Before Millie could speak, Stefan let out a mocking laugh as if he were certain she would call."Ms. Jordan, to what do I owe the pleasure?" His tone was sarcastic."Didn't you want me to apologize? I'll apologize…""Are you kidding me? Do you think just saying a few harmless words over the phone counts as an apology? I want you to come over and kneel in front of Wanda to apologize, and let her slap you ten times. Otherwise, I won't be satisfied.""So, do you hate me because I slapped Wanda, or because I deceived you?"There was silence on the other end."Stefan, I told you a long time ago that I had a boyfriend. You didn't believe me. I even told you I wished you and Wanda well, but you were too confident and thought I was just playing hard to get.""You could accept me being Pierce's mistress, thinking I had fallen from grace. But being his wife was unacceptable because that would mean I was beyond your pity, right? I know you're a control freak. Even after we broke up, you st
"You're lying! You're only doing this to get back at me!" Stefan screamed in a cracking voice, clearly on the verge of a breakdown.Millie watched him like he was a clown.What was he trying to prove now?Men were strange creatures.Some men thought their ex-wives still belonged to them even after divorce. It was ridiculous."I don't want to discuss this with you. When should I apologize?""Right now. Get over here to Leach Manor!" he roared."Fine, but you better keep your word."She was smart this time. She feared he'd go back on his word, so she prepared a contract in black and white. If he tried to deny it later or make trouble for the Atkinson Group, he couldn't use her as leverage.She arrived at Leach Manor and saw Stefan coming downstairs."Where's Wanda?" she asked in confusion."She's upstairs. Go find her in the master bedroom. You know the way, right?"After all, she had lived there for three years and should have known it like the back of her hand."Sign this
Millie kept retreating, but her hands were tied, leaving her little room to maneuver. She was both furious and anxious."Stefan, if you dare lay a finger on me, I swear I'll kill you!"Stefan scoffed at her words."Are you scared? Are you afraid that if I do something to you, Pierce will abandon you?""No, he won't abandon me!""Oh? Being defiled before marriage and being defiled after marriage are two different things. A man might not care about a woman's past before marriage, but it's a different story after marriage."It was like how he felt about Wanda. Even if she had been married before, it didn't matter as long as she was completely his after marriage.Men were all the same. He didn't believe Pierce was any different."Stefan! Don't you dare, or I will make your life a living hell. I will tell Wanda…""I'll just say you seduced me.""You... How did you become like this?"Millie was utterly shocked. Stefan had once been such a good person, but now he had become so dark
Stefan taunted Pierce. "Why don't you guess? A man and a woman alone in a room. What do you think I did to her?""I'll kill you."Pierce's punches landed hard, and Stefan coughed up a mouthful of blood. The maids were terrified and rushed over to stop Pierce. They couldn't just stand by and watch him beat Stefan to death. One of them had a sudden idea."Mr. Atkinson, you should check on Ms. Jordan first!"Upon hearing that, Pierce's heart skipped a beat. Millie. Millie.He kept repeating her name in his mind as he hurried upstairs.He kicked open countless doors, searching room by room until he finally found the master bedroom. The door wouldn't budge. It was locked. He kicked it several times angrily until the lock finally gave way.As he entered the room, he saw a small, fragile figure teetering on the edge of the balcony railing. The first floor had a raised open-air area, and this was a high floor, at least 13 feet from the ground. If she fell, she might not die, but she
Millie's heart jolted at Stefan's words. What did he mean by that? Was it such a big deal just because he had taken a few bites out of her? Did he think he was part of her now?She quickly realized that Pierce must have misunderstood. Her gaze trembled as she looked at him, and he was staring back at her. Their eyes met, and she knew Pierce had gotten the wrong idea.She rushed to explain, "No... it's not like that. Nothing happened between us. Pierce... believe me."Stefan laughed. "Pierce, look at her. She's so desperate to please you that she's even spinning this kind of lie."Pierce's face turned dark, and he remained silent while taking her to the car. The front of the car was severely damaged. One could only imagine how desperately Pierce had used the vehicle to crash through the iron gate.He opened the car door and carefully placed her in the passenger seat, even fastening her seatbelt for her."Pierce..."She instinctively grabbed his sleeve.Before she could say more,
"Pierce! Stop hitting him!" Millie clung tightly to Pierce's arm."Let go of me!" Pierce's voice was hoarse and deep, filled with authority."No!" Millie's voice was resolute. "If you want to kill him, you'll have to kill me first!"She was ready to go to any length to calm him down. As expected, her words had the desired effect. Pierce's expression darkened, his gaze complex as it lingered on her.Without a word, he stood up and left.Stefan kept coughing, his blood staining the floor a deep red. The hot blood splattered onto Millie's hand."What are you standing around for? Get him to the hospital!"No one dared to call the police that night. Pierce's beating had left Stefan barely alive, but Stefan's attempt at assault was also undeniable, even if it had failed.Millie glanced at Pierce's disappearing figure, panicked, and tried to follow, only to find Stefan grabbing at her clothes stubbornly. Despite his agony and weakness, he clung to her, his face twisted in pain.Milli
The kiss quickly escalated out of control. Pierce's hands began to wander, lifting her clothing and gripping her. Millie found that she wasn't repelled by his closeness, but she didn't want it to happen in this unclear and distressing situation.She struggled with all her might. "Pierce, what do you think of me?""You're no different from Stefan right now!" she shouted angrily, feeling deeply wronged and her eyes welling up with tears.Pierce's body stiffened sharply at her words, his heart aching as if it were being torn apart. He shouldn't be the abuser!He hurriedly returned to his seat and rolled down the window, letting the night breeze in.Millie felt helpless and gathered her clothes to cover herself."I'm sorry," Pierce finally spoke after a long silence. "I lost control. I shouldn't have treated you like this.""So you always thought this way about me? No matter what I said about not loving Stefan, you thought I was lying, that I still had a place for him in my heart."
