I didn’t pick up the call.
After checking out of the hospital on my own,I went straight home.I was ready to grab my things and leave to find him.
But the moment I stepped into the backyard,I froze.
The maid was burning something in a metal barrel.
When I got closer,I realized—it was my things.
All of them.
I rushed forward,shocked.
“What are you doing?Why are you burning my stuff?”
She didn’t even flinch.
“You haven’t moved out yet,and the young lady said your things were an eyesore.So she ordered us to burn them all.”
Her words struck me like thunder on a clear day.
Without thinking,without feeling the heat scorching my skin,I charged straight into the flames.
“Jane,what the hell are you doing?!”
David’s voice suddenly rang out,and the next moment,he appeared out of nowhere and yanked me out of the fire.
Blisters were already forming on my arms and hands,the skin angry and red.He looked at me with utter disdain.
“So you got a little burned.Do you really have to make such a pathetic scene of it?”
I didn’t respond.I just lowered my head and gently brushed the ashes off the ID and passport I’d managed to salvage from the fire.
Thank God—they were still intact.That was all I needed to get away from here.
David narrowed his eyes when he saw how carefully I clutched those documents.
“When did you get a passport?Where do you think you’re going?”
“Somewhere far away,”I said flatly.
So far…that he’d never be able to find me again.
He froze for half a second,then scoffed.
“You think that’ll shake me?I told you already—I don’t like you.Whether you go far away or die right in front of me,I won’t look twice.”
With that,he turned and walked back into the villa.
I watched him disappear inside.
Then I turned toward the gate.
But before I could reach it,Anna appeared in front of me,blocking the path.
With David out of sight,her mask dropped.Her voice was sharp and full of venom.
“I didn’t expect you to be such a pathetic little dog,Jane.After everything he’s done to you,and you still refuse to leave.When will you finally understand?David loves me.Even after I left him once,he still came back to me the moment he became successful.”
I stared at her calmly.
“I’m leaving now.Move.”
She snorted,smirking.
“You think I’d believe that?If you were really capable of leaving him,you wouldn’t have wagged your tail for ten years.But it doesn’t matter—I’ll keep torturing you until you’re completely destroyed.”
Then,she pulled off her ring and flung it toward the lawn before dropping to the ground and wailing.
“Jane!I know you hate me and want to drive me away from David,but how could you throw away my ring?That’s the love token between me and David...!”
The very next second,a shadow dashed toward her.
David shoved me aside and scooped her up in his arms.
His eyes burned with fury.
“Jane!What the hell is wrong with you?What did Anna ever do to deserve this?Why are you always picking fights with her?!”
He grabbed me by the collar and yanked me to my feet.
His voice was ice.
“That ring—that ring—is the token of love I gave to Anna.It’s the most important thing to her.And you lost it.You better find it.Or else…”
He didn’t have to finish the sentence.
I already knew.
And I also knew that no explanation would matter.
So I dropped to my knees and began searching the lawn.
The ring was tiny.The lawn,enormous.Even with perfect eyesight,it was like finding a needle in a haystack.
To make matters worse,heavy rain began to fall,soaking the ground and masking everything beneath the mud and grass.
Up on the second floor of the villa,I could see David standing by the window,holding Anna in his arms.
“Jane,”his voice echoed from above,“you’re not allowed to rest until you find that ring!”
It took me a full day and night.
Finally,near the far corner of the yard,I spotted it—a small diamond ring buried in the mud.
I picked it up,my fingers trembling from cold and exhaustion,and brought it to him like a prisoner surrendering.
“Can I go now?”I asked quietly.
He didn’t even look at me.
“Go.Go as far as you want.Just don’t ever come crawling back to me again.I don’t have time to play your little‘run away’games.”
I smiled.
Didn’t say a word.
I turned,walked out the front gate,and climbed into the car that had come to pick me up.
Through the window,I watched the landscape recede behind me.
And for the first time in a long,long while…I smiled.
A light,peaceful smile.
Finally,it was all over!
