Chapter 3

Pierce extended his hand toward Millie. His fingers were long and slender, and he had a large palm.

Millie was frozen in place when she heard his voice again. She was shocked.

However, the drunk man rushed up to them just then. Still under the influence of alcohol, he yelled, "Are you fucking blind? Did you not see me standing there? I'm going to skin you…"

Pierce said nothing. He handed the umbrella over to Millie and grabbed the drunk man, forcing his arms behind his back.

Then, he pulled out his phone and called someone. A while later, the police officers from the nearby station showed up.

"This man harassed a young woman on the street. He should be a repeat offender. Take him back to the station as a fair warning to him."

"Alright, we'll take care of him," the police officers said politely before taking the drunk man away.

Millie should have grabbed the opportunity to run while Pierce was busy talking to the police. However, her legs refused to budge. She was still rooted to the ground.

"Shall I send you home?"

"Who are you?" Millie asked in a shaky voice.

"Stefan's high school classmate. We used to be best buddies. I'm now a jobless retiree spending my days wandering around."

"Were you from the force?"

Pierce nodded.

Millie was surprised. If that was the case, then he couldn't possibly be one of her abductors. After all, there had to be many people with similar-sounding voices in the world. She was just being overly paranoid at this point.

"The rain is getting heavier. Let me give you a ride home. It's not safe for you to walk alone."

Millie wanted to reject him, but she quickly remembered what just happened and gave in, climbing into his car.

Pierce gave her an impression of a cool, distant person. He didn't say a word to her after she got into his car. However, he handed her a warm rug and a bottle of water.

He left after dropping Millie off at Leach Manor. Millie stared at the place she'd been living in for the past three years and felt a large hand squeezing her heart until she could barely breathe.

Three years ago, the Jordans had gone bankrupt, and Millie's parents were about to be sent to prison. Millie then tried to gather enough money for their bail and even resorted to selling herself at the club, where Stefan had been her first client.

Millie had been terrified then, but Stefan treated her with nothing but kindness. After learning about her struggles, he saved her parents by bailing them out and even gave them enough money so that Millie's father, Frederick Jordan, could restart his business.

That was how Millie fell deeply and helplessly in love with Stefan.

Stefan treated her very well. They behaved like a young couple who were head-over-heels in love with each other and often went out for movies and dates.

However, Stefan had never taken it a step further with her. He said that he was the conservative kind. He once told her, "Millie, I want our first time to be special. I want to take off your wedding dress and make you mine."

At that time, Millie felt as if she was on top of the world. She couldn't believe how lucky she was to have found such a perfect man who treated her like a precious jewel.

Nonetheless, Stefan never acknowledged their relationship in public. He said, "Too many people have their eyes on me because of my wealth and status. If they found out about our relationship, they're only going to make it hard for you. And I'd never want anyone to hurt you if I could help it."

She believed him.

But now, she understood that everything he said had been a joke.

She was merely a replacement for someone else. Stefan had never loved her in the first place!

Millie ordered some food delivery and got them to also deliver some balm and Plan B pills. Then, she packed her bags and went to clean up. She wanted to wash off all traces of the other man from her body.

She stared at her sorry self in the mirror. Cuts, bruises, and hickeys were littered all over her body.

Millie closed her eyes bitterly. She'd given in to the abductor only to learn about Stefan's true colors. Had it been worth it after all?

She put on a dressing gown and came out of the shower. She planned to leave after applying some medication to her injuries.

However, the door suddenly opened. A drunk Stefan then staggered into the room.

He looked dissatisfied to see Millie still inside. "Why haven't you gone?"

His voice came to an abrupt halt.

Suddenly, Stefan was wide awake. His eyes turned red with anger as he stormed toward Millie.

Millie quickly put on her clothes so she wouldn't accidentally expose herself to him. However, in the next second, Stefan yanked the collar of her shirt and hollered, "What the fuck is this?"

He glared at the bite marks on her chest and looked like his eyes were about to pop out from their sockets.

Millie only laughed bitterly with tears in her eyes.

"Stefan Leach, what do you think is going to happen to a helpless woman when she's left alone with a bunch of kidnappers?"

"That's impossible. I warned them not to lay a finger on you! They'd never touch you!"

"And you believed them? You believed the kidnappers? You sincerely believed that they wouldn't do anything to me?"

Millie found it hilariously pathetic. She was a nobody since no one knew about her relationship with Stefan. And since he never showed up for a long time, of course, her abductors would never let her escape unscathed.

