The Person Missing From The Corridor

During a project inspection in the mountains, Lily Quinn's husband, Shaun Stone, brought a woman back with him. He said that without her, they would never have made it out of the mountains. Lily believed him. Later, Shaun named the woman Ninian Stone and said that she was strong-willed, conscientious and responsible, he gradually entrusted more and more of his resources to her. It was not until Lily's mother, Martha, became critically ill that Ninian revealed her true colors by denying Martha access to the medical resources she desperately needed. Chapter 1 "Why can't my mother use these medical resources? No one else is using them right now!" Lily rushed to the hospital's executive floor and glared at Ninian. "The equipment is free at certain times only." Ninian sat in her chair and checked her watch. "It's free tomorrow. You can drop by tomorrow." Lily stared at her in disbelief. "What did you say? My mother is in critical condition! She can't wait until tomorrow!" "Those are the rules. Why do others have to wait but you can't? Are you trying to get special treatment just because you're Shaun's wife? You rich people are so shameless," Ninian said coolly. Lily's hands trembled. Thinking of her mother lying in the hospital bed, barely clinging to life, she swallowed all her hurt and humiliation. "What will it take for you to let my mother use them?" "I told you. Just come here tomorrow. Security, drag her out!" Ninian snapped. The security guards grabbed Lily's arms, but she kept fighting back. She yelled in a choked voice, "It's just one day! I can pay you double. My mother's about to die!" But Ninian refused to budge. The doctor standing nearby did not dare say anything. As she stared at these people, Lily clenched her fists in anger. When she saw Shaun walking toward her, hope rose in her heart once again. "Shaun, my mother's dying, but they refuse to treat her! Tell them to save her!" Breaking free from the guards, she ran toward Shaun in tears. Upon seeing her tearful, swollen eyes, pity flashed in Shaun's eyes for a moment. "Shaun, are you going to break the rules? You're the one who told me that these things were mine to manage." Ninian shot to her feet. "But Lily's mother…" "If other people can wait, why can't she? Is this how you rich people do things? If that's the case, I won't be managing the equipment anymore. I'd rather go back to the mountains. Just pretend that I never saved you." Ninian tossed the documents in her hands with a huff. Shaun immediately let go of Lily and rushed over to Ninian. "Why are you mad? Did I say I was going to interfere?" Those words made Lily's face turn pale, and she had to lean against the wall because she could no longer support herself. "What are you saying? Shaun, that's your mother-in-law! "How could you not save her?! She's in critical condition! She can't wait!" Tears blurred her vision, but even so, she could see Shaun comforting Ninian. It was December, and a bone-deep chill crept up from the soles of her feet until it consumed her entire body. "Lily, she can hang on for another day. I'll get the best doctors to watch over her. These are Ninian's rules. Just come here tomorrow. Be good now." Her ears rang. At that moment, she felt like she could no longer hear the sounds from the world around her. The pain in her chest spread little by little through her entire body, and blood welled in her mouth. Chapter 2 Lily's phone rang. In her panic, she answered it. "Miss Quinn, because... the medical equipment was never made available, your mother passed away just now." Her phone slipped from her grasp and fell to the floor. She wanted to leave, but her vision spun, and the world turned black. Memories of the past rose to her mind. In her mind, Lily looked back on the eight years she and Shaun had shared. They started dating in their university days and got married. Shaun had pleaded for this marriage time and again. Everyone knew that Shaun loved her to bits. She lost her father when she was very young, and her mother brought her up alone while giving her the best of everything. Later, Shaun appeared in her life. He remembered all her likes, her allergies, and surprised her on every important occasion. Back then, her life was filled with romance. On the day of their engagement, Shaun went up to her mother and swore that he would always love her and never make her suffer. But his promise of a lifetime had lasted only eight years. Ever since Ninian appeared, Shaun gave her all his affection. In the beginning, Lily had told herself that Ninian had saved his life and deserved to be repaid. But Shaun let Ninian manage every aspect of their household and several prominent businesses, and Lily was ostracized as if she were the outsider. She put up with Shaun doting on another woman, patiently waiting for it all to end. But in the end, all that patience