Ellen’s POV
Kelley’s eyes were red. “I just wanted to bring the chicken soup to Ellen. I was worried she’d catch a cold.”
“But she said she didn’t want it… that I was disgusting. I was just trying to be nice…” she lied.
Carter’s expression darkened instantly. “Ellen, you’ve gone too far! Kelley brought you chicken soup out of kindness and you smashed it!”
“It’s just letting her take your bed for a bit. Why are you so petty?” he snapped.
In the past, I honestly couldn’t be bothered to explain.
But now? I refuse to keep giving in.
“If you’d check the house cameras, you’d know exactly who threw the bowl. And—”
Before I could finish, Kelley quickly crouched down. “I’m sorry! It’s all my fault! I’ll clean it up…”
She bent down to pick up the pieces, and the moment she touched them, her finger was cut. Blood instantly started dripping down.
Carter panicked and knelt beside her. “Stop picking it up. Let the housekeeper do it. I’ll take you to get bandaged.”
He wrapped her finger with a towel, completely distressed, then scooped her up in his arms.
Before leaving, he threw a heavy warning at me.
“You’d better pray Kelley’s okay, or you’ll regret it.”
He rushed out with her in his arms.
The last look he gave me was pure hostility—cold, sharp, like a blade trying to pin me in place.
Soon after, the family doctor came downstairs and told me Kelley had issues with clotting and needed a blood transfusion. Mine was the only type that matched.
“Ma’am, I’m sorry. It’s raining heavily, and we can’t get supplies delivered. We can only draw your blood.”
“But I just got discharged. I’m still recovering. I don’t believe an ambulance can’t—”
Before I could finish, they pinned me down.
“Sorry, Ma’am. This is also Sir Carter’s order.”
So this was Carter’s idea.
For Kelley, he didn’t care about anything, even my life.
They held me down and forcibly drew two full bags of blood.
By the end, I completely blacked out.
When I finally woke up in the middle of the night, I was freezing.
I realized they had dumped me back in my room after draining my blood and left me unattended.
Dragging my weak body out of bed, I heard sounds of pleasure coming from the second floor.
“Carter, you drew so much of Ellen’s blood. Won’t she get mad? What a waste.”
Carter’s cold voice followed.
“She didn’t appreciate your kindness and even let you cut yourself. She deserved a lesson.”
“Giving her a lesson will really make her behave? You’re so good at handling her.”
He let out a proud laugh.
“Last time she argued with me, I left her on the mountain. When she came back, she was much more obedient.”
That time, we disagreed about something, and I contradicted him in public.
He left me alone on a mountain and drove away.
Later, he claimed he thought I didn’t get in the car because I was making a fuss.
I never imagined that was one of his “lessons.”
My heart tightened painfully.
What hurt even more was that he was doing it again, this time partnering with Kelley to hurt me, indulging her every move.
“If I upset you one day, will you punish me like that, too?”
Carter chuckled softly, almost doting.
“I’d only punish myself. Why would I ever make you unhappy?”
Stumbling toward the kitchen, I froze when I saw it—two full bags of my blood tossed in the trash!
A sharp pain stabbed through my chest. I forced myself back to my room.
I pulled out my phone and called Scott.
To my surprise, he picked up instantly, even though it was four in the morning.
“What’s wrong? Did something happen?”
I swallowed the pain in my throat. “How are the wedding preparations going?”
“Everything’s arranged exactly how you wanted it. We’re just waiting for you.”
“Good. I need you to handle something else for me.”
I sent him the files I’d collected.
“These are the surveillance clips from the day I had my accident. I want you to expose everything. Make them pay. Make them crash and burn.”
“No problem. If it’s for you, I’ll get it done.”
The next day, Carter came to check on me.
“If you’re not feeling well, don’t go to work. Just rest at home.”
For a second, I thought maybe—just maybe—he felt guilty.
But then he tossed a design draft onto the bed.
“Kelley hasn’t finished this yet. Help her complete it. The deadline’s coming.
“When you finish it, I’ll take you out to relax. Make it up to you.”
He’d said that countless times.
Yet every time, he “got busy,” and ended up going out to play with Kelley instead.
I took the design draft.
“No need to compensate me. Just agree to one request when the time comes.”
“What request?”
Carter looked genuinely surprised.