"How many times do I have to say it for you to understand? I don't love Stefan anymore—I hate him! Can you help me to get rid of this? Please, I'm begging you!" Millie pleaded desperately.Pierce held her shoulders, his gaze steady on hers. "Are you sure you want me to remove it?"Millie nodded firmly."Then, close your eyes," he instructed. As if entranced, Millie obediently closed her eyes. In that moment, she was nothing short of perfect in Pierce's eyes. She had always been pure and innocent to him. Any inappropriate thoughts would be a form of disrespect to her, so he dared not entertain them.His eyes fell on the hickey on her neck. He slowly leaned down and pressed his lips against it. His tongue brushed gently over the hickey, and Millie shivered in response. It stung at first, but gradually, the pain ebbed away into a soothing warmth. The tenderness of his kiss seemed to dissolve her pain. Although his touch occasionally intensified the ache, it also awakened a fee
Millie swiftly took some photos and handed the phone back to the guy."The photos you took look great, miss," one of them couldn't help but praise."Thanks for the compliment," Millie said with a smile.That person was so mesmerized that they stood there in a daze, unsure of what to do. Even when Millie had already walked away, he still hadn't snapped out of it."What's wrong? Do you like her?"Nathaniel Yates finally came to his senses. "N-No. Cut the nonsense. I just appreciate her photography skills."Meanwhile, Millie had gone over to sit by the water and noticed some fish in the lake. It reminded her of the last time she went fishing with Piercy. She was so lost in thought and didn't even notice that Nathaniel was secretly taking a photo of her from behind.He was using an instant camera, so the photo developed quickly.As Nathaniel stepped forward, Millie suddenly heard the noise behind her. She immediately turned around and saw an unfamiliar man, which startled her.
Millie quietly left the room so that Pierce could bid his gun a proper farewell. Then, she went downstairs for breakfast. However, breakfast felt tasteless.Pierce went downstairs after half an hour.Though he didn't have work that day, he dressed in formal attire to make the handover look more proper.The gun was wrapped in a paper bag. He casually set it aside as if nothing was wrong and began eating breakfast."It tastes delicious, you should try some," he casually uttered, serving Millie some food.Millie saw through Pierce's act but chose not to say anything.After that, Pierce remained silent the entire way to the CBP. The atmosphere in the car was heavy.Soon, they arrived at the police station, and Jason came out."Pierce…" Jason whispered, his voice slightly choked. He knew what it meant for Pierce to return the gun this time.Pierce looked at Jason's uniform and couldn't help but give him a firm pat on the shoulder. "Do your best. I have high hopes for you."Jas
Millie had once loved Stefan wholeheartedly, leaving herself no way out. But now, her love for Pierce was only six or seven on a scale of ten. She kept reminding herself that she shouldn't give anyone the chance to hurt her deeply again.Millie had even planned her retreat. If they broke up, she would be the one to walk away the most effortlessly.Once bitten, twice shy.Millie was well aware of her problems. Both she and Pierce had their fair share of flaws, and nobody was perfect. That was human nature."Pierce, you're way too extreme," Millie said."I know," Pierce answered.The most terrifying part was that he knew his flaws too well, yet he had no desire or intention to change.Pierce had suffered for his whole life. As an illegitimate child of the Atkinson family, he'd lost his mother at birth, and his father never loved him. The only place he ever felt a sense of belonging was with his grandfather. He was inherently a cold and unfeeling person, and the first time he bec
The call was quickly answered."Where are you?" Millie asked."I'm still on a business trip," Pierce replied."Then turn on the video. I want to see your face."There was a brief silence on the other end of the call. Millie knew Pierce was lying. "Are you still not willing to tell me the truth? Jason came to the house, asking to take back your gun. What's going on? What happened in the days you were away?""I'll tell you when I get back home." Pierce's voice was a bit muffled.He then hung up the call and removed the bandage from the corner of his eye.The wound was right beside his eyebrow. Since he had dark eyebrows, the scar shouldn't be that noticeable. He could only cling on to this wishful thinking.With that, Pierce returned to the villa.Millie hadn't seen him for days. She felt that he had lost a lot of weight and looked even more exhausted after the trip."How did you get injured again?" she asked.Pierce initially thought it would take her a long time to notic
