Chapter 2

A unseen force tugged at me, dragging me into Declan's car.

Declan sat in the driver's seat, his hands gripping the steering wheel so tight his knuckles were white.

In the passenger seat, wrapped in Declan's coat, Valerie was crying.

"Declan, my sister..."

"Shut up!" Declan snapped, jerking the wheel so hard the car nearly skidded off the road.

His breathing was heavy, his eyes bloodshot.

It took a long moment before he finally spoke, his voice hoarse. "She'll be fine. Vivienne is smarter than you; she knows how to protect herself. Besides... besides, those guys definitely want more money. They won't kill her."

Floating in the backseat, I listened quietly as he uttered those absurd lies with absolute certainty.

Declan knew better than anyone how ruthless those thugs were, but he needed to cling to this pathetic excuse to drown out his deep-seated guilt of abandoning his wife.

Because the blizzard had completely sealed off the mountain passes, Declan had no choice but to pull up in front of a mid-mountain vacation villa.

"You get out first. I'm calling the cops and search and rescue right now." Declan spoke rapidly, pulling out his phone.

Just as he was about to press call, Valerie suddenly reached out and gripped his sleeve.

"Don't... Declan, please don't call the cops."

Declan frowned, staring at her in sheer confusion. "Why? Vivienne is still up there, and those guys could kill her at any second. I have to bring people up there right now!"

Valerie bit her lip, looking as though she was wrestling with a tremendously agonizing decision. After a long pause, she looked up, her eyes brimming with guilt and despair.

"Declan... I'm so sorry. The truth is... there never was a kidnapping."

Declan froze as if he'd been struck by lightning.

"What are you talking about?"

Valerie covered her face, sobbing uncontrollably. "My sister arranged the whole thing... She lost a massive amount of money in Vegas recently, and the loan sharks are breathing down her neck. She didn't dare tell you, terrified you'd divorce her. So... so she came up with this. She hired those men to fake the kidnapping, just to extort three million dollars in ransom from you."

Loan sharks?

She was the one who blew three million dollars in an underground Vegas casino. She was the one chased all the way to the ski resort by the mob.

I had taken her to flee in the dead of night just to cover for her, only to be intercepted halfway by the thugs the mob had hired.

And now, she was pinning everything on me.

A violent struggle flashed in Declan's eyes.

"Why would she do this...?"

"She's jealous of how well you treat me." Valerie seized the moment to lean into Declan's chest. "She always thought you looked at me differently. Declan, she didn't just want the money; she wanted to use those thugs to ruin me. If you hadn't chosen me today, I would have already been..."

Valerie didn't finish her sentence. She just began to tremble violently.

Declan's eyes changed entirely. What little pathetic guilt he felt over abandoning me instantly vanished, morphing into the furious rage of utter betrayal.

"Good. Great," he let out a bitter, cold laugh. "Search and rescue is canceled. No cops. If she loves putting on a show so much, let her stay up there and act her heart out."

When they pushed open the front doors of the villa, my parents were already waiting in the entryway.

The moment she saw Declan carrying Valerie inside, my mother threw herself at them, wailing agonizingly.

"My baby! You terrified mom to death! Let me see, are you hurt anywhere?" With trembling hands, my mother stroked Valerie's cheek as if cradling a fragile, long-lost treasure.

My father, meanwhile, stared darkly over Declan's shoulder. "Where is Vivienne?"

Hiding in my mother's embrace, Valerie cried even harder. "Dad, don't blame my sister... She was backed into a corner. She lost a lot of money at the casino recently. She hired those men, and I accidentally stumbled onto it... that's why they took me too."

"That animal!" my father growled in pure fury. "I knew she would never change! Jealous of you since she was a kid, always trying to steal everything from you. And now she actually dares to get involved in gambling and drag you down with her?! Why didn't she just die on that mountain!"

"Enough. Stop talking." Declan's ice-cold voice interrupted my father's cursing.

My mother's shrill voice immediately chimed in. "If she had the guts to set this trap, she has the guts to crawl back on her own! Declan, you listen to me, don't give her a single cent! Let's see how long she can keep up this act!"

I looked exhaustedly at the four people in front of me.

This was my family. In their eyes, I would always be a vicious, selfish woman with a mouth full of lies. No matter what I did, they would assume the worst, most malicious intent. It didn't make a difference to them whether I died safely at home or out on a freezing snowy mountain.

Either way, no one gave a damn.

Declan pulled out his phone and dialed my number, seemingly delivering his final judgment.

"Sorry, the subscriber you dialed is powered off..."

The cold, automated female voice pinged through the hallway.

Declan's face instantly darkened to the extreme.

He slammed his phone down onto a bench, snarling through gritted teeth, "Fine, Vivienne. You're not picking up? You want to play missing? Then don't ever pick up!"

He turned to my parents. "Once this is over, I am officially filing for divorce. I have had enough of her insanity and unreasonable tantrums."

Floating in mid-air, I stared at that face full of revulsion, and a mocking smile curled at the corners of my mouth.

Divorce?

Declan, you probably won't be able to wait long enough for me to sign those papers.

But that's okay. Either way, I won't be an eyesore to you anymore. Legally speaking, widowhood and divorce produce the exact same result.