Chapter 3

Izabella kept her head down. A sudden urge to laugh bubbled up inside her.

After her mother passed away, she had considered telling Carson everything.

By then, Carson had fully taken over the family empire. In just two years, he elevated it to new heights and became the most sought-after new powerhouse in the city of Ellis.

If news broke of his entanglement with his own sister-in-law, the humiliating scandal would destroy everything he built with his own hands.

Carson's future shone brightly. It had no room for a stain like her.

She knelt until deep into the night before Madison allowed her back inside.

The moment she tried to stand, pain shot through her legs. She pitched forward and crashed heavily onto the gravel path.

Sharp stones pierced her skin and opened countless tiny cuts. The agony made dark spots dance across her vision.

She drew a shaky breath. Then she pushed against the ground, struggled several times, and finally managed to stand. She staggered back to her room.

Only then did she notice her palms were a bloody mess. Turned-over flesh held countless tiny stones embedded within.

Izabella cleaned the wounds simply and climbed into bed, exhausted.

In her drifting consciousness, she dreamed of two years earlier.

Even after waking in the hospital, Carson refused to give up. He waited for her in places she frequented. He found endless ways to reach her. Though she hung up on him countless times, he still left messages on her social pages in the middle of the night.

Everything ended on the day she married Richard.

Carson discovered that his brother's bride was the woman he loved most.

Izabella could never forget that day. In the dressing room, Carson pinned her against the wall with a hand around her throat. His bloodshot eyes held no trace of reason. "Why? Why did it have to be my brother?"

Her heart shattered into pieces. Yet she forced a cold smile. "Because your parents like him more. Marrying him gives me a better chance to become the real lady of the Gilbert Group."

She knew his deepest wound all too well.

Carson was brilliant and proud, a favored son of heaven. His only pain came from parents who always preferred his frail older brother. They even had Carson only to provide umbilical cord blood for Richard's surgery.

As expected, her words made him slam his fist into the wall.

He stared at her deeply. "Izabella, a cold-blooded person like you doesn't deserve love at all."

Even in the dream, tears soaked her pillow until dawn.

Margaret's parents arrived that evening. Though Izabella shared a father with Margaret, she cut ties completely after he used her mother's life to force the marriage.

So when the two families discussed the wedding date after dinner, Izabella made an excuse and hid in the kitchen to clean up.

"Izzy, why are you hiding in the kitchen alone? It's such a big event. I wanted your opinion too." Margaret leaned against the doorway and watched her with a half-smile.

Izabella kept her head down, washing dishes, and pretended not to hear.

Suddenly, Margaret stepped forward and swept an entire stack of plates to the floor.

Shards exploded across the tiles in an instant.

Izabella stared at her in shock. "Are you insane?"

Margaret closed in until only a hand's breadth separated them. "I'm warning you. Don't dream of taking Carson back. He's mine! Your mother was a useless failure, and you're destined to lose to me every time!"

Izabella's eyes widened. She opened her mouth to retort, but Margaret shoved her shoulders and forced her down into the pile of shards.

"What happened?" The noise drew everyone from the front room. They gasped at the scene in the kitchen.

Before Izabella could react, Margaret burst into tears first. "I... I just wanted to ask sister to join us for the wedding talk. But she warned me not to get cocky. She said she's Carson's sister-in-law and the true lady of the Gilbert Group. She told me to watch myself once I marry in!"

She held up her scratched hand and sobbed pitifully. "I only wanted to get along peacefully. But she said she needed to teach me a lesson and pushed me... pushed me into the shards..."