Trapped By Tainted Love

"Rachel, how dare you drug me?"

The man lying on the bed looked furious; his black eyes were blazing with anger.

Shelia Davis took a deep breath and felt a searing pain.

She managed to open her eyes and saw a man lying on top of her.

'What the hell is going on? I...'

"Let go of me!"

She struggled to escape the man's hold and began thrashing him.

But the more she resisted, the more violent the man became.

"Don't play cat and mouse with me! Isn't this what you've always wanted? Commit suicide and threaten me? Huh? Well, I can help you!" the man roared.

The man clasped her arms and legs, leaving no chance for her to escape. She gritted her teeth without saying anything as the metallic taste of blood filled her mouth.

About an hour later, the torture finally came to an end.

The man got out of the bed and put on his pajamas. He cast a cold glance at the pitiful woman on the bed and scoffed at her. "Why are you crying? Have I not satisfied you?"

Holding back the tears and enduring the humiliation, she grabbed the quilt and wrapped it around her.

She looked at him and sneered. "Satisfied? Your small dick made me feel nothing."

"Go to hell!"

The man darted toward her, and the blue veins stood out on his arms. He grabbed her neck and squeezed it hard.

Her face turned red, and she couldn't breathe.

She grew dizzy and felt suffocated. Instinctively, she grabbed the man's hand, trying to push him away.

"Help! Help!"

But the man didn't want to let go of her. He tightened his grip and glared at her.

Her eyes turned red, and her vision grew blurry.

Just then, the butler opened the door and rushed in.

He froze on the spot when he saw what was going on, and the blood on his face drained in an instant. He hurriedly grabbed the man's arm and shouted, "Mr. Sullivan! Let go of her! Otherwise, she will die!"

"She deserves to die!" the man hissed through his teeth. His eyes were blazing with rage and hatred.

The butler failed to pull the man's arm away. He kneeled beside the bed and begged anxiously, "Mr. Sullivan, if she dies, your grandmother won't rest in peace."

'Grandmother?'

Hearing that, Victor Sullivan loosened his grip on her and stared into the distance.

If not for his grandmother's last wish, the woman before him would have long died.

Shelia used the opportunity to push Victor away. She sat up quickly and leaned against the headboard, coughing violently.

The butler noticed the change in Victor's demeanor and continued to persuade him, "Mr. Sullivan, aren't you going to divorce Mrs. Sullivan today? You will never see her again. For the sake of her mother, who once saved your grandmother, please forgive her!"

Hearing this, Victor quickly calmed down.

"I'll ask Ivan to send the divorce agreement to you. Sign the papers and get out from here. I don't want to see you again."

He stormed out, slamming the door, making it rattle against the hinges. Shelia clutched her chest, trying to calm down her racing heart. Her face turned pale as she gasped for breath.

Confused by the bizarre turn of events, she looked down, trying to comprehend what was going on. Her heart leaped to her throat, and her eyes widened in horror.

'What the hell is going on? This is not my body!'

She struggled to get up and tried to find a dress to wear. However, to her utter dismay, there were no women's outfits in the closet. Only white shirts and black suits were hanging in there.

She casually took out a shirt and suit pants that were too large for her. The bottom of the pant legs reached the floor when she wore them.

Her body was still sore, and her temples were throbbing. She trudged to the sofa and sat down, closing her eyes. Soon, the memories that didn't belong to her arose in her mind again.

After a long while, she opened her eyes. She tried recalling the memories of the body's original owner to find out what was going on.

Finally, she concluded that she was no longer Shelia Davis. She was reborn as Rachel Bennet now.

The real Rachel's mother had died of illness, and her father was a loser and a playboy. Rachel had loved Victor with all her heart.

Just then, a knock on the door snapped her back to her senses.

"Mrs. Sullivan, are you inside?" asked a cold voice.

"Who is it?"

A tall, cold man opened the door, holding a document in his hand. "Ivan Chavez."

Rachel quickly racked her mind and matched the name in her memory with the man in front of her.

Ivan handed over the document and a pen expressionlessly. "This is the divorce agreement. You can leave after signing it."

Rachel glanced at the papers in his hand. It had only taken an hour for Victor to prepare a divorce agreement. It was obvious he despised Rachel.

