Back then, everyone said—
“Miss Carter was born lucky, the brightest jewel in the entire Newport social circle.”
Until the night before the wedding, when I was kidnapped.
They demanded an outrageous ransom from my family.
The total reached a staggering 800 million.
But I wasn’t worried at all.
My parents adored me, and Lucas insisted on marrying me.
Even if it meant draining their entire fortune, they would secure my safety.
At first, the kidnappers treated me somewhat politely.
Until the seventh day, when a bucket of cold water hit me awake.
They yanked my hair and kicked me to the ground.
“Didn’t your family say they couldn’t afford the ransom? Then explain this!”
I looked up.
On the TV screen was Lucas’s triumphant face.
He and Sophia were standing side by side, cutting a ribbon.
Behind them flashed a smug headline:
“Congratulations, Mr. Lawrence, on your first milestone! Another 800 million invested in the new project.”
Eight hundred million.
Exactly eight hundred million.
The kidnappers forced me to call Lucas one last time.
The call connected, but it was Sophia’s voice that answered.
“Mr. Lawrence is busy. Is there something you need?”
“Oh, it’s Miss Carter. Mr. Lawrence doesn’t have time.”
“Oh, come on, Mr. Lawrence, stop fooling around. The meeting is starting soon, and you’ve wrinkled your suit—how will you face the reporters…” The call cut off, their flirtatious banter ending abruptly.
Lucas seemed to be making a silent announcement.
Between love and career, he chose career.
Between me and Sophia, he chose Sophia.
I stood frozen, unable to accept it.
I didn’t notice the kidnappers’ expressions changing.
On the eighth day, the ransom still hadn’t arrived.
The kidnappers broke my fingers as a warning.
Lucas didn’t respond, didn’t yield.
On the ninth day, the ransom still hadn’t come.
They recorded my humiliation, threatening to destroy my reputation.
Lucas didn’t reply, only issuing a company statement that afternoon:
“The Lawrence Corporation will never bow to evil forces.”
On the tenth day, my parents announced they were cutting off the investment and relocating overseas.
I became completely abandoned, stripped of the last shred of value.
The kidnappers were furious.
Their rage drove them to torture and degrade me with everything they had.
At that time, both they and I still clung to faint hope—
That someone would come to save me.
But no one did.
While I was held captive, Lucas and Sophia grew ever closer.
News reports poured in.
The two attended countless events together, hosting grand celebrations.
They mingled and basked in the spotlight, thriving.
Every finance channel was buzzing.
Lucas’s investment was a huge success, and he was poised to become one of the richest men in Newport’s elite.
Ahead of him was a dazzling future.
Behind me, however, was a group of cruel demons.
They took out every bit of their anger and resentment on me.
Whips, daggers, branding irons, steel needles—
They made me beg for death.
On the fifteenth day, I finally found a chance to escape.
I can no longer remember the obstacles and terrors along the way.
I only remember running and running.
Running until my legs went numb, until my wounds tore open again, until I was down to my last breath.
Just as I was about to collapse, about to despair, about to give up,
a melody guided me.
I no longer cared that I was naked.
