I stood by David Clark’s side for ten years,watching him rise from nothing to everything.
But on the very day he decided to leave the underworld behind,he held the woman carrying his child—his precious first love—and introduced her to the others as“Sister-in-law.”
Then he looked at me,eyes cold and devoid of mercy.
“Anna’s pregnancy symptoms are intense.You’ll be on call for her—twenty-four hours a day.”
“And move out of the villa I gave you.Anna wants to live there now.”
I barely had time to react before he turned and gave another cruel order.
“She gets jealous too easily,”he said,almost casually.“Doesn’t like me around other women.Shave her head—make her look ugly.It’ll make Anna feel safer.”
I stared into those icy eyes of his,and for the first time,I just…felt tired.
I took off the club’s badge without a word and walked out.
Someone moved to stop me,but David only sneered.
“Let her go.She’s a black household now—no real identity,no place to go.She’ll be back crying within two days.”
The people around us laughed and looked at me with mocking eyes.I laughed too.
Because what David didn’t know…was that someone had already arranged a new identity for me.
This time,I was leaving him—for good.
***
“Ms.Jane,the boss had an emergency and couldn’t make it.He sent us to pick you up.Please wait outside.”
“Got it,”I said into the phone,picking up my pace to leave the banquet hall.
But just as I reached the doors,a voice rang out from behind me.
“Jane!Leave the gold token behind.Anna is going to be the club mistress now.The whole club answers to her.”
The gold token.A symbol of absolute authority—second only to the club master.It gave me the power to command every man in the organization.
I once gave up my left leg to get that token,just to mobilize the entire club and save David when he was kidnapped.
So I turned and asked him,“What if I don’t?”
“Then I’ll cut off your hands.”
He said it without hesitation.
I froze.Then,slowly,I tossed the gold token to him.
What use would I have for it once I walked away?
But as I turned to leave,Anna Taylor suddenly stepped forward and took my hand.Her voice was sweet,but her smile was anything but.
“Jane,don’t be in such a rush.You’ve been with David for ten years—how could we celebrate our wedding without you?”
She pulled out a marriage certificate and waved it in front of me with glee.
I felt like I was dreaming.I’d shared a bed with David for years.Gave everything I had to him.He never once gave me a title.
Yet Anna had been by his side less than a month,and he gave her a legal name without looking back.
I wanted to refuse.I opened my mouth to decline.
But then I remembered the night before—how I’d refused to fetch Anna her late-night snack and ended up kneeling in the courtyard,punished by David for an entire day and night.
A chill ran down my spine.
So I followed them back inside,took the cup of liquor Anna handed me,and downed it in one gulp.
The fiery liquid burned all the way down.My scalp tingled from the pain—but I still forced a smile.
“Then I wish you both a happy wedding,and a long life together.”
Maybe because I was being so obedient,David actually relented a little.
“Jane,”he said,“if you behave,you can be the child’s godmother.Raise him.”
My hand trembled.The glass nearly slipped from my fingers.
Anna giggled at the sight and clinked her glass with mine before downing hers too.
Then,almost immediately,red blotches began to bloom across her skin.
Panic set in.David barked orders,dismissing the guests and calling for the family doctor.
Turns out,Anna was allergic to alcohol.Thankfully,she hadn’t drunk much—she’d recover with rest.
But David sat by her side,red-eyed,holding her hand like she was made of glass.
Everyone in the room looked at me again with those amused,mocking eyes.
And I found it almost funny,too.
Two years ago,I drank myself into a stomach hemorrhage just to help him land a project.I was hospitalized for a month,and since then,I’ve never been able to drink again.
Not only did he not show concern—he scolded me.
“Getting yourself hospitalized from drinking?Pathetic.Why don’t you just die there next time?”
Before I could shake off the memory,he shoved me down to my knees.
“Anna almost died because of you.Apologize.Now.”
I bit my lip until I tasted blood,then finally said the words.
“I’m sorry.”
Only then did David let me go.He dropped me to the floor like garbage.
I stood up slowly,humiliated,and turned toward the door.
But that’s when it all exploded.
A group of armed men in black burst through the entrance,firing wildly into the crowd.
Screams.Blood.Chaos.
Someone shoved me to the ground.Through the panic,I saw David shielding Anna,pulling her toward safety.
Then—crash.
The chandelier above came loose.
It plummeted straight toward me.
“Jane!”David’s face turned pale as he lunged toward me.
“David,save me!”
Anna’s desperate scream tore through the chaos.
But just then,someone grabbed her,the barrel of a gun pressed to her head,finger tightening on the trigger.
Without the slightest hesitation,David turned his back on me—on everything—and charged toward Anna.He kicked the assailant with brutal force,sending him flying,and pulled her into his arms like she was the only thing that mattered in the world.
And me?
The chandelier came crashing down,slamming me to the ground with bone-breaking violence.
Pain exploded through my body.Blood soaked into the floor beneath me,warm and spreading fast.Through blurry,dimming vision,I saw David carrying Anna toward the back door.
He never once looked back.