Rachel took it, turned to the last page, and scribbled her signature.

"It's done." Rachel closed the pen and returned the agreement to Ivan.

Ivan's eyes widened with astonishment. He didn't think Rachel would sign the papers. Before asking him to send the agreement, Victor had said that if Rachel refused to sign it, he could try all means to get her fingerprint.

"Mrs. Sullivan, did you read the agreement?" Ivan didn't want her to do it in a hurry.

Rachel arched an eyebrow and looked at him. "I don't want to."

Ivan frowned.

She looked up at him and smiled. "I know what's written on it without looking at it. There are only two possible outcomes. One is asking me to give up all my marital property, and the other is to make me compensate him with a large amount of money and then give up all my marital property. Either way, I can't refuse, can I?"

Ivan's face darkened. He took the divorce agreement and said, "Mr. Sullivan just wants you to leave without asking for alimony."

"Thank him on my behalf." She didn't care. The real Rachel loved Victor, but she didn't.

Rebirth was a rare gift, and she wanted to cherish every minute of her new life.

"Do you need me to ask a doctor to check on you?" Ivan asked, clearing his throat.

Rachel was at a loss for a moment. Then, she remembered the red bruises on her neck. She touched them and felt a blinding pain surge up again.

"That won't be necessary." She shook her head. "I won't die."

The real Rachel was dead.

This body belonged to her now, and she would not allow anyone to hurt her again.

"Then, please pack your things as soon as possible." Ivan's tone was cold as usual.

Rachel nodded and left the bedroom without hesitation.

Rachel was Victor's wife, but their rooms were so far away.

After a long walk, she finally came to her room.

This was originally a storage room. After her marriage with Victor, she had turned it into her bedroom.

Rachel pushed the door open and nimbly walked through the narrow passage.

The room was too small, and she could barely move around freely. The bed occupied the maximum space, and she had to squeeze into the room.

Rachel didn't have too many things. After changing her clothes, she casually stuffed a few clothes into the suitcase and wheeled it outside.

"I've packed my things. I'm leaving now. Goodbye, Ivan!" Rachel's calmness surprised Ivan. She was about to leave with her suitcase.

"Where are you going?" Suddenly, the elevator doors opened, and a woman in a business suit came out. Her high heels clattered on the marble floor as she spoke softly.

The sight of a slender woman walking towards her made Rachel halt in her tracks. She squinted her eyes and looked at her. "Alice?"

This young woman was Rachel's half-sister and a real bitch.

When Alice Jenkins got in front of her, she flashed a smile that did a terrible job in hiding her deep-rooted wickedness. "Rachel, are you moving out?"

Rachel rolled her eyes and responded with a smile, "Alice, are you disappointed that I'm leaving the Sullivan family alive? This is not how you planned it, is it?"

Although Rachel's mind was a little chaotic and she couldn't remember what happened, her intuition told her that Alice had a hand in Victor getting drugged.

In a split second, Alice's face turned pale, but she soon replaced her panic countenance with an innocent expression.

"Rachel, what are you talking about? You have no idea how happy I am to see that you regained consciousness. I care for you."

Rachel sneered inwardly.

She knew too well that Alice didn't care about her at all. Her half-sister's acting was good, but she wasn't fooled. It was obvious that she had come here to laugh at her misfortune.

With an expressionless face, Ivan stepped forward and reminded, "Mrs. Sullivan, you must leave now. Mr. Sullivan will return home any moment from now."

The corner of Rachel's mouth twitched. She pointed at Alice and said to Ivan, "As you can see, I already had my suitcase with me and was about to leave before this dog suddenly showed up, preventing me from leaving."

Ivan instantly became speechless. He stared at both women with perplexed eyes.

Crocodile tears welled up in Alice's eyes in an instant. "Rachel, I know that Victor divorced you today. I was worried that you would be sad and have no one to comfort you, so I cleared my schedule and came to see you. You... You have misunderstood me. How could you call me that? I'm you sister."

"No, you are not. A dog can never be my sister!" Rachel didn't hesitate to sever ties with Alice. She then looked at Ivan. "Ivan, look at how she's standing in my way. How can I leave?"

