Chapter 4

Lillian's POV

The two alert young servants quickly grabbed my hand, attempting to take the ring off my ring finger.

"Hey! What are you doing?" I protested and shouted in anger as I struggled to free myself.

The Queen gazed at me expressionlessly and said, "You have already entered the Amus family and have seen my son's illness. Therefore, you can never return to the Rosenburg family."

"What do you mean? What are you going to do with me?" I stared at her in fear.

I saw Ismail's illness? Did she mean the way he looked when he was sick the previous night? 

But the bedroom was pitch black, and I didn't see anything!

"Right now, you have two options. First, choose something from this tray to end your own life." The Queen beckoned, and a maid came in carrying a tray. To my horror, I saw a gun, sleeping pills, and a fruit knife on the tray.

I instinctively stepped back and asked, "What's the second option?"

"The second option is to go to the airport tomorrow morning. Someone will take you to another place where your daily needs will be taken care of."

I finally understood that they intended to imprison me in a remote place and ensure that I could never return. 

"Ismail, you are ruthless!" I thought to myself.

I shook off the servants' hands angrily and hissed, "I'll do it myself." 

It was a beautiful ring made of gold embedded with a round, shiny black stone. The ring had a unique and attractive design, as if it was bought from an antique store. 

When the witch put the ring on my ring finger the previous night, I couldn't help admiring its beauty and uniqueness silently. But before I could even get used to it, I had to take it off. 

Of course, it belonged to the Amus family and I had no interest in keeping it anyway.

"Do you really have to take off this ring?" Ruby suddenly spoke up when I was pulling the ring off my finger. "I don't want you to take off this ring." 

"Why?" I continued to work on taking off the ring. "Ruby, we should have some self-respect. We don't need this stupid ring." 

But... 

I held my breath and pulled hard, but the ring remained stuck on my finger, no matter how hard I pulled. 

Maybe seeing that I couldn't take it off, Ruby spoke again in a soft voice, "Why don't you just leave it on, Lillian? This ring gave me a comforting feeling for some reason." 

A comforting feeling? 

As I was struggling to remove the ring, Helen noticed my predicament and instructed a servant to fetch soap water. However, even after drenching my hand in it, the ring remained stubbornly fixed on my finger.

"Your Majesty, the ring can't be removed."

Helen respectfully told the Queen after she tried and failed to remove the ring herself. 

"Then find a way to get it off." 

With that said, the Queen left the room at once. 

With the Queen's departure, Helen stared at me for a moment before saying to those around her, "Take her to the dungeon."

With that, the two servants lifted me up like a doll and carried me to the backyard. 

I had no freedom whatsoever here. 

For one entire day, I was imprisoned in the cold dungeon, and during this time, several people came to try to remove the ring, but each attempt was in vain. 

Every method had been exhausted, and my finger had become numb from all the fuss, yet the ring remained stuck on my finger.

Slowly, drowsiness overcame me once again, and I fell asleep. 

As I was in my sleep, a prickling sensation stirred me from my dreams, alerting me to the presence of someone drawing near me. Gradually, I peeled open my eyes, but all that met my gaze was an impenetrable shroud of darkness. 

"Awake?" Suddenly, a magnetic voice echoed through the dark. 

In the darkness, I could feel a pair of eyes staring at me intently.

I sat up in bed, scanning left and right until I noticed a tall man standing in front of me. 

Although I couldn't see his face clearly, I could feel a cold and fierce aura coming towards me, which I remembered belonged to Ismail. 

His alluring and unmistakable aura had left an indelible impression on me, especially since we had engaged in a marathon of passion on our wedding night.

However, wasn't he sent to the hospital the previous night? 

Why did he come back? 

I stared at him in horror, my mind racing with fear and confusion. "I don't want to be killed! No, I don't want to die!"

"I have good news for you," Ismail said.

But, I couldn't see his facial expression. I only heard him make a chuckle and add, "I've decided to keep you here." 

What?

He decided to keep me here? He wasn't going to send me away? 

"... until the ring is taken off." 

Ismail spat out the second half of the sentence.

My hope was mercilessly shattered to pieces yet again. I was fully aware that Ismail, the demon before me, was not the benevolent type; his intent was to possess the ring adorning my finger.

"If I manage to somehow take the ring off, will I still be sent to that place?" 

I narrowed my eyes at him. In the darkness, Ismail shook his head. "No. You'll be set free as soon as you take off the ring and if you do as I say." 

The glimmer of hope, which had almost disappeared, now blazed up again within me. "Is that true?"

"You can choose not to believe me," Ismail replied. 

"No, I believe you." I raised my voice. 

If I did not put my trust in him, then I would be filled with despair. 

Thus, I chose to have faith in his words.

"But... I can't take the ring off," I said, my voice barely above a whisper. 

So many people had come yet none could remove it, how could I possibly do it? 

"Well, then you should put in some effort," Ismail replied while leaning down and lifting my chin with his hand. He then kissed me on the lips.

"Mmm..." I instinctively let out a muffled sound of protest. 

Ismail tightened his grip on my chin and whispered into my ear, "Or, do you want to live with them in that place far, far away?" 

No... I definitely didn't want to! 

"Or are you just like the others? Petrified of me, hating my guts?" His kiss grew more intense. 

I dared not struggle anymore and let him kiss me.

With a hint of derision, he declared, "Your father sold you to me, which means you're mine now. You should feel honored that I even lay a finger on you. Got it?"

Despite being the one who had forced me into this marriage, Ismail spoke as if I was the one to blame. Though I was seething with anger, I dared not show it. 

Just as I thought Ismail was going to push me down on the bed, he suddenly released me and walked away with a contemptuous sneer. 

I breathed a sigh of relief, grateful that the night was going to pass by peacefully.

In the morning, Helen threw a folder in front of me and said expressionlessly, "You should go through the contents of this folder carefully." 

"What's in this?" I asked, taking the folder from Helen and flipping it open. I scanned through its contents which stated a long list of restrictions – I was forbidden from going near the Amus family's ancestral hall, from divulging any secrets about the Amus family to outsiders, and from turning on the lights without Ismail's consent during our private moments at night. 

It was a slew of restrictions that left me feeling even more trapped here.

But wait, I couldn't turn on the lights? Seriously?

No wonder Ismail didn't turn on the lights both times I saw him. Why? Was it because he was so ugly that he didn't want to be seen? Or... had he become so sick that he no longer had a human form?

Besides, I was expected to become pregnant with a child within two months? 

"Ismail is too occupied with work and hardly ever comes home, yet you demand that I conceive a child within two months?"

How was that even possible? 

The Queen sneered, "Miss Chloe, although it's been proven that you're not destined to be with my son, we can't take the ring off your finger, so the Amus family can only keep you around for one purpose: to bear a child of the Amus family." 

"But... Ismail said that he would set me free as soon as I take off the ring," I stuttered. 

"I will, too, set you free once you give birth to a child." 

"I don't..." 

"Miss Chloe, understand that the Amus family is making a great concession by keeping you here. Don't push your luck," warned the Queen, her tone growing impatient.

Concession? This was clearly just another way of torturing me!

So I had to give birth to Ismail's child in order to gain my freedom? 

How was this any less heinous than my father who sold me off? Was there any difference between this and the despicable acts of my father? 

So, it seemed that I not only had to take off the ring, but also had to carry a child for Ismail just to be granted my freedom!