Zara never imagined the man who once swore to love her forever would now crush her dignity just to defend another woman.
The moment he nodded, something inside her shattered.
“Conrad,” she said in disbelief, "we’ve been married three years. Are you really going to let them hit me for that mis–”
Her voice cut into a scream.
“Forgive me, ma’am!”
The maid slapped her hard, again and again. Blood trickled from the corner of her mouth, her face swelling fast and her started to blur.
While the world spinning around her, Zara thought she saw Conrad lift a hand. “That’s enough. Stop—”
“Mr. Fowler, my face hurts so much. What if it’s scarred? Please call a doctor…”
Conrad snapped his attention back to Wrena.
Without a second thought, he picked her up and ordered the family doctor over.
Zara crumpled to the floor, coughing up blood after ten slaps landed on her face.
The pain was excruciating.
But the it didn’t compare to the agony in her chest.
Once, when a maid accidentally broke a bowl and a shard cut her hand, Conrad had summoned a dozen experts to treat her. He’d even made every staff member go through strict screening, with one rule above all: her’s safety comes first.
But now, that same man stood by as they beat her.
His love was too heavy to bear.
For the next few days, Zara stayed in bed to heal. She didn’t leave the house, barely stepped outside her room.
She secretly searched for news of her parents and finally managed to contact them.
After seeing them, she returned home to find Wrena bossing around the staff, throwing out her belongings.
She spotted a lucky charm among the tossed-out items—one she had knelt for twelve hours to pray for.
“Who says you can to touch my stuff, Wrena? Do you have any idea how important that charm is to me?”
“Oh, really?” Wrena said coolly. “You know, you can’t always rely on lucky charm for safety. Try to rely on yourself once. Even with this lucky charm, you’re not always safe, are you?”
Right in front of her, Wrena ripped the charm in two.
Zara lunged at her.
What happened next was shocking: Wrena tumbled down the stairs and sobbed pitifully.
“Mrs. Fowler, I only wanted to stay here a few days. Why would you push me off the stairs? What did I ever do to make you hate me so much?”
“It wasn’t me! She fell on her own!”
Zara turned toward Conrad, who had just rushed in, tears spilling down her face.
She reached for him, but he shoved her away.
She lost her footing and tumbled down the stairs.
“Wrena! Are you hurt? I’ll get you to the hospital.”
He scooped up Wrena, not even glancing at Zara.
Panicked, Zara cried out, “There are cameras! The house has surveillance! Just check and you’ll see she did it on purpose!”
“So what if she did?” Conrad snapped. “Why didn’t you catch her?”
“If you could be a little more tolerant, Wrena wouldn’t have to keep hurting herself just to get my attention!”
His angry voice echoed as he walked out the door.
Zara lay at the foot of the stairs, her back throbbing with pain. Cold sweat drenched her clothes.
She thought her heart would ache.
But all she felt… was how ridiculous it all was.
Her husband actually thought it was her fault—for not letting him keep a mistress.
She was wrong for marrying him in the first place.
