Chapter 1

"Summer, look at me!" Rose Sanderson grabbed Summer Hartford by the hair, yanking the latter up from the ground. She forced Summer to stare at her.

Summer was as thin as a stick, her cheeks gaunt. In the deep of the winter, all she had on her was a thin layer of filthy mental institution patient robe. Like a zombie, she was unresponsive to Rose's actions.

Clearly, Rose was unhappy at Summer's lack of response. After six years of meticulous planning, she had finally crushed Summer. She would not be happy until she witnessed Summer in despair.

"You're dying. Don't you want to meet with Grandpa?" She flashed a malicious smile.

The mention of her grandfather finally elicited some response from Summer.

Rose clutched Summer's hair with a look of excitement and glee. She hauled Summer to the front of a curtain like she was dealing with the carcass of an animal. Then, she drew back the curtains.

Behind the curtain lay an emaciated old man with multiple tubes attached to his body. He seemed conscious, just unable to speak or move.

Tears welled up when he saw Summer—she was almost unrecognizable.

Summer stared at the old man in shock. Her hands wouldn't stop trembling. "Grandpa…"

Three years ago, Summer had a fallout with her grandfather, Henry Hartford, over her decision to marry Anthony Lawson. Little did she know that Anthony had been cheating on her with her cousin, Rose. The marriage was just a scheme to claim her stocks in Hartford Group.

On their wedding night, Summer was tricked into signing a stock transfer agreement by Anthony, whose attitude changed after that. When he got what he wanted, he sent her away to a mental institution.

Since then, she was reduced to Rose's punching bag and subjected to harsh torture for three long years.

Henry had always been a sprightly old man. Summer wasn't at all worried that someone might harm him.

Her heart twisted in pain, and tears streamed down her face. "What have you done to my grandpa?"

"Oh, nothing much. We regularly injected him with some chronic poison. That old thing really dotes on you. He knew he was taking in poison, but he allowed us to inject it in exchange for your safety." Rose cackled terrifyingly.

Summer felt her insides churn when what she feared came true.

"Rose, you took away my husband and everything I owned. You even tortured me for three years. Isn't that enough?

"Grandpa raised you. You are indebted to him. How could you do that to him?"

Summer's angry wails echoed in the space. She tried to raise a hand against Rose but was too frail to carry through.

Rose slapped her, sending her falling sideways.

"Are you calling me an ingrate now? If that old man had agreed to lend money to my dad, my dad wouldn't have been beaten to death by loan sharks! And I wouldn't have lost my family and become an orphan!" she said through gritted teeth.

"Your family fell apart because of your dad's gambling habits! Grandpa helped pay off his debts a few times—"

"Shut up!" Rose slapped Summer again with a clenched jaw.

Henry let out a scream and scrambled to get up. He looked worried and mad when Summer was bullied.

Seeing that, Rose grabbed Summer's hair again and dragged her before Henry. Snickering, she asked, "Hey, old thing, do you feel sorry for her? Let me tell you something. Six years ago, Summer Hartford wasn't gang-raped. I hired someone to stage those photos.

"Do you deeply regret your actions now? You did not believe in her, no matter how she explained herself. You were the one who pushed Summer to Anthony and me! It was all because of you she turned out the way she did today!"

Henry's eyes popped out of his head. Words could hurt more than knives sometimes.

Summer snapped back to stare at Rose in shock. "What did you say, Rose?"

"Dumbass! Do you still not get it? I was behind that incident six years ago!" Sounding smug and impudent, Rose barked, "As for Anthony… He had never loved you.

"He showed up in your life and was nice to you because he was part of the plan, too. From the start, he felt nothing but disgust for you."

"Impossible! That's impossible! You're lying!" Summer had always assumed Anthony was being honest when he stayed with her through her lowest point, and he had only cheated on her later.

She refused to believe that everything he did was preplanned.

Rose laughed maniacally when she achieved her goal of driving Summer to the brink. "Summer, didn't that bitch Phoebe Palmer warn you about me? It was all your fault for trusting me unconditionally. Did you know what that bitch said on her deathbed? She begged me to spare you!"

Summer's eyes widened in shock. "What did you just say? Is Phoebe… dead?"

Phoebe was the previous housekeeper at the Hartfords, who had raised Summer.

"What else? I couldn't spare her life when she wanted to tell Grandpa the truth, could I? Only the dead won't tell on me."

"Rose Sanderson!" Summer was utterly shattered.

In the past, Phoebe had repeatedly warned her to stay away from Rose, who was calculative. But she never believed in Phoebe's words, even getting mad at Phoebe at times.

