When I woke up in the hospital, I was alone.
My wounds had been dressed. I forced myself up and glanced at the phone on the nightstand. My chat with Chris was empty, but in my social feed, Bonnie had posted a new update.
In the photos, every rose in the backyard garden had been picked clean. She held a massive bouquet in her arms, smiling radiantly.
Her caption read: [What a shame about this whole garden of roses. I casually mentioned wanting some and who knew he would pick them all for me.]
My heart went numb.
I recalled the hallucination of Chris saving me before I fainted and felt utterly ridiculous. I lost all desire to keep scrolling. I exited Instagram and began sorting through the pile of messages waiting for me.
Among them, a document my dad had sent caught my attention—it was the new match he’d arranged for me. I clicked to open it. The name listed made me frown instantly, feeling an overwhelming sense of familiarity.
“Tyler Callahan?”
I glanced at the photo—a handsome man in his thirties.
A sudden flash of insight struck me. I opened the dossier my lawyer had compiled on Bonnie days ago. Under ‘Family,’ her adoptive father's name stood out: Tyler Callahan.
Bonnie was his adopted orphan.
After a moment of deep thought, I replied to my dad, “I'll marry him.”
Since she stole my husband, I'd marry her adoptive father and cut off her escape route completely. After finalizing this, the hospital door slid open and Chris walked in. He took my hand with concern, a stark contrast to his attitude yesterday.
“Grace, how are your injuries? Does it still hurt?” he asked softly.
“Look, I was out of my mind yesterday. After seven years of marriage, this is the first child I’ve ever had. I couldn’t stay calm.” He paused. “By the way, there’s an auction in West City today. I’ll take you there. Whatever you want, I’ll buy it for you. Think of it as my way of making it up to you, okay?”
He seemed to assume I wouldn’t refuse, so before I could answer, he pulled me out of bed.
His rough movements tore open my wounds, sending waves of pain through me as fresh blood soaked through the gauze.
I remembered when I accidentally cut my finger on a sharp thorn while learning flower arranging—he’d been heartbroken for days, personally flying abroad to buy me the best scar-healing ointment.
But now, with me badly injured, he hadn’t offered a single word of concern.
When we arrived at the underground parking garage, I reached out and opened the front passenger door. Bonnie, sitting inside, gasped in surprise, seemingly more shocked than I was.
“Chris,” she said softly, “isn’t Mrs. Lowe supposed to be hospitalized because of her injuries? Is she coming to the auction with us?” Then she smiled faintly. “I knew it. Mrs. Lowe has been in perfect health. She must have fainted last night because she wanted you to feel sorry for her.”
She glanced at me and added sweetly, “Did I take your seat, Mrs. Lowe? Should I move to the back?”
Before she could rise, Chris stepped past me and gently pushed her back down.
“It's fine. She can sit in the back. You're pregnant and prone to nausea. The front seat is better for you.”
The seat that had always belonged to me, Chris had given to Bonnie.
From the backseat, I watched their affectionate display the entire ride. Bonnie fed him fruit, then turned to coo at him. It made me feel sick to my stomach that I lost all interest. This heavy silence lingered until the auction's grand finale piece emerged.
I recognized it instantly—not merely a priceless diamond necklace, but a keepsake left by my mother before her passing.
My dad and I had searched for years without a lead. We assumed some wealthy collector had it and kept it hidden, that it would never appear in public again. Yet today, I saw it here, in this unassuming auction house.
“Ten million.” I raised my paddle.
Bonnie, sitting beside me, sat up straight the moment I bid. After a glance, she countered, “Fifteen million!”
I turned to look at her. The sly gleam in her eyes told me she was determined to oppose me. I raised my paddle for the second time.
“Twenty million!”
Tears welled up in Bonnie's eyes instantly. She turned and threw herself into Chris's arms.
“Chris,” she said pitifully, “I finally found something I really like. Does Mrs. Lowe have to compete with me for it?”
Chris had not spoken to me once throughout the entire auction. But now, because of her plea, he finally turned to me.
“Grace,” he said, “Bonnie rarely finds something she really likes. Can you let her have this one? Just pick something else. I’ll buy it for you.”
Before I could respond, he gestured toward the auction podium, signaling a bid, “Whoever makes the next bid, I'll outbid them by ten million.”
I stared at this man—familiar yet utterly foreign—and recalled how, when he claimed to love me, he’d always lavishly bid for items I desired at auctions, driving prices to astronomical heights no one could match.
But now, the person he was doing this for had become someone else. And I had become the one whose beloved item was being taken away.
Hidden beneath my sleeves, my fists clenched into iron. Yet I had no choice but to endure. The equity transfer wasn't finalized yet. I couldn't risk exposing my identity and jeopardizing my plan.
Finally, Chris secured the record-breaking necklace for eighty million. A waiter reverently carried it from the podium to Bonnie. But the next moment, she slipped the necklace onto the neck of the puppy she'd been cradling all evening.
The weight of the necklace startled the puppy. As it twisted and struggled, it snapped the chain clean in two with a single bite. The gemstones fell onto the marble floor, shattering into countless fragments. The sharp crack echoed through the banquet hall, plunging it into silence.
My eyes widened in horror as I stared at the pile of sparkling shards. I crouched stiffly, carefully gathering them, yet no matter how I tried, I couldn't piece them back together. My tears fell like heavy raindrops onto the floor. Once again, I had failed to protect what I cherished most.
First my child, then my mother's keepsake.
The rage I'd been holding back finally erupted.
I slapped Bonnie across the face. I poured every ounce of strength into that blow, leaving five red marks across her cheek. I lifted my hand again, ready to slap her once more. But before I could, Chris grabbed my wrist.
“That’s enough, Grace!” he snapped coldly. “You couldn’t outbid me, so you took it out on Bonnie? It’s just a stupid necklace. Is it really worth making a scene?” He was asking me with disbelief in his eyes.
“Apologize to Bonnie!”
I stared at the man in front of me, stunned for a moment. Then I let out a bitter laugh, my eyes red as I pointed at the shattered gemstones on the floor.
“That was my mother’s heirloom. Do you know how long I’ve been looking for it?”
My voice trembled, but the anger in my chest only burned hotter.
“I won’t apologize and I will make her pay for what she did.”
When I said the first sentence, something like regret seemed to flash across Chris’s eyes. But when he heard the second sentence, that expression vanished completely, replaced by pure fury.
“Regardless, that's no excuse for hitting someone,” he said coldly. “Let’s see who’s going to pay the price today.”
He grabbed Bonnie and turned to leave, hurling a threat over his shoulder before they vanished.
I didn’t take his words to heart.
Carefully, I untied the silk scarf around my neck and wrapped the broken necklace pieces inside it. But the moment I stepped outside the gate, darkness suddenly engulfed my vision. Someone had slipped a sack over my head from behind and dragged me into a nearby alley.
Thinking I'd encountered muggers, I obediently handed over my handbag.
“All my money is in here,” I said quickly. “You can take it. Just please let me go.”
But they showed no interest in the cash or bank cards inside my bag.
The leader ordered his men to pin me down. He raised his hand and slapped me hard across the face. He didn't stop until he'd delivered ten slaps, leaving my cheeks high and swollen and I finally went limp.
Right before I lost consciousness, I faintly heard him speaking on the phone.
“Job’s done, Mr. Lowe. I’ve sent the video. Exactly ten slaps. Not a single one missing.”
So this wasn't robbery at all. It was the punishment Chris had deliberately arranged for me.
I slapped Bonnie once and he made me pay tenfold.