"Who touched you? Was it one person or the whole group? You filthy bitch, why didn't you just go and kill yourself? You could have jumped off the boat, hit your head against the wall, slit your wrists… Of all things, how could you come back here and humiliate me like this?"

Millie was stupefied.

She'd thought that Stefan started out being worried about her and still felt a sense of warmth. However, she now finally realized that he only thought of her as his possession. And now, because she'd survived the abduction by getting raped, he told her that she was nothing but a humiliation.

To think that her life wasn't even worth his ego!

Right at that moment, Millie's heart hurt so much that she felt suffocated.

"What if it was your beloved Wanda who'd been abducted instead and could only escape by getting raped? Would you also want her to kill herself by slitting her wrists or drowning herself or—"

There was the sound of a loud, resounding slap.

Stefan had slapped her harshly across the cheek before she could even finish her sentence.

Millie was slapped so hard that she saw stars in her eyes. She felt nothing but pain on her cheek. Her head had also been forcefully turned to the side.

"How dare you fucking curse at her like that?"

Millie swore that her heart died at that instant.

So, his beloved Wanda should never go through such experiences, but he couldn't care less if she did?

Millie didn't know where she got her sudden bout of courage from. She pushed Stefan away and said, "Stefan Leach, we are over. I wish you a life of infertility and hell."

Then, she turned to leave.

"Stop right there! You can leave, but you must return everything you own that was bought with my money!"

Millie stopped in her tracks.

There was nothing valuable in her suitcase. She'd only brought with her the daily necessities and a few changes of clothes. However, all of them had been bought with Stefan's money.

If he wasn't letting her bring them with her, did that mean he wanted her to leave the manor stark naked?

Millie gritted her teeth and grabbed her phone to get someone to buy her clothes from the shopping app.

"I'll leave after my clothes—"

"Now! Take off those fucking clothes!" Stefan screamed at her, his eyes a dark, scary abyss.

Stefan used to be warm and gentle to her. Yet now, he was screaming at her like a demon.

"Stefan…"

"Or, you can beg me to let you keep them," he said, looking down at her in disdain like he was her ruler.

Millie had always been docile and obedient, listening to everything he said. She should know what to do next.

Millie bit on her lower lip until it started bleeding. The metallic tang immediately flooded her senses and caused her stomach to lurch with nausea.

Her face was as pale as a sheet. However, she didn't stop taking the clothes off her body.

Luckily, her bra and panties were of her own.

Gradually, her used and beat-up body was completely exposed before Stefan.

Stefan had initially managed to get his temper under control. However, as soon as he saw the marks on her body, he burst into anger again.

He never thought that there would be so many marks on her body. Just how many people did she give her body to? And how many men had left their traces inside of her?

Stefan had never had sex with Millie for the past three years. However, even if he refused to touch her and abandoned her afterward, nobody was allowed to pick up after him and touch her nonetheless!

"You deserve to fucking die!" Stefan roared as he lunged at her. Millie couldn't get away from him in time.

Stefan grabbed Millie's chin and tried to kiss her, but Millie hurriedly turned her head away in disgust. His anger then erupted like a volcano.

"What the fuck? So, they can kiss you, but I can't now, you filthy bitch? Where did they touch you? Is this how they fucked you? Did they touch you here? Here? Or here?"

Stefan started feeling Millie up, letting his hands wander down to her sensitive part.

Millie suddenly felt utterly disgusted. It hadn't even felt this disgusting when she was forced to do it with the abductor. It was only when Stefan touched her that truly felt revolting!

She continued to struggle, but her strength was no match for Stefan's. She was thrown onto the bed like a ragdoll.

"Why would you let other dogs touch you but pretend to be some innocent virgin when you're with me? I'm going to fuck you today if that's the last thing I do! And there's nothing you can fucking do about it—"

Before he could finish his sentence, Stefan's eyes suddenly turned glassy as his pupils constricted.

Something warm, wet, and sticky started dripping down his neck.

Millie had grabbed the flower vase on the bedside table and slammed it against the back of his head.

Stefan's lips trembled. Then, he blacked out before he could get the last words out of his mouth. Millie had no idea what he was about to say.

She then pushed him aside and hurriedly put her clothes back on.

It wasn't until she finally reached the exit that she asked the household staff to go up and check on Stefan.

Then, she grabbed her suitcase and walked out into the dark of the night, trembling in fear.

Suddenly, she caught sight of a car waiting at the gates.

It was Pierce's car.