Ivan's temples pulsed a little. A hint of helplessness appeared on his cold face. After a moment of contemplating, he had no choice but to say to Alice, "Miss Jenkins, please step aside."

Alice bit her lower lip hard. She subconsciously ran her fingers through her hair. Some wisps of hair fell on her face and slightly covered the fury that was burning in her eyes.

When she didn't move a muscle, Rachel muttered, "Ivan, talking to her reasonably is useless. A dog can't understand human language."

These words fueled Alice's raging anger. She clenched her fists and glared at Rachel.

Rachel tilted her head and smiled in the face of danger. She found it funny that her half-sister was trying so hard to keep her anger in check.

Instead of getting angrier with Rachel who was smiling, Alice was stunned.

'Are my eyes playing tricks on me? What's going on? Isn't this my coward half-sister, Rachel? She used to cower whenever I was around her. She was obedient to me. How come she's so sharp-tongued and unafraid today? Something doesn't feel right!'

"Miss Jenkins!" Ivan called her attention in a cold voice. There was a tinge of impatience in his tone now.

The confusion in Alice's mind was brewing so fast, but she managed to suppress it by pursing her pink lips. She then said weakly, "Ivan, it's not that I don't want her to leave. Mr. Sullivan asked me to stop her."

Alice dropped a bombshell that shocked both Ivan and Rachel.

"Mr. Sullivan knew that I was coming over, so he specially asked me to watch my sister pack up and leave. He said the divorce agreement stipulated that she's not entitled to any property that belongs to the Sullivan family. He wanted me to make sure she didn't steal anything." Alice suspiciously stared at the suitcase beside Rachel. "So, please open the suitcase. I need to check it."

Rachel frowned. "The suitcase only contains a few clothes. I didn't steal anything that belongs to the Sullivan family."

A wicked expression appeared on Alice's face. She stepped forward and took the suitcase. "Rachel, I can't believe your defensive words. For me, seeing is believing. If you didn't steal anything, you would have nothing to be afraid of. How about I just do my job?"

Without waiting for a response, Alice put down the suitcase and opened it.

A messy heap of clothes came into view the moment the suitcase was opened. Nothing seemed extraordinary.

Alice gritted her teeth. She hoped that Rachel would have something that didn't belong to her inside. Instead of calling it quits, she rummaged through the clothes. It seemed she wasn't going to stop until she found evidence against Rachel. Perhaps she even wished that something incriminating would magically appear.

Ten minutes passed and Alice was still searching.

"Have you seen enough?" Rachel looked down at her with her eyebrows raised slightly.

"Rachel, Mr. Sullivan gave me this task. I need to check it carefully," Alice replied with a hint of disappointment in her voice.

"Oh, you still haven't searched it enough? Have it your way then. Check the suitcase as long as you want. I don't even want these clothes anymore." Rachel curled her lips. She was still feeling pain all over her body. Thus, she wasn't interested in arguing with Alice about something so insignificant.

She moved around Alice, who was squatting, and walked towards the elevator with Ivan at her heels.

Ding!

The elevator arrived on the third floor. Its doors slowly opened. Rachel was about to walk in when she sensed a weird coldness. Goosebumps appeared on her skin and the temperature seemed to drop. She shivered and stopped in her tracks.

When she looked inside the elevator, she first saw a pair of shiny leather shoes. She looked up slowly and sighted Victor's cold face. This sent a shiver down her spine.

"Mr. Sullivan." Ivan was the first to react. He bowed his head respectfully and then fidgeted.

Nothing but coldness filled Victor's eyes at this moment. He stared daggers at her and asked in a sullen voice, "Rachel, do you have a screw loose or something? Don't you remember what I told you this morning?"

A bad memory flashed through Rachel's mind at the sight of her ex-husband's glare. She remembered how he strangled her this morning. Her heart thumped against her chest. She wished she could just vanish into thin air now.

After plucking up the courage, she straightened her neck and replied, "I still remember."

"Oh, really? Then how do you explain why you are still here?" Victor asked sternly as he strode towards her.

His domineering aura frightened Rachel. She cowered and took steps backward until her back was against the wall. She closed her eyes for a while in a bid to brace herself to look into his cold eyes.