still left her powerless to save even her own mother. Pain made her snap back to reality. Lily got up, wanting to see her mother for the last time. Even though she knew her mother was already gone, she still needed to see her for herself. Before she could reach the morgue, she saw a few people pushing a body away. Standing beside them were Shaun and Ninian. She rushed over in a panic. "What are you doing?! Where's my mother's body? Was that her body?! I haven't seen her yet!" She grabbed Shaun's hand and trembled. "Lily, I know that you're sad about this. I'll handle it." Shaun comforted her. "You fainted. Obviously, we're the ones who had to deal with her dead body. We got someone to bury her in an unmarked grave. What else were we supposed to do? Leave her in the morgue?" Ninian snapped coldly. Lily rushed over to her and slapped her in the face. "Who let you do that?! Only people whose bodies aren't claimed are buried in unmarked graves, but my mother has me! Why would you do that?!" "Lily!" Shaun checked Ninian's face. Ninian cradled her face and teared up. "That's how my family does things. What's this? It's not as if your mother is some important person. She died, so she gets buried. "Besides, you've already overspent your monthly allowance. There's no way you can hold a funeral." "Allowance? You mean that measly hundred dollars? Why are you the one managing our shared assets, anyway?!" Ever since Ninian took over the household expenses, Lily was only given a hundred dollars to spend every month. She never bought new clothes, and sometimes, she did not even have enough to eat. Ninian always said that she could make a hundred dollars last three months, so why could everyone else not do the same? Shaun had tacitly approved of the way Ninian ran the household. "Since you think I'm not worthy, don't let me handle the household expenses from now on! I'll just go back to the mountains! At least I won't have to put up with this kind of abuse there!" Ninian roared indignantly. "Enough! Lily, I'm the one who told her to do it! If you're unhappy, come at me. Don't yell at Ninian!" Shaun said. Chapter 3 Lily's emotions erupted at that point. "You piece of trash! Have you forgotten your promise to me and my mother?!" Lily's voice was hoarse as she shouted at the top of her lungs. Suddenly, thunder roared outside. Her face turned pale, and she ran out in a hurry as she mumbled, "Mom, I'm coming to save you. Wait for me. I'll be there soon." She ran round and round the hospital grounds. Rain fell on her face, but it hurt so much that she kept crying. Then, she saw several people holding shovels and filling in a pit. Half of a black bag was protruding from the ground. Without even thinking, she ran over. "Step aside!" She lunged at the bag. The zipper had not been fully pulled up, and her mother's pale face was revealed right before her eyes. Despair and overwhelming distress filled her heart. Lily fell on the ground and brushed the dirt from her mother's body bit by bit. The rain fell harder, and her cries grew louder. "I'm sorry, Mom. I really am." Her mother had taken care of her like she was a princess, but her mother had been subjected to such humiliation even after her death. It was all her fault. Rain soaked her. All she could think about were Shaun's words. As she held her mother's dead body to her, she said firmly, "Let's go, Mom. We're leaving and never coming back here again. I don't want to be with Shaun anymore." After Lily finished making arrangements for her mother, she went to the bank and retrieve a divorce agreement from her safe deposit box. After signing her name on it, she went to the City Hall to have it processed. "Once you're over the thirty-day cool-down period, you'll have completed the process. You don't need to come personally to get the divorce certificate, if you don't want to," the clerk said. "Alright." Shaun had given her the divorce agreement as a show of his sincerity. He had already signed it and told her that if he ever mistreated her, she could sign her name and leave. He might have forgotten about it, but she had not. When Lily returned to the villa, it was the next night. She opened the door and dragged herself in. Upon seeing her, Shaun rushed over to hug her. "Lily, where did you go? Why didn't you answer my calls? "I know I was wrong this time, but Ninian saved my life, and I promised her that I won't meddle in this. Don't be mad at me, okay?" Lily stared numbly at the clock hanging in the living room. "What else do you have to say?" "Ninian grew up in the mountains and lost her parents. She's an orphan, so please be more understanding toward her." "You want me to be more understanding, but who's going to do the same for me?!" She shoved Shaun away. Who would understand her dead mother? Her mother could have been saved. She had been in the operating theater already. The equipment was made to