Chapter 2

I turned away from the bustling hall and headed straight for the lounge.

Several bodyguards in black suits immediately followed, taking up positions outside the door. They were Julian's men, now acting as my "wardens," responsible for escorting me to Callum's estate.

The door was pushed open, but it wasn't a bodyguard who walked in—it was Rosie.

Without Julian around, her delicate, sweet facade vanished in an instant.

She clicked over in her high heels, her eyes raking over me with undisguised contempt. "Drop the high-and-mighty act, Sylvia. Did you honestly think Julian would pick you? You might have suffered through the hard times with him, but he got sick of how hopelessly boring you are a long time ago."

A wicked smirk curled her lips as she leaned in closer. "How did it feel out there in the hall? Being sold off in public like a piece of trash? One dollar! Sylvia, in his eyes, you're not even worth a cheap streetwalker. You're only worth a beat-up coin tossed on the floor that no one even wants."

"He gave his only title to me and threw you to Callum, that bloodthirsty, crippled psycho. Don't you get it yet?"

I didn't even bother to look up. "Are you done? If you're done, get out."

Rosie let out a cold sneer. Suddenly, her eyes locked greedily onto my collarbone—specifically, the sapphire necklace resting there.

It was my mother's dying keepsake. It was also my most priceless possession—the one thing I refused to sell for Julian, even when I was starving during our hardest times.

"What a gorgeous necklace." Rosie reached out, trying to snatch it. "Since you're going off to die at that freak Callum's place anyway, wearing it is just a waste. You might as well give it to me."

I violently slapped her hand away. "Don't touch it!"

Right at that moment, the lounge door was pushed open again, and Julian walked in.

Almost instantly, Rosie's eyes welled with tears. She threw herself delicately into Julian's arms, sniffing as if deeply wronged. "Darling, I just thought the sapphire necklace around Sylvia's neck was so pretty. Since she's going to Callum's anyway, I just asked if she'd give it to me as a keepsake, but she tried to hit me..."

Julian followed her gaze to my neck, his eyes darkening.

"You like it?" Julian lowered his head and pressed a kiss into Rosie's hair. "If you like it, it's yours."

He released Rosie and walked over to me, his voice freezing cold. "Take it off and give it to Rosie."

"It's my mother's dying keepsake!" I clutched the necklace tightly to my chest. Pure rage and utter humiliation made my voice violently tremble. "Julian, you've already destroyed everything we had! You can't take this from me too!"

"Everything you have right now was given by me! Including your pathetic life!" Julian seemed thoroughly enraged by my defiance.

He roughly grabbed my shoulder and yanked violently with his other hand. The durable platinum chain instantly snapped. The sharp, jagged edge sliced across my collarbone, welling up with beads of blood.

"No—give it back!" My heart twisted in agony. I lunged forward like a madwoman, desperately trying to snatch it back.

But Julian shoved me hard, sending me crashing heavily to the floor. He stared down at me with mocking disdain. "Stop putting on this untouchable rich-girl act, Sylvia. Going completely hysterical like a shrew over some dead woman's trinket. It's pathetic."

A dead woman's trinket.

Looking into his ruthless, cruel eyes, a memory pierced my brain like a sharp knife.

That day in the hospital room, my mother used the very last ounce of her strength to tightly grip Julian's hand. With red-rimmed eyes, he had knelt by her hospital bed and sworn, "Don't worry. I swear on my life that I will love Sylvia, that I will do everything in my power to take care of her for the rest of her life. I will never let her suffer a single scare or grievance."

And now, the man who had sworn his life to protect me had not only sold me off like a commodity, but had personally ripped my mother's dying keepsake from my neck—just to turn around and drape it over his mistress's.

Overwhelming grief and fury completely shattered my reason. I scrambled to my feet and lunged at them, desperate to get the necklace back.

But before I could even touch Rosie, she let out an exaggerated, ear-piercing shriek. She threw herself heavily onto the floor, clutching her stomach in fake agony. "Ah! My stomach... Julian, it hurts! She's trying to kill our baby!"

Julian's expression instantly turned terrifyingly dark. He scrambled to hold Rosie in his arms, then snapped his head toward me, glaring at me as if I were his sworn enemy.

"Sylvia, you vicious psycho!" he roared. "Someone get in here! Hold her down!"

The bodyguards from outside instantly stormed in. They twisted my arms viciously behind my back and slammed me hard against the wall.

"Since these hands of yours like to run wild so much, there's no point in keeping them." Julian's eyes were bloodshot as he coldly barked his order. "Chop off her fingers! Let's see how she's going to hurt Rosie then!"

One of the bodyguards expressionlessly pulled out a pocket knife and violently dragged my right hand out.

As the cold steel blade pressed against my knuckles, I didn't struggle. Nor did I beg for mercy.

I just stood perfectly still, staring dead into Julian's eyes.

There is no despair greater than a heart that has turned completely to ashes.

Perhaps my dead, chilling gaze was too piercing, or perhaps the memories of our past had suddenly morphed into a hidden sting of guilt.

In the very next second, Julian's pupils abruptly constricted.

"...Never mind! Stop!" he roared in deep frustration. He aggressively yanked at his tie, as if desperately trying to cover up that fleeting moment of panic and hesitation.