Ian had his arm draped around Nadia's slender waist, laughing with unbridled arrogance.
"Sure, I'll help. But if you're going to beg, you'd better beg properly."
He raised an eyebrow at me.
"Your people have been conning the Delgado family for nearly a century. You think one little video settles that? Get on your knees. Apologize to me and to every Delgado ancestor."
I looked at Alaric, his robes already soaked through with blood.
I couldn't afford to waste another second.
I dropped to my knees at Ian's feet, my voice shaking.
"I'm sorry. I deceived you—"
Nadia cut me off, her voice dripping with saccharine sweetness.
"Just 'sorry'? That's hardly enough. You need to kowtow."
"What are you looking at me for? Nadia told you to kowtow. Are you deaf? A hundred times!"
Under Ian's mocking gaze, I slammed my forehead against the ground.
"One... two..."
My skin split open. Blood ran down my forehead, streaking across my face, pooling on the floor beneath me. I lost all feeling long before I finished.
Finally, I reached a hundred.
I staggered to my feet and threw myself in front of Alaric, screaming at Ian through a raw throat.
"That's enough! Go pay the bill!"
"Sure thing. Let me just run home and grab the money..."
Ian let out a soft laugh and turned to leave.
I lunged forward and seized his ankle, locking my eyes on his, teeth clenched so hard they ached.
"You're doing this on purpose. Ian, you—"
"Oh, oh, oh. That's not how you beg, is it? Do you want the money or not?"
The strength drained from my fingers around his ankle.
"Yes. I want it. Please, just hurry..."
Ian came back an hour later. He tossed the payment receipt into my lap.
I scrambled to my feet and shoved it into the young nurse's hands.
All I got in return was her quiet, helpless sigh.
"It's too late. He's already gone."
My whole body trembled. I threw myself at Ian and swung my fist straight into his face.
"You animal! You did this on purpose! You killed my mentor! I'll kill you—"
Ian caught my wrist in a vise grip.
His eyes were nothing but cold malice.
"Kill me? Clara, how about you pay back what you owe the Delgado family before you start making threats."
He threw a stack of bills at my feet.
"My family supported your people for nearly a century. Since you've already admitted you're a fraud, I think it's time we settled the accounts."
"And if you refuse to pay..."
He held up his phone, the video I'd recorded hours ago playing on the screen.
"Everyone's going to see this."
"Not just you. Your dead mentor, too. And all those fellow disciples of yours."
I stood there shaking, jaw clenched so tight my teeth ground together.
"I'll pay. After your birthday. I'll pay every cent."
"After my birthday?"
Ian scoffed.
"Who's going to wait that long? You have the debt and you won't pay? You think you can stall me?"
"Ian, I don't have the money. My bank accounts have been frozen—"
"Fine. Since you won't own up to it, don't blame me for what comes next."
His men rushed forward, bound my hands, and shoved me into a car.
At first, I didn't understand where they were taking me.
But when the car turned onto that narrow, winding mountain road, the blood drained from my face.
It was the road to my mother's grave.
Whenever someone in our family was buried, a piece of uncut jade of immeasurable value was placed in the coffin alongside them.
I had told Ian this secret the day we set our wedding date.
Ian dragged me to the foot of my mother's grave.
He waved a hand at the bodyguards behind him.
"Dig it up."