save lives, so why had her mother been denied access to them? Suddenly, a few bodyguards appeared inside the villa. Ninian walked down the stairs slowly. "Pin her against the wall with the rules I wrote." Lily frowned at them. "What are you doing?" "Those who break the rules need to be punished. You used more than you were allowed to. Obviously, you need to be punished." Ninian carried a long whip. Lily was pinned against the wall. When she turned to face Shaun, all she saw was pity in his eyes, but he had no intention of stopping this. Chapter 4 At that moment, she suddenly understood that Shaun had no intention of ever siding with her. "Shaun, you promised to never make me suffer!" Crack! The whip struck her back, leaving a long, bloody welt. Lily could no longer support herself and collapsed facedown onto the floor, cold sweat beading on her forehead from the pain. "Let me go!" She continued fighting back. As the whip cracked for the second time, she glared at Shaun and shouted, "I'm your wife, Shaun!" By the ninth strike, her screams echoed through the villa. "You promised you'd protect me!" Shaun watched her in pity. He seemed to want to stop Ninian. "That's enough, Ninian." "If I don't punish her today, no one will listen to me in the future. I'm nobody here—just a woman from the mountains. If my rules carry no weight, I won't be able to continue surviving here." Shaun turned away and refused to watch. Lily lay on the floor. Her lips were pale, and her tears fell on the floor. At that moment, her bright eyes turned lifeless. At the forty-eighth strike, Lily's vision turned blurry. She thought that she saw the Shaun of the past. Back then, she was learning how to cook and got a nick on her finger. Shaun had fussed over her endlessly. Later, he stopped her from touching anything dangerous. She had wrapped her arms around Shaun's neck as she said, "I just want to cook for you." Shaun had said, "But I don't want you getting hurt. Lily, I only want one thing in life: for you to always be healthy and safe. As long as you don't get hurt, I'd even be willing to give up my life." Yet those promises meant nothing as she lay there, taking each blow. The whip continued to strike her, and the man who had said he would give up his life for hers had turned his back on her. At the forty-ninth strike, she said, "Shaun…" ‘I hate you,' she thought. But before she could say anything more, Lily fainted. "Sir, she has fainted! Please stop hitting her! She can't handle it anymore!" A maid who was forbidden from entering the living room rushed over while the others were distracted and threw herself at Shaun's feet. "She can't handle it. Please spare her!" she cried. This particular maid had always taken care of Lily. "It's just a few whips. I almost fell off the mountain once—" "Sir, she's bleeding! There's so much blood! It's from between her thighs!" said the maid, interrupting Ninian. She pointed at the blood coming from between Lily's thighs and panicked. Shaun turned around to see Lily lying in a pool of blood. "Lily!" In her daze, Lily could smell the familiar scent of disinfectant. Her hand reacted before her eyes did. Her fingers twitched, and she heard Shaun's delighted voice. "Lily, you're awake!" In the next second, he ran out to call the doctor. "She's severely malnourished, and she got hurt so badly. This is bad for the baby. She needs to focus on taking care of herself for the time being." "Malnourished? That can't be. My wife has a nutritionist." Shaun was puzzled. "Look at the numbers. None hit the mark. If she doesn't get enough rest, forget the baby—even her own life could be in danger!" Chapter 5 Lily lay half-prone on the bed. When she heard the doctor's words, her mind went blank. Was she really pregnant? Why did it have to happen at this time? Why did she have to get pregnant just when Shaun had stopped loving her, and she was finally ready to leave? She shut her eyes in despair and buried her face in the pillow to let her tears fall freely. After the doctor left, Shaun saw Lily crying and thought that she was crying tears of joy. "Lily, did you hear that? You're going to be a mother, and I'm going to be a father! You've always wanted a baby, right? It's finally happening! "We can start preparing our home for the baby." His voice was full of excitement. When he looked at the medical report, his eyes crinkled with delight as he looked through the medical reports. The sight stung Lily. A few hours ago, she had gone through torture, but Shaun was pretending that nothing had happened and was talking about the future with her. How ironic! "What are you going to do about Ninian?" Lily demanded, struggling to suppress the sob in her voice. At Ninian's mention, Shaun's smile froze on his face. "Lily, Ninian is treating me as her last refuge now. She saved my life. I can't just ignore her. She didn't do this on purpose. "If you don't