Chapter 45
At midnight, holding the key I had secretly copied in advance, I released Jamie, who was bruised and battered.
I had expected them to hurt him, but seeing the lash marks all over his body, I couldn’t stop my tears from falling.
“Don’t cry.”
Jamie gently cupped my face, kissing away my tears.
I choked out, “I’m sorry. After all these years, I still haven’t learned anything.”
His pupils contracted, filled with pain. “You’ve already done more than enough for me.”
I shook my head, indicating t‘ t it wasn’t enough.
Under the cover of darkness, I led Jamie out through the back door.
At the last moment, we were discovered by my father’s men.
In a fit of rage, my father fired a shot from the second floor.
After the gunshot, I slowly collapsed behind Jamie.
“Go!” I shouted with all my strength.
Jamie glanced back, hesitated, and started to turn around.
“He’s my father; he won’t do ything to me.”
Jamie believed me, getting into a car that had been prepared at the door.
That car–it wasn’t arranged by me. In a brief flash, I clearly saw the driver was Sylvia.
I lowered my head, letting out a bitter laugh.
I had been self–deluded. Even if I hadn’t gone to rescue him, someone else would have.
He had everything planned out long ago and never told me.
Sylvia wasn’t just someone he paid to act; she was his accomplice, all along.
My father grabbed my jaw, his grip so tight it felt like he would crush me.
Our eyes locked, and the fury in his gaze made my heart tremble.
“Lock her up!”
Following his command, I was thrown back into the locked room.
Holding the blood–stained whip, he approached me, step by step.
Terrified, I backed away until there was nowhere left to go.
“Father, I was wrong,” I whimpered, begging for mercy.
Eventually, my father grew tired, but the blood continued to drip from the wip.
I lay on the ground, barely conscious, blood gushing from the bullet wound on my leg.
Suddenly, the pain vanished, and time seemed to rewind to that spring.
The breeze was gentle, the sun warm and mellow, and a boy as clear as jade stood beneath the shade of a tree.
A shy girl held a letter adorned with a heart. “Jamie, I like you. Will you be my boyfriend?”
The boy named Jamie, without any manners, casually tossed the letter into the trash.
I stood by as a spectator, brushing aside wind–blown strands of hair, laughing without restraint.
The girl, feeling insulted, stormed over to confront me and even tried to slap me.
I dodged, and she fell flat on her face.
I laughed even louder.
The girl named Zelene Cress later became my sworn enemy.
Most of the unfavorable rumors about me were thanks to her efforts.
Thad fallen for Jamie at first sight, but to him, I was probably just some lunatic.
Jamie wasn’t much of a talker. As the sole heir to The Riley family, he had been subjected to strict education from an early a Learning how to become a qualified leader was the lifelong lesson he had to master.
I, on the other hand, grew up under my father’s brutal rule, which shaped me into a defiant rebel.
He had the ability, and the ambition. I knew I was never going to be the missing piece in his life’s puzzle.
Maybe I was the wicked supporting character in his story, or just an insignificant NPC.
But I was unwilling to accept that. I felt, deep down, that I could be the main character too.