Love's Illusions: Secondhand Affections

The pain was at its worst when the last stroke of the blade cut my abdomen open. I couldn't hold on any longer.Blood spread down my body as those wicked hands forcibly pried open my abdomen and pulled the child out.I couldn't speak anymore. All I knew was that the person before me was a demon."Dead already?" He patted my cheek. "How boring! Does Matt really care about you? It's been seven days, and he still hasn't noticed you're here with me!"I couldn't answer because I had already lost consciousness. As my body floated into the air, I impassively looked down at that blood-soaked corpse. I suddenly saw a box beside it. There was a tiny lump of bloody flesh in it. A pang of pain struck my heart. I rushed over, trying to reach out, only to fail at grabbing it. My soul followed the box as it left the basement. I finally saw sunlight.I had been missing for seven days after I was kidnapped by Matt Quillon's mortal enemy. Thinking I was Matt's weakness, he used me to threaten

Matt's gaze was conflicted. He coldly said, "I'm sure you're not. Catherina is a cunning woman."Afterward, he ordered his assistant, "Keep investigating until you find her! And make sure to check all surveillance along the route. Don't miss anything!"Rachel grew visibly tense.As I watched Rachel, I couldn't help finding her suspicious.I recalled two days before I was kidnapped.I had gone to Matt's office to see him. As his assistant told me he wasn't there, I went to wait for him in his office.Coincidentally, I caught Rachel coming out of the room. She looked visibly startled when she saw me. Now that I thought about it, she seemed to be holding an exquisite silver keyring. As I connected the dots, I realized how suspicious she was.Rachel made an excuse that she wasn't feeling well and retreated to her room. Seeing this, I followed her and saw her quickly pull out her phone."You said this plan was foolproof! Now Matt's starting to check the surveillance along the ro

When Winnie regained consciousness, she found herself in a hospital bed with Sean sitting by her side.Seeing her awake, he complained, frowning, "I told you to stay out of this. Look what you've done to yourself! You're practically trending online! If you're so free, why don't you just focus on getting better? Rachel was right about you; you're just looking for trouble!"Winnie was disappointed. "I look for trouble? Sean, will I ever measure up to Rachel in your eyes?"Sean fell silent, leaving Winnie feeling utterly despondent. Her gaze shifted. When she noticed his bare finger, anger surged within her. "If that's the case, why did you marry me?"Sean coldly asked in return, "Winnie, weren't you the one who got into my bed in the first place? Did you think I would marry you otherwise?"Hearing this, Winnie began trembling.Five years ago, she'd been a rookie journalist just starting out. She was covering a story when someone spiked her drink. She'd stumbled into Sean's room by

Half an hour later, I was at the morgue of the Wayfield Police Department with Matt. "Mr. Quillon, the killer left this letter for you. We took the fingerprints and are now going after the killer."I hovered beside Matt. He opened the envelope to reveal a long letter filled with mockery. Yarick was certainly bold and evil.Angered, Matt rolled the latter into a ball and cursed. A policeman reminded him, "We've completed the post-mortem. The deceased is Catherina Fog."The deceased was pregnant at the time of death. We found a box at the victim's place. It contained… a fetus."Relief washed over me when I heard the policeman's words. I looked at Matt, whose face twitched and fist clenched after receiving the horrifying news.He hesitated to flip open the white cloth on my body when the policemen wheeled me out. What greeted him was my heavily disfigured face.Even now, I felt heartbroken when I laid eyes on my body. The sight transported me back to the day I died. Holding my hea

Matt took Rachel away. Rachel was sent to a mental hospital after turning in her application for a mental disorder assessment. On the third day, Matt took her to an abandoned factory.Rachel was terrified at the sight of the bloodstains all over the ground. "Matt, what are you doing?"Dressed in black, Matt wiped down the knife in his hand and addressed her in a deep voice, "You will experience the pain Catherina went through, each and every one. Let's start from the nails!"After Yarick was arrested, he confessed to the torture and murder of Catherina. Only then did Matt realize that Catherina had chosen death over revealing Quillon Group's plans. He couldn't imagine how scared she must have been at the time of the death and how much pain she must have experienced.It took Matt a while to come up with the idea of taking revenge against Rachel. As he pulled out Rachel's nails, she cried and peed herself. She was an utter mess.Once he pulled out her nails, he proceeded to crus