Chapter 1

Erick Blake sat at the head of the table. A few buttons of his shirt were unfastened at the chest. A cigar rested between his fingers, while his other hand tapped the armrest with a steady rhythm.

"Kimberly, don't be stubborn," he gently reminded. "You have 30 seconds to tell me where you've sent Hannah."

Erick was using my parents' lives to control me.

"Enough." I couldn't stop my voice from trembling. "They're my parents. They are the most important family in my life..."

Erick's fingers paused.

My heart skipped a beat.

His deep, meaningful eyes fixed on me. "Really? So when you sent Hannah to Whyae, didn't you think she was important to me?"

Fear spread from my spine to my entire body. And my fingers clenched into fists.

Was she important to him?

Erick had told me that Hannah Harrison was an adopted daughter of his relatives, and I was his beloved wife.

Yet now, he was threatening to kill my parents for her sake.

"Erick," I choked out, "would you really shoot my parents if I don't tell you?"

He sneered, and his dark eyes reflected my pale face. "You can try."

Outside the window, the wind and rain lashed against the glass, mirroring the despair in my heart.

I couldn't comprehend why Erick had become so cruel. He had always indulged and cherished me before.

Memories came flooding back.

Years ago, I was just a young woman from an ordinary family, while Erick was the sole heir to the city's wealthiest family. He was born into a golden destiny, with an aloof grace and an overbearing presence.

Yet, Erick gave me a beginning that was far too dazzling.

He had driven four hours to a distant bakery just to buy my favorite bread.

He remembered my menstrual cycle. He prepared painkillers in advance and warmed my abdomen with his heated, dry hands.

He even had the sculpture garden he designed with his own hands cleared away and replaced it with a garden filled entirely with lilies of the valley planted for me by him personally.

He even bought an island because I loved diving. He carefully followed me underwater.

Those silent gestures of consideration had deeply moved me. I was captivated completely and had him fill every corner of my heart and mind.

I willingly fell for him, who was untouchable to others and who was tenderly devoted to me.

But things changed when... I first heard the name Hannah.

It was when I accidentally overheard two chefs gossiping in the kitchen. I dismissed it. I believed that Erick always had boundaries, especially since Hannah was a distant relative of his.

Yet the next time I heard that name was when Erick, lost in passion over me, let out a muffled cry of "Hannah."

At that moment, my mind went blank.

I questioned him, but he leaned down again to explain that Hannah was merely a distant relative who admired him. "Don't worry. The most important one in my heart is you, and only you."

But as time went on, Erick showed less and less restraint.

He left me behind on our wedding anniversary to spend the entire night in wild abandon with Hannah, even bringing her to my mother-in-law's birthday banquet, fueling endless rumors.

I cried and argued, but Erick no longer cared for my feelings as he once had. He just scolded me with clear annoyance. "Stop it. I don't have time to comfort you."

In the end, I couldn't tolerate it and had Hannah sent to Whyae.

But I never imagined Erick would kidnap my parents and suspend them from a plane mid-flight just to force me to reveal Hannah's whereabouts.

"She's in Whyae," I said to Erick. "Pattaya, Whyae."

A powerful hand, like a venomous serpent, clamped down on the back of my neck. It wrenched me aside and flung me away with force. Then he eagerly rose to pick Hannah up.

"Wait. What about my parents?" I screamed in desperation. "You know where Hannah is. Let my parents go."

Erick looked down at me coldly. "On the cliff edge on the mountain in the north outskirts. Your time is running out."

I rushed out and floored the gas pedal of the sports car, ignoring the police cars chasing me. I sped to the steepest cliff at the southern outskirts.

When I found my parents, they were bound at the cliff's edge. Their mouths were sealed. The ropes were on the verge of breaking.

At the sight of me, they shook their heads desperately.

I couldn't care anymore and rushed to the cliff. I tried to wrap the ropes binding my parents with my hands.

"Ugh!" Before I could touch the ropes, a massive force nearly pulled me off the cliff. Pain seared through my chest and arms. My skin was shredded by jagged rocks, and the air filled with the scent of blood.

"Ah!" I anchored my leg around a skeletal tree at the cliff's edge and battled through the agony. I roared and pulled my parents up with all my might.

...

When I woke up again, I was already in the hospital.

My parents were on the brink of death. But thankfully, they had been out of danger.

I got down on my knees in front of them and said, "I'm sorry... I married the wrong guy..."

Weakly, my father raised his hand and gently placed it on my head. "We're family, and we don't blame you. Just leave him."

Tears filled my eyes. "I can't escape."

I had handed divorce papers to Erick countless times, but he always tore them up.

He trapped me in his arms and forced me to face him. He coldly warned me that I could never escape his control.

Erick maintained that his attentiveness to Hannah was merely because she was his distant relative and that I was his true love.

So he wouldn't let me go and urged me to behave well.

I smiled faintly and didn't argue with him.

"Well, is she a distant relative of his? Do I look foolish?" I said to myself inwardly.

My father said weakly, "You can, Kimberly. There's something your mom and I haven't told you. Erick probably doesn't remember it either. Before you got married, we talked to him and made him sign the divorce papers."

I was stunned.

"If Erick cheats," my father held my hand, "the divorce agreement becomes binding. You don't need his consent and can divorce him directly. Then you can never see him again."

My parents had actually planned ahead to protect me like that.

...

The next day, I did two things.

First, I took the signed divorce papers to the city hall.

The staff checked and filed them. "The agreement is valid, and the divorce is immediate."

Second, I sent a message to a phone number. "The flight is in five days, on the anniversary. He will receive the death notification."

The reply came instantly. "Can I pick you up myself five days later?"

"You can, as long as you don't mind the trouble."

I deleted the messages and stepped into the snow.

I successfully cancelled my identity, and there would be no Kimberly Hayes in the world.

And Erick would never find me again.