like her, why don't you go and rest at our holiday home for the time being?" Lily's heart sank. So, his solution to this was to make her move out instead. She said nothing more. Over the following weeks, Shaun occasionally arranged for people to help her recover, and the wounds on her back started to heal. But Lily knew that she could not keep the baby. She had been planning to book an appointment for an abortion, only to run into Ninian being harassed by a group of people. "Why didn't you save my son? You have the equipment! Why didn't you approve of its use?! Because of you, my son's dead!" a man screamed at Ninian hysterically. Lily knew what was happening. She clenched her fists and was about to leave. To everyone's surprise, the man took out a knife, and everyone in the area panicked. "It's that woman! She's the one who refused to approve of its use! Her husband owns the hospital, and she's the only one who gets to decide where the equipment is used," Ninian said. Lily turned around and saw that the man had stabbed Ninian in the stomach. In the next second, the man met her gaze. Fear crept into Lily's heart. She instinctively took two steps back, but the man charged straight toward her. No one had expected the man to go berserk. "It wasn't me! This has nothing to do with me—" The man rushed at her with the knife. She grabbed his hand, but she knew she could not hold him back, especially since he had lost his mind. The blade slowly sank into her abdomen, and blood stained her clothes red. Finally, the people around them snapped into action and rushed over to kick him down. Then, they pinned him to the floor. Clutching the knife, Lily slid down the wall and sat on the floor, gasping for breath. She was going to lose the baby. Lily and Ninian were both taken into the emergency room. When Shaun arrived, he went straight to Ninian and grabbed the doctor. He looked frustrated and angry. Chapter 6 "How did this happen? Use the best equipment. If anything happens to them, you're dead!" "There's bad news! We only have enough backup equipment to save one person. One of them is unconscious, and the other is pregnant. What should we do?" A nurse ran over in a panic. Shaun was stunned. As he stared at the two emergency treatment rooms, he fell into silence. A long while passed. He asked, "What happens if you don't treat the pregnant one first?" "We'll lose the baby. We can only do our best to save the mother." Another five minutes passed. As the doctors urged him to make a decision, he finally said, "Save the unconscious one!" … "You're awake? Why didn't you ring the bell? I'll have someone check on you." Lily stared at the ceiling. She lowered her gaze slowly when she heard the nurse. Her gaze was dull and lifeless. She did not utter a single word even when the doctor finished examining her. "You'll be okay. You're still young, and you can get pregnant again. Why isn't your husband here? He's so irresponsible!" Joy, the nurse, was writing something in the medical report. Lily stared at her and found her face unfamiliar. By the looks of it, she was new. "You're so pitiful. I heard that you were caught up in that violent incident at the hospital. Make sure you ask for compensation. There's another one who got injured too. Everyone in our department is green with envy right now." Joy was pretty chatty and kept rambling as she wrote her report. "The moment she woke up, her husband started pouring money into the hospital to help her recover. He even hired ten nutritionists for her! I heard that he bought the cruise ship the woman loves the most and is planning to go on a trip when she recovers. "Rich people really are different. I'm so jealous. Oh… I'm not comparing her with you! Don't think about this too much. I'm sorry." Perhaps Joy noticed that something was wrong when Lily did not respond. Honestly, Lily knew that the rules were made to target her. All of Ninian's frugality and responsibility were masks, but Shaun was simply willing to indulge her. Shaun did not know that she had heard him as he chose Ninian over her. Back then, she was lying on the operating table and felt her baby dying in her womb. After a desperate fight with death, she survived because she told herself that she had to. The pain in her body and her heart was something that she would carry for the rest of her life. When she opened her eyes, she touched her belly and kept crying. All she could think about were the words Shaun had said to her in the past. Falling in love, getting engaged, getting married, and having a child were supposed to be beautiful things, but Shaun had ruined them all. When Shaun heard that she was awake, he rushed over to her. But when he saw her dejected look, his heart inexplicably skipped a beat. "Lily…" "Get out," she said flatly. "Lily, we can have another baby. This was just an accident. It's okay." Shaun thought that she was sad because