Christian calmly looked up. When he saw how exhausted and worn out I looked, a flicker of complex emotion crossed his eyes before vanishing swiftly.
He set down the documents in his hand, his sharp brows furrowing slightly as he leaned back into the sofa. That man spoke ruthlessly. "Have you made up your mind?"
His tone carried an unyielding authority, but I just closed my eyes in silence.
Seeing that I still wouldn't give in, Christian placed his phone in front of me. The person on the video screen was none other than my brother.
Because of that, I finally compromised.
Before leaving the study, I ended up asking the one question I had to.
"Do you love her?" I asked in a shaky, completely broken voice.
"I do," Christian answered without hesitation.
I smiled bitterly at those words, though my vision was already blurred. "What about me?"
The air instantly froze and it felt like we were locked in a silent confrontation. After a moment, Christian broke the silence. "I loved you once."
Loved me once. How ridiculous.
When we were in love, he would have given me the best of everything in the world. But now that he didn't love me, he wouldn't even let me go.
I sat in front of the phone, watching all the vicious comments scroll endlessly across the screen.
My heart twisted with pain, the agony intensifying with every beat. My limbs also began to tremble uncontrollably.
However, no one noticed that cold sweat had soaked my back.
After saying that last sentence, all my strength seemed to drain away. I stumbled to my feet and left.
Before I could even catch my breath, the first thing I saw when I walked out of the room was my brother tied tightly to a chair.
As soon as Jocelyn saw me, she barked an order to the servants to press the nearby button, without a word of explanation. Instantly, a surge of electricity coursed through my brother's limbs.
All my pent-up resentment and rage immediately erupted at the sight. I lunged desperately toward her, but Christian firmly blocked me again.
"This is a crime, Jocelyn! I'll kill you! Let go of my brother right now! You deserve to die!" I roared in a hoarse voice.
Jocelyn, however, seemed oblivious. She buried herself in Christian's embrace as if hurt.
"Serena, I'm doing this for your own good. Electroshock therapy is the fastest way for a patient to recover their memory. Don't you want your brother to get better quickly?"
The smell of flesh scorched by electricity wafted through the air, mingling with my cries that shifted from furious curses to desperate pleas. "Please, Christian. Stop the shocks! My brother will die, he really will die!"
"I'll do anything you ask, just spare my brother," I begged.
Christian remained standing there, completely unmoved. He just said faintly, "Jocelyn is only doing this for your good."
The electrotherapy was indeed effective. That very night, my brother remembered everything. Unable to bear it any longer, he ran out despite everyone's attempts to stop him.
Then came the sound of a violent crash …
"No!" I let out a final, desperate scream, my hoarse voice cutting through the silent night like a sharp blade.
My brother died on the spot.
Cradling him in a pool of blood, I felt the last fragile shard of hope within me break apart. I had thought about calling the police, but Christian virtually controlled everything in the capital.
In the end, I didn't even manage to dial the emergency number before I got locked away again.
That day, Christian surprisingly came into my room.
"All of this was an accident," he said.
Accident? It was easy for him to say.
"I'll choose the best burial plot for your brother and make sure he's properly laid to rest. I advise you to abandon any thoughts of reporting this."
I knew I couldn't win against him.
I let out a self-mocking, bitter laugh. As the last tear slid down my cheek, I felt my crying run dry and with it, our marriage had come to an end.
One blow after another had nearly shattered me. Yet before I could recover, Jocelyn came knocking.
"You saw it yourself. Chris loves me now. I advise you to leave while you still can," she whispered.
The Jocelyn before me was a different person from the innocent girl she was in front of Christian.
"I'm willing to leave," I said expressionlessly, as if I were talking about something that had nothing to do with me.
That woman stared at me in shock, seemingly unprepared for such an immediate acquiescence.
Shortly after, I placed the divorce agreement in front of her.
"As long as you can get Christian to sign this agreement, I'll immediately give you the position of Mrs. Leighton."
I had long been tired of being in that position, anyway.