Later, Rose claimed that Phoebe had returned to her hometown when Phoebe mysteriously went missing, and Summer took Rose's word for it.

It never occurred to her that Rose had taken Phoebe's life!

"Oh, don't forget your poor parents, who suffered early deaths!" Rose did not show any signs of stopping. She enjoyed watching Summer—once graceful and noble—being crushed under her feet in agony.

"Did you really think that car crash was an accident?"

Summer's crying came to an abrupt halt. Rose's rhetorical question struck her like lightning. A few weeks after news of the gang rape spread in society, her parents perished in a car accident.

Rose laughed uproariously. "Your parents were as dumb as you! When they found out I was behind your nudes, they did not go to the police right away. Instead, they called me to confront me about it!

"So, I shed a few tears over the phone and made up an excuse, telling them that I was blackmailed into taking those photos. And they believed me when I promised to turn myself in at the police station. The first thing after I hung up was to tamper with their car—"

"Rose, you're an animal!" Summer bellowed with all her might. She clutched Rose's arm with her bruised, wounded, and blood-stained hands.

Resentment surged in her eyes. In her torturous three years in the mental asylum, she thought she had seen the worst of Rose. She didn't expect it to be the tip of the iceberg.

In that moment, she had the urge to tear Rose apart, but she was too physically weak to do so.

"Summer Hartford, you're the reason Phoebe and your parents are dead!" Rose landed a kick on Summer's bony arm, causing it to fracture.

The agonizing pain flooded Summer, who let out a bloodcurdling scream.

Taking a step backward, Rose wiped the arm that Summer had clutched with disgust. "If you had taken Phoebe seriously, or maybe just been less cowardly, your parents wouldn't have kept the truth about me from you.

"At the very least, if you had listened to your grandpa and didn't marry Anthony, my plan wouldn't have succeeded!"

Her words were interrupted by the sudden beeping of the machine by Henry's bed. Panicking, Summer forgot about her fractured arm. She picked herself up from the ground and stumbled her way to Henry.

The unbearable truths, one after another, were too much to bear for Henry. His body convulsed violently.

Summer cried, "Grandpa, hang on! I'll get the doctor!"

She turned around, ready to beg Rose for help. Ego wasn't important to her. After all, Henry was her only family in this world. Rose could do anything to her, as long as she saved Henry's life.

Before she could say a word, Summer felt a cold, viscous liquid dripping down from the top of her head.

W-Was that gasoline?

Shocked, she realized that Rose was planning to burn her alive. She wasn't afraid of death. After three years of torture, death was a relief.

But she didn't want Henry to meet a horrific death because of her.

Trembling, she pleaded with Rose, "Rose, you can do anything to me! Just leave Grandpa out of it!"

Rose slowly wandered out of the room. On her way out, she turned her head around with mockery. "Summer, are you delusional? I want you destroyed! I want you to suffer when you die! You'll make headlines tomorrow. I can see it.

"'Heiress Escapes Asylum at Midnight, Sets Fire Killing Tycoon Grandfather in a Shocking Act of Passion.' Isn't that a wonderful headline?"

Her jeers sent Summer spiraling into despair. She finally realized the reason Rose had brought her out from the asylum to the hospital—to frame her for the arson that killed Henry!

"By the way, Mason has arrived downstairs. I'm surprised that a cold-blooded and cocky guy like him would have eyes for a slut like you.

"For you, he nearly offered Anthony and me half of his family business. But we can't have him around after you die—that's risky. Since he likes you so much, I shall grant his wish and let him die with you."

Mason Hunt?

Summer seemed taken aback. To her, Mason was practically a stranger. Not only that, he left a bad impression on her because he once attempted to forcefully acquire Hartford Group.

Why would he—

"Summer Hartford, don't be this dumb in your next life." Rose couldn't be bothered to speak more. Flicking the lighter, she stared at the dancing flame with an excited chuckle before chucking the lighter into the room.

Following an explosion, the room that was doused in gasoline erupted in flames—they licked Summer's skin, sending searing pain through her body. Heartbroken, she watched as flames engulfed Henry, who struggled in his bed.

"Rose Sanderson, I will return to you as a vengeful spirit and make you pay with your life. You and Anthony will regret it!" Summer's terrifying screams cut through the peace of the night at the hospital.

Moments later, a figure dashed into the room, worriedly calling out Summer's name and wrapping her writhing body in a hug.

She felt as though her insides were on fire.

"Leave! You'll get burned to your death!" she silently, helplessly screamed at Mason.

She didn't want to cause any more deaths. She wanted him to leave. But the man did not let go.

Right before she lost consciousness, she heard a soft whisper.

"I will never leave you alone again."