Jacob eventually calmed down and said, "Do you still insist on doing this when you know it doesn't exactly benefit us?"Pierce replied, "I wouldn't dare to deceive you, neither do I dare to contact you in private. But this doesn't affect our operations, which was why I dared to do so. I want to find someone, but I can't no matter how hard I've tried, so I had no choice but to ask for their favor.""You… Are you still doing it even though we won't get anything good out of this?" Jacob asked.Pierce fell silent and clenched his fists. "Yes. I will resolve whatever problems I've caused. After that, I'll kill them in my own way."Jacob threw his cup at Pierce upon hearing this.With Pierce's skill, he could have dodged it. However, he chose to stand straight.The cup hit him right at the corner of his eye, causing him to bleed."You…" Jacob angrily stood up. "W-Why didn't you dodge?" he asked in a shaky voice."I did something wrong. It's right for you to punish me," Pierce simply
Gideon really admired Pierce's calm and composed demeanor."What's the matter?" he asked."I need you to help me find a lady who went missing. I have to know if she's still alive or not," Pierce answered. "I need her, dead or alive. I can't do this on my own, but with your help, it'll be much easier."He had used every legal method he could think of. But desperate times called for desperate measures, and there was only one option left—to enter the underworld."You're making such a big scene just to look for this one person? What? Is she like your lover or something?" Gideon asked."She's an enemy, the kind that I want dead more than anything."The way Pierce paused after each word made him sound eerily intimidating."Is she also like us, from the underworld?""No, she's just a nobody."Gideon felt chills running down his spine. Having dealt with Pierce for this long, he thought he knew his true nature well enough—a righteous police officer who always played by the book. But ri
Pierce felt like he was drowning, but if someone were to pull him out of the water right now, he would survive.Sometimes, Millie couldn't imagine what would happen if she left Pierce one day because of her disappointment in him. Would he still be able to move on?Pierce survived by clinging onto his sheer will. At first, it was the fixation on avenging his sister's death. But now, it was all because of Millie."What are you going to do now?" she asked."I can't tell you just yet, but I promise it won't take longer than three months."Since Pierce wasn't planning to elaborate, Millie didn't bother to keep on asking either.For the past few days, Millie had been carefully taking care of the wound on Pierce's neck. Even though a small patch of new pink flesh had grown over his wound, it still looked pretty hideous. Fortunately, Pierce always wore suits with collars that were high enough to cover his neck. Millie would always start tearing up whenever she saw his scar.She said,
Pierce was aghast. Mills! His poor Mills!Everyone around Pierce had accused him of committing a crime, but he didn't do it. He had been trying so hard to find out the truth, but in the end, he still got nothing.Did he really betray Millie? Did he really taint himself by sleeping with Sarah?Even if he truly believed that Piercy didn't do anything, he still couldn't find any evidence to prove it.Sarah and Piercy were nowhere to be found either.How was he supposed to prove his innocence? He felt like a trapped beast that couldn't find its way out.Just then, Millie made a subtle twitch. It startled Pierce, and he immediately withdrew his arm around her and pretended to remain unconscious.Millie didn't sleep well at all. The first thing she did after waking up was to check on Pierce. The monitor showed that Pierce's heart was racing.She then brought out a warm towel and gently wiped his face.She began, "Your hair has grown so much longer, but you didn't even properly
Millie rushed forward and saw the disconcerting look in Pierce's eyes.Pierce hadn't rested for two days, so his nerves were stretched to their absolute limit. His eyes were completely bloodshot too.The moment he saw Millie, he grabbed her like he was a drowning man who finally got his hands on a life buoy. His large hands clamped down on her arm with such force that it felt like he was going to crush her bones.Pierce howled, "Tell him to come out, please! He listens to you. Ask him to come out, Millie. I don't care if he takes over this body. I just need him to tell me the truth! Did I betray you? Did I mess around with another woman? I'm begging you…""Pierce, calm down please." Millie tried to soothe him."How can I calm down? I want to be with you, but if I really did betray you, then at least let me die knowing the truth! What am I supposed to do now? How long does he plan to torture me?"Pierce shoved Millie aside, frantically searching around the room. He even lunged at