Chapter 3

The woman in the video was on her knees as she clutched the sleeve of the suited man before her. After a brief conversation, the woman suddenly groveled at the man's feet.

The video seemed to have been zoomed in a lot, so the image was rather blurry. It had probably been taken from a distance. Despite the blurriness, I immediately recognized the woman to be myself.

The video had been uploaded online, and the comments were negative.

"Why am I being shown this video? Do you think I'm a piece of trash who watches everything and anything?"

"What the hell is that woman doing? What's wrong with her?"

"Is this part of a film crew's shooting? Damn, look at that woman go. I could do it, too!"

"Wait, you guys don't know the story? This woman has a crush on that man and chased him all the way to his workplace!"

"What? Isn't that just sexual harassment? Why hasn't anyone called the cops on her? She can't get away with these things just because she's a woman!"

"Don't you guys think she looks familiar? Is her last name Castor or something?"

"You're talking about Jade Castor, right? Isn't she married? Who's the guy in the video?"

"Are you dumb? Doesn't it clearly state in the video that he's a secretary?"

"So, this chick is fooling around with a secretary when she has a CEO for a husband? What is wrong with this world?"

I didn't dare to continue reading. The rest of the comments would only be worse. Chills ran down my spine, and my legs felt like they'd been filled with lead.

The video continued playing, and the sounds made me feel like they were curses from hell. Despair washed over me. I shut my eyes, trying hard to calm myself. However, I only felt worse.

The video cut off when my phone rang. I slowly opened my eyes to see Eugene calling. I'd saved his number as "honey"; it seemed particularly mocking now.

When I answered, he taunted me. "I didn't expect you to be involved with my secretary. You've got some nerve."

I didn't argue or try to refute him. Instead, I quietly waited for him to continue. He didn't say anything for a long while, though.

After a long silence, I looked up at the sky and said softly, "Dad's dead, Eugene."

He snorted. "How many times are you going to lie to me, Jade? Aren't you tired of that yet?"

There was some noise on his end. Then, his tone turned impatient. "I'll let you off the hook for the video for now. I'll give you 30 minutes to come to the hospital. Ivy needs help!"

He hung up without giving me the chance to say anything.

I chuckled bitterly. If Ivy really was fighting for her life on the operating table, how could she have sent me the link to the video?

My phone screen showed the paused video now that the call was over. That was when I saw Eugene's car in a corner of the video. I dragged the playback bar to see Eugene carrying Ivy out from the side gate and hurrying to his car while I'd begged Michael.

She clutched her hand to her chest. She looked like she was heavily injured. I searched for other angles of the video before discovering that she'd only sliced her finger while cutting fruits.

It turned out that to Eugene, I really meant nothing compared to Ivy. I locked my phone, tucked it away, and turned to head somewhere else. However, Michael and a few men stood in my way before I could even leave the cemetery.

He looked a little worse for the wear—there were even bruises on his cheeks. He held out a hand to stop me from leaving. "Mr. Fort sent us to pick you up, Mrs. Fort."

I backed away warily. "What? Are you guys going to force me to go to the hospital if I refuse to head there myself?"

His tone was icy and robotic as he said, "I'm sorry. This is what Mr. Fort wants; I can't do anything about it."

Then, the bodyguards behind him grabbed me and dragged me into the car. They were so strong that I had no chance of breaking free. They only released me when we saw Eugene.