Chapter 1
“Let me hear you,” Casper demanded, gripping Eliza’s waist with a force that was almost brutal 8
She struggled, trying to push him away, but he pinned her down without mercy. Her delicate hands clutched at the finely made silk sheets in silent protest. Under the moonlight, his profile was sharply defined, his gaze a cold mix of desire and indifference.
“Not enjoying this?” he whispered, biting the soft flesh behind her ear, his breath heavy. “If this doesn’t do it for you, let me tell you something. Your brother’s already at Mercy Hospital.”
Eliza’s face went pale. Mercy Hospital in Falconridge was notorious, masquerading as a psychiatric facility while engaging in horrific acts like organ harvesting.
Ignoring her humiliation, Eliza’s fingers trembled as she grabbed his arm. “Why would you do this?”
“It’s to make you remember this day forever,” he said, stepping back and pulling on his shirt with long, clean fingers.
Last year, her father had been imprisoned, and her mother suffered a brain hemorrhage from a car accident, remaining in a coma ever since. Not long after, her father committed suicide in prison. That day, it had rained heavily.
Eliza called Casper so many times, but he never answered. She went alone to the crematorium to take her father’s ashes back to the cemetery. Despite all evidence pointing to Casper’s involvement in her father’s death, Eliza chose not to believe it.
He picked this particular day to return from abroad, to do this to her, to humiliate her, and she endured it. But why would he send her disabled brother to such a place?
“Casper, you’re a bastard. Do you have to destroy my whole family? Her eyes trembled, her fingertips growing cold. Her heart slowed to the point where she could barely feel it anymore.
Casper paused d as he buttoned his shirt, then continued, “Robin’s condition isn’t good; he needs proper treatment.“}
“His legs are the issue, not his mind,” Eliza’s voice cracked with sorrow.
Casper chuckled and turned back, lifting his hand to her neck. T’m doing this for his own good.” His mocking lips touched her forehead, but she turned her face away.
For two years of marriage, she had endured, appeased, and supported him, hoping to win a favorable glance from Casper and to have him protect her family, but it was all in vain.
Casper hated her for not giving up her marriage after relinquishing her identity as the Henderson family daughter. In his eyes, she was Just a parasite clinging to him, desperate to stay in high society. She was vain and greedy for fame and fortune
Eliza had stolen a glorious life of eighteen years from his crush, Nova, taking her place in this marriage. She even stole Nova’s legs. Eliza deserved to die, as did her entire family.
Feeling a wave of despair, Eliza pushed him away, bent down to open the bedside table drawer, and took out a bottle of emergency contraception, twisting it open.
Casper’s brow furrowed. He saw Eliza about to take the pill, and he knocked it away. “You’ve learned to take the pill by yourself now?”
For two years of marriage, Eliza had wanted a child countless times, even resorting to naive acts like poking holes in condoms. But all she got in return was Casper’s fury and the discontinuation of treatment for her mother. Afterward, she learned her lesson. When he gave her the pill, she obediently took it.
Casper didn’t want children, not because he disliked them, but because he never saw Eliza as a wife with whom he could have a family. Eliza forced a bitter smile. “Isn’t this what you want me to do, Casper?”
The muscles in Casper’s jaw clenched as he yanked the b