you try. Just watch, in a day or two, she'll call me begging to be taken back."
The person holding the wine glass looked surprised.
"James, don't you know Garrett? No one who's been in that guy's bed has ever come out alive."
James froze mid-drink. The burning liquor slid down his throat, but all he felt was a bone-deep chill.
Jennie's phone had been left nearby. When it rang, James instinctively answered it.
"Jennie, if you're not coming back for treatment, does that mean you've already made up your mind to die?"