"You should ask Alice. I was about to leave when she suddenly appeared and stopped me, so I..."

Rachel's jaw tensed up. In the course of the explanation, Alice suddenly walked to them and interrupted with tears in her eyes. "Rachel, why are you lying against me?"

"What? I'm not lying against you!" Rachel subconsciously denied the allegation and cursed Alice in her mind. If Alice hadn't shown up and decided to search her suitcase, she would have left here a long time ago and she wouldn't have run into Victor, who had sternly warned her not to be here by this time.

In a pitiful voice, Alice said, "Victor, what she said is not true. I didn't stop her from leaving. I was just following your orders. She had finished packing up by the time I arrived, so I decided to check her luggage to make sure she didn't steal any of your belongings. Ahem... I have always known her to be a chronic liar, but I didn't expect that she would lie against me in such a situation. I did nothing wrong."

Alice's words made Victor recall what Rachel had done before.

'What is this crazy woman playing again? Since we got married, she has been nothing but a thorn in my flesh. She has done all kinds of ridiculous things just to get me mad. She made herself look ugly, attempted suicide, and even cheated on me. To make matters worse, my grandmother wanted to see her when she was about to breathe her last, but this bitch was nowhere to be found. She had been fooling around with another man for a whole night. My grandmother died with regret because of her. She refuses to leave now that we are divorced. Does she want me to teach her a lesson?'

Victor couldn't hold back his anger anymore. "Rachel, do you really think I wouldn't dare to kill you?"

He suddenly grabbed her neck with his big palm. The back of her head hit the wall hard. Rachel held his hand instinctively before she even felt the pain. The next second, a sharp pain traveled from the back of her head to her whole body. She instantly became dizzy.

"Victor!" Rachel called his name as she coughed uneasily.

"Rachel, how dare you challenge my authority again? Are you nuts?" Victor's voice was laden with icy disdain and wickedness.

The grip on her neck and unquantifiable pain in her body made her very uncomfortable. Although she was trying to loosen his grip with her two hands, her efforts proved abortive.

It dawned on Ivan that things were getting out of hand. He hurried forward and said, "Mr. Sullivan, please don't do this. Remember that you are currently facing some troubles in the company. If you harm Mrs. Sullivan here and the police come for you, the board members will surely make a fuss about it. I'm afraid that it will be difficult for you to control the company's shares."

"Fuck off!" Victor roared ferociously. His slender fingers that were gripping Rachel's neck turned pale because he was exerting so much strength.

Ivan didn't dare to say anything more.

Rachel began to lose consciousness.

She didn't want to die.

Her will to live stopped her from losing consciousness. She used her last strength to pull his hand. Rachel took a moment to catch her breath and looked at Victor with bloodshot eyes.

"Victor, I've only signed the divorce agreement. We aren't officially divorced yet. Even if I die, I... I will still be Mrs. Sullivan. I will be buried with you in the future. You can never get rid of me!"

She spoke those words with a hoarse, choking voice as her face turned red. Soon, she lost all her strength. Her vision grew blurry, and she couldn't breathe.

"Who do you think you are, Rachel? You don't deserve to be buried in the Sullivan family's cemetery!" Victor snapped viciously. "If you die, I'll burn your body and throw your ashes into the trash can. A woman like you deserves to rot among filth!"

Rachel burst out laughing.

"Why are you laughing?" Victor demanded.

"Even if you throw my ashes into the trash, it won't change the fact that I'm your legal wife! You hate me the most, don't you? Unfortunately, you can't get rid of me even if I die!"

Victor's eyes narrowed as he squeezed her neck harder. Rachel cried out in pain as tears trickled from the corners of her eyes.

As she cried in despair, Victor threw her to the floor.

Rachel winced as it felt as if all her bones had shattered to pieces. Her breathing became labored, and she broke into a cold sweat.

"Ahem!" She let out a violent cough and opened her mouth to breathe hard.

Alice's face turned pale. She was frightened to see the murderous look on Victor's face. "Victor, please calm down. I'll ask my sister to hand over everything she has stolen from you."

Rachel felt a dull pain in her chest and coughed violently.

