Chapter 3

Linnea's POV

Hollis carried my battered body into the foyer.

In the living room, Garrison, Cordelia, and Fletcher sat elegantly on the sofas, acting as if the bloody assault had never happened.

They looked startled for a split second when they saw Hollis, but instantly slipped on their flawless, aristocratic masks.

"Hollis, I’m so sorry you have to see her in such an undignified state," Cordelia said, standing up.

"Undignified?!" Hollis laughed bitterly, holding me tighter. "You beat your own daughter half to death, and you want to talk to me about dignity? Are you all out of your minds?!"

Garrison didn't even blink. His gaze bypassed my fiancé and nailed me to the spot. "Linn, you shameless creature, crying to Hollis? Get over here!"

He lunged forward, raising his hand to slap me again—

"Enough!" Hollis grabbed Garrison’s wrist, his eyes lethal. "Over a generic painkiller? If you don't explain this misunderstanding right now, the Bramwell family will not let this go!"

Dead silence. My parents didn't defend themselves. Fletcher didn't say a word.

Garrison scoffed. He pulled the light brown leather pillbox out of his pocket and tossed it straight to Hollis.

"Misunderstanding? See for yourself what kind of treat she's been taking."

My blood ran cold. A wave of unprecedented terror seized my heart.

"Don't look! Hollis, please don't look! It really is just a normal prescription drug!" I struggled frantically, trying to grab the box.

Too late.

The moment Hollis saw the pill, his massive frame froze.

And then—the perfect fiancé who was ready to wage war for me just half an hour ago instantly transformed. The heartache, rage, and protection in his eyes crumbled into absolute nothingness in a split second.

He slowly turned his head to look at me.

"You took this?" Hollis’s voice was as cold as ice. "You disgust me."

"Hollis? What are you saying…" I collapsed to the ground, utterly devastated.

"The engagement is off. Linn, you are not fit to be my wife, and you are not fit to be the lady of the Bramwell family."

Without a second of hesitation, Hollis took out his phone and dialed 911. "Police? Old Pine Hollow Road. We have a case of illegal drug use."

Garrison and Cordelia turned pale with shock and leaped forward to stop him. "Hollis! What are you doing?! A family scandal like this cannot be reported! Hang up!"

"Back off! She needs to pay for what she's done!" Hollis shoved my parents away mercilessly.

The police arrived with tragic speed.

Two sheriffs who knew my father well kicked the door open. But upon hearing of the "pill," they ignored my bloody injuries and immediately clamped cold handcuffs onto my wrists.

"Miss Linnea, I regret to inform you that you have broken the law," the sheriff said with terrifying coldness.

Without giving me a second to catch my breath, I was dragged straight to the defendant’s stand in a courtroom. The physical pain was eclipsed by the massive absurdity of it all. I looked around in a daze—

My parents, my doctor brother, and even my beloved fiancé were all standing in the gallery, arrayed against me.

"This court finds the defendant, Linnea, guilty of illicit drug consumption. The evidence is irrefutable—" the judge struck his gavel.

"I am innocent!"

Driven into a corner, I lunged at the wooden railing of the stand, roaring like a wounded animal.

"Your Honor! If you’re going to sentence me, you must investigate my prescribing doctor! Fletcher gave me those pills! I demand that all painkillers of the same batch from Halverston-Brae Medical Center be tested immediately!"

If they found contraband in the pills, the Caldecott family hospital would be completely ruined!

My usually composed parents turned white as sheets. "Judge! She’s lying! She’s crazy, stop this farce immediately!" my mother screamed.

Fletcher tensed his jaw, losing his poise for the first time. "Reject her absurd request!"

Forced by court protocol, the judge ordered someone to the hospital to collect samples for immediate testing.

Half an hour later, a lab tech walked into the courtroom and handed over the final report.

"The test results are clear. All drugs in the same batch are completely legal, standard prescription painkillers, containing zero illicit substances," the judge read coldly.

Cordelia let out a massive sigh of relief. Through the railing, she looked at me with a sickeningly sweet, pitying tone:

"See, darling? We told you. We did all of this... for your own good. Why do you have to be so difficult?"

The pills were fine—then why the hell did they beat me half to death for taking one?!

"Since the medication is legal, the defendant's unauthorized consumption of it is an even more egregious crime. The court will now deliver its final verdict—"

The gavel slammed down.

"Linnea is sentenced to death."

Death.

Because I took a legal painkiller, I was sentenced to death.

Just as the last sliver of hope vanished, I caught something in the back row of the gallery out of the corner of my eye.

Marisol, our family maid, was rubbing her aching lower back. She pulled a small pillbox out of her apron—containing the exact same white, oval pills Fletcher prescribed for me. Taking a sip from her paper coffee cup, she swallowed the pill without a care in the world.

"Why?!" I screamed, shaking the railing like a lunatic and pointing at Marisol. "Marisol is taking it too! They’re legal! Why is it fine when she takes them, but I get the death penalty?!"

The judge, seated high above, slowly leaned forward.

And then, his lips stretched into an absurd, bone-chilling smile.

"Because, Linnea, this is all because…"