Divorce?
Arabella sank her teeth into her pale lower lip, biting so hard that a trace of blood surfaced.
She forced herself to ignore the bone-biting pain in her knees and raised her eyes to Greyson, who stood over her with an icy, unforgiving expression.
"Greyson, don't you dare!" Arabella said firmly. "I'm not going to admit to something I never did!"
"You are really stubborn and have no remorse!" Hugh roared from the front of the room, banging the armrest. Fury burned in his eyes. "Arabella, every piece of evidence points to you! Corinne lost her child. How can you possibly continue insisting that you're innocent?"
"I didn't do it!" Arabella kept her back straight.
Fragments of porcelain were embedded in her knees, and blood had already begun to seep from the wounds, but she still refused to bow her head. She stared directly into Hugh's furious eyes. "She jumped into the pool by herself! Look at the security footage! Question the witnesses…"
"That's enough! You're still lying!" Hugh finally lost control.
He grabbed the porcelain vase sitting on the table beside him and violently threw it in her direction.
With a crash, the vase struck the floor and exploded into countless pieces.
Arabella had no time to move out of the way.
One of the jagged pieces flew toward her and cut across the back of her hand, leaving a wound nearly two inches long.
Blood immediately spilled from the cut, spraying across her clothes.
Even so, Arabella clenched her jaw without uttering a single cry.
"You disrespectful woman! Have you forgotten who you are dealing with?"
Hugh's chest rose and fell heavily. He pointed a trembling finger toward the entrance and barked, his voice resounding throughout the family chapel, "Guards! Take this stubborn woman outside! Make her kneel there! She is forbidden from getting up until she admits what she did!"
"Yes, Mr. Wright!" the servants answered in unison.
The servants stationed on both sides of the family chapel immediately moved toward Arabella.
"Hugh," Sylvia Wright—Arabella's mother-in-law—said softly, "please, calm down."
She had been standing off to the side, watching. And now she could no longer bear to remain silent. Hurrying forward, Sylvia reached out to help Arabella to her feet. "Arabella, why do you have to make things so difficult for yourself?"
She whispered pleadingly, "Just give in this once. Admit that you were wrong. Say it was an accident. Greyson and Hugh... they wouldn't really kill you over this."
Sylvia's hand had barely touched Arabella when another hand abruptly pulled it away.
"Mom, why are you even wasting your time on her?" Jordyn Wright dragged her mother backward and positioned herself protectively in front of her. She looked down at Arabella with undisguised disgust. "A cruel and calculating woman like her deserves to die. Why are you even feeling sorry for her?"
"But Jordyn, she fell into the water too, and now her hand is bleeding..."
"She deserves that!" Jordyn scoffed. "She took a life. Making her kneel for a while is nothing compared to what she did to Corinne and her child."
A bitter, humorless smile appeared on Arabella's lips.
So she deserved this?
She paid no attention to Jordyn's hateful words. With whatever strength she had left, Arabella lifted her head and looked at the tall man standing directly in front of her.
"Greyson," she called in a shaky and incredulous voice, "you believe it too? You really think I did it?"
Three years as husband and wife. More than a thousand nights sharing the same bed. And after all that time, had she still failed to earn even a single ounce of his trust?
Greyson gave her an undisguisedly disdainful look. There was nothing in his eyes except coldness and disgust.
"Arabella, stop looking at me like that. It makes me feel sick." His tone was detached and chillingly calm. "The second you laid a hand on Corinne, you were no longer my wife."
Then Greyson turned around without the slightest hesitation.
"Keep an eye on her. If Corinne doesn't wake up, she'll pay for it with her life!"
Having given that ruthless order, he walked out of the family chapel and disappeared into the night.
Arabella felt as though her heart had fallen into a frozen abyss.
She stared at his departing figure, and whatever tiny bit of hope she had been clinging to fizzled.
So in Greyson's heart, she had never been the woman he chose. It had always been Corinne.
"What are you standing around for? Get her out of here!" Jordyn screamed at the servants.
Two servants immediately rushed forward, seized Arabella by the arms, and roughly hauled her out of the room.
"Leave me! I didn't do anything..."
Blood continued to seep from the injuries on her knees, running down her legs and leaving two vivid red streaks across the polished floor behind her.
The servants pulled her out of the family chapel and straight into the middle of the courtyard.
"Don't move!" one of them barked, kicking the back of Arabella's knees.
Her legs instantly gave way, and he forced her shoulders downward and shoved her onto the ground.
Her already-injured knees struck the unforgiving stone path with full force. A wave of unbearable pain burst behind her eyes. Her vision suddenly went dark, and she almost lost consciousness.
Suddenly, a thunderous boom tore across the night sky. Then, as if someone had suddenly opened the floodgates above, heavy rain came pouring down.
"Where did this rain come from all of a sudden?" one of the servants exclaimed.
"Inside! Hurry, get inside!" another servant yelled.
The sudden storm sent the servants rushing for shelter. After throwing Arabella one careless, dismissive look, they hurried back into the family chapel, leaving her behind.
The enormous courtyard quickly became dark and desolate, with Arabella as its only occupant.
The wind screamed through the open space while sheets of rain came crashing down.
Within moments, the freezing water had soaked through her thin nightgown. Rain struck the open wounds on her hand and knees, sending unbearable pain through her body.
Back inside the family chapel, Sylvia glanced at Hugh, who was still consumed by anger. She hesitated, and then said, "Hugh, the child is already gone. We need to think about the people who are still here. If this keeps going, you'll completely destroy Arabella's heart..."
"And what if I do?" Hugh interrupted her coldly. "Do you honestly believe she has the courage to disobey me?"
He stood up as soon as he finished speaking. A servant immediately came over with an umbrella and accompanied him out of the family chapel.
Sylvia was the only one left behind. She continued staring at the solitary figure kneeling beneath the relentless rain. Then, she released a long, sorrowful sigh.