"I didn't take anything from you!" she said in a hoarse voice.

Victor took out a wet tissue and wiped his hand as if disgusted to even touch her.

"You didn't take anything from me? You bought all your clothes with my money. How dare you say that, Rachel?"

Rachel pursed her lips and stared at him.

"Take off her clothes and throw her out!" With that, Victor stormed out, and Ivan followed him.

Once the two people disappeared from sight, Alice stood straight-she didn't look weak and miserable anymore. She sashayed toward Rachel in her high heels as a complacent smile emerged on her face.

"Rachel, it doesn't matter even though you have married Victor and slept with him. He wants you out of the Sullivan family. You don't have a place in his life. You want to win Victor's heart? Dream on! I advised you to wear heavy make-up and seduce another man to make him jealous. I asked you to commit suicide after returning home. I didn't think you'd be naive enough to believe me. Did you really think you could win over Victor's heart this way? God, it's hilarious that you believed all my lies. You made his grandmother die with regret. Do you realize how much Victor would hate you for that?"

Rachel quietly listened to Alice's ridicule. She didn't even bother to look at her, for Alice was merely a barking dog to her.

Rachel's ignorance irked Alice. "Why the hell are you staring at me?" she hissed through her teeth.

"What can I say? Alice, you are pathetic!" Rachel chuckled, enduring the pain.

She was indeed exhausted, and every bone in her body hurt. Her insides ached, and she didn't want to put too much pressure.

More than anything else, she didn't want to show her weakness in front of Alice. Otherwise, she would become more complacent.

"What did you say?" Alice's eyes widened in horror. Rachel's arrogance pierced her heart like a sharp dagger.

Rachel took a deep breath and felt a dull pain in her chest. "Alice, you have always lived a miserable life, trying to make people believe that you are an innocent woman. As an illegitimate daughter, you must have felt ashamed of yourself. That's probably why you tried to steal what belonged to me ever since you were a child. After all, I am the lady of Bennet family, while you're just the daughter of a mistress."

"Rachel! Shut up!" Alice screamed.

Rachel looked at her and smirked. "For the past two years, you have abused my trust in you and deceived me by taking advantage of my love for Victor. You incited me to do stupid things and make a fool of myself. He has hated me right from the beginning and feels disgusted to see me now. Are you proud of yourself?"

Clenching her fists, Alice looked at her with hatred and sneered. "You should blame yourself for being stupid!"

"Yes, I'm stupid," Rachel admitted honestly. After knowing what the original owner of this body had done for the past two years, she had to admit that Rachel was naive and stupid.

Although she came from a powerful family, she lived like a loser. She was such a failure.

"You have a clear estimation of yourself!" Alice sneered arrogantly.

"I almost lost my life. So I have to be self-aware." Rachel struggled to her feet. However, the pain was unbearable, and she almost fell down.

She clenched her teeth as sweat dripped from her forehead. She dug her fingers on the floor, and blue veins bulged on the back of her hand as she exerted all her strength.

Alice's face darkened. "You're dying, Rachel. How dare you say such things about me? Don't forget that you no longer belong to the Sullivan family. Victor's grandmother is dead. No one will protect you! If you are smart enough, kneel down and beg for mercy. If I am happy, I will ask Dad to assign a place for you to stay. Otherwise, you will have to live in the streets, begging for food!"

Rachel was stunned when Alice mentioned Victor's grandmother.

Victor's grandmother, Carolyn Sullivan, had chosen Rachel as Victor's wife. Not long after Rachel married into the Sullivan family, Carolyn died of illness. Carolyn was the only one who loved and protected Rachel. However, the woman passed away and Alice didn't even have the chance to meet her and say goodbye before her death.

"Alice, do you think you can become Mrs. Sullivan after I divorce Victor?"

"When you can do it, why can't I?" Alice asked with her head held high.

"You can't!" Rachel said weakly. "Alice, why are you so confident that Victor will marry you? Victor was born out of wedlock. Is that why you think you deserve him? You are an illegitimate child, and your mother is a mistress who destroys a family. Although he was born out of wedlock, his mother never destroyed anyone's marriage. You don't deserve him, Alice!" Rachel growled.