I was placed under complete house arrest. My phone and ID were confiscated, and I was locked inside the villa with no way out.
Stan went to the office during the day. At night, he came home and found new ways to torment me.
At meals, he had the housekeeper prepare dishes he knew made me nauseous. At bedtime, he cranked the air conditioning down to freezing and left me to shiver through the night.
Eventually, he stopped pretending altogether and brought Annette home.
Right in front of me, he held her close, his arms wrapped around her while she nuzzled against him.
"Stan, Miss Kaufman is watching," Annette murmured, nestled in his arms.
Stan spared me a careless glance.
"She's just a disobedient little toy. Ignore her."
I sat on the couch and watched their performance. Not a single ripple disturbed my heart. If anything, I found it laughable.
In my past life, I'd been kept in the dark, drowning in agony. Now all I felt was disgust.
I stood to go back to my room.
Annette called out behind me.
"Miss Kaufman, could you pour me a glass of water?"
I didn't bother acknowledging her and kept walking.
Stan's voice cut through the air like a blade.
"Stop."
"Annette asked you to pour her water. Are you deaf?"
I paused and turned around.
"You married me just to make me your maid?"
Stan closed the distance in two strides, seized a fistful of my hair, and wrenched my head back.
"Wife?" He looked down at me with open contempt. "You think you deserve that title?"
"Jade, I married you for one reason: to make you suffer."
"Your father destroyed Annette's family. Ruined everything she had. That debt falls to you now."
I froze.
My father destroyed Annette's family?
That was absurd. My father ran his business with integrity. He would never have hurt anyone.
"That's a lie!" I thrashed against his grip.
Stan shoved me away.
"Deny it all you want."
"It doesn't matter. You'll spend the rest of your life atoning."
He turned to Annette, and his voice softened instantly, as if he were speaking to a completely different person.
"Annette, how would you like to punish her?"
Annette fixed her gaze on me.
"Stan, I've been so dizzy lately. The doctor says I'm anemic."
She tilted her head, a picture of innocence. "Maybe Miss Kaufman could spare some blood for me?"
Stan agreed without hesitation.
"Done."
He called in a private physician. Several people pinned me to the table while the doctor inserted the needle. They drew a full eight hundred milliliters of blood.
My vision went black. Cold seeped through every inch of my body. I crumpled to the floor, too weak to even lift a finger.
Stan looked down at me. There was nothing in his eyes. No pity. No hesitation. Nothing.
"This is just the beginning."
"Jade, everything you owe Annette, I will take back from you. Piece by piece."
For days after the blood draw, I burned with a fever that wouldn't break.
Stan refused to let anyone call a doctor. The only thing the housekeeper was allowed to give me was a bitter herbal concoction forced down my throat each day.
I was too weak to leave the bed.
Annette, on the other hand, made a point of visiting my room to gloat.
"Jade, you really are pathetic right now."
She dragged a manicured nail down my cheek.
"Stan doesn't love you. He never did. Every time he touches you, it makes his skin crawl."
"Your wedding night, he actually..."
She paused on purpose, pressing her fingers to her lips to stifle a coy little laugh.
"He actually hired some homeless man off the street to keep you company."
"Too bad you ran. You missed the full experience."
My eyes snapped open. I stared at her, unblinking.
Even though I already knew the truth, hearing it spoken aloud still made bile rise in my throat.
I forced my trembling body upright and slapped her across the face with every ounce of strength I had left.
"Get out."
Annette shrieked and tumbled to the floor.
Footsteps pounded outside the door. Stan burst into the room. The moment he saw Annette on the ground, the color drained from his face. He rushed to her side and gathered her up.
"Annette, are you okay?"
Annette clutched her cheek, tears streaming down her face.
"Stan, I just felt sorry for Miss Kaufman. I only came to check on her."