she had lost the baby. "I said get out!" She truly could not bear to look at the man before her. "I already ordered someone to deal with the man who hurt you. I took revenge for you. Don't worry," Shaun said nervously. He had never seen Lily act like this before. At that moment, he panicked. It was as if something was slowly slipping from his hands. "Revenge for me? What if I want to take revenge myself?" she suddenly asked. Chapter 7 "Then, I'll bring him here. You can deal with him however you want." Shaun held her hand and thought that he had a chance to win back her forgiveness. He badly wanted to bring the man over immediately. "No need. I'll go over there myself." She slowly got to her feet, cradling the wound that still throbbed with pain. Even so, she walked out on determined feet. Shaun wanted to support her, but she pushed him away. She reached Ninian's ward and opened the door. Shaun had yet to realize what was going on, but Ninian felt so guilty that she could not say a word when she saw Lily. Lily walked straight to her and slapped her in the face. "What are you doing?!" Ninian glared at her. Lily did not respond and slapped her again. "What are you doing, Lily?! Ninian's still hurt!" Shaun shoved her away, and Lily's wound tore open. Blood slowly began to seep through her hospital gown. She gritted her teeth and endured the pain as she leaned against the wall to remain standing. "Didn't you say you would avenge me?" "What do you mean?" Shaun frowned. Lily sneered and glared at Ninian. "What's wrong? Cat got your tongue? If you hadn't lied to that man and said that I had withheld the medical equipment, would he have attacked me? "Who was the real culprit? Who was really responsible for that man’s son dying?!" She remembered what had happened. The pain of the the knife slowly sinking into her abdomen was still fresh in her mind. Ninian was hurt, but so was she. If it were not for Ninian, she would not have ended up like this. "I was just too scared. I've never seen something like that in the mountains." Ninian sat on the bed with a pale face. Lily stared at her and said mockingly, "Didn't you say that you chop wood and boil water every day? You said that you run into wild animals every day, too, didn't you? I also seem to recall that you often get hurt in the mountains. "Weren't those wounds painful? Are you really telling me you were scared of something like this? Does being frightened give you the right to shift the blame onto someone else?" Ninian flinched at Lily’s shouting. Her eyes reddened and teared up. "I really didn't do it on purpose. Besides, he went for you in the first place. I'm the innocent one here." "That's enough!" Shaun shouted. Lily met his gaze. His eyes had been filled with love for her in the past, but there were only mixed emotions in them presently. "Lily, Ninian's younger than you. Obviously, there will be things she doesn’t handle well. Don't hold it against her." His words pierced Lily’s heart. Her wound hurt more with every passing second. As Lily cradled her bleeding wound, she laughed. "I knew it!" "Let’s leave the matter here. You're both injured, so you should go back and rest," Shaun said softly to her. Lily turned around and left. At that point, much of her hospital gown was stained red, but Shaun did not even notice it. As she turned away, disappointment and sorrow filled her once-bright eyes. As she opened the door to leave, she stumbled in pain. It was hard to continue walking, so she leaned against the wall for support. Behind her, she heard their voices. "I really didn't do it on purpose. If she doesn't like me, I'll just go back." "What on earth are you saying? I promised that once I brought you back, I would make sure you could live a good life here. Don't worry. I'm here. No one can mistreat you." "Why are you so nice to me?" "Because you're the most special person to me." Lily slumped down on the floor. Blood had soaked through her clothes, and tears spilled uncontrollably from her eyes. Chapter 8 Shaun had said those exact words to her before. It seemed that the same words could be said to different people, just as the same love could be given to two different people. Why was she still lying to herself? Her consciousness faded as she lay on the floor. She heard them listening to the affectionate words coming from inside the room. A faint smile tugged at her lips. The last trace of reluctance buried deep within her heart finally disappeared. … When Lily woke up again, Joy ordered her not to move around. If her wound opened up again, she would need surgery. Lily stared at her phone and nodded. Joy happened to see the flight booking page on her phone and tried to dissuade her from traveling. "You can't travel in your condition. You should cancel your flight, or Dr. Wilson's going to be so mad. "Why are you being so unreasonable? Do you care so little about your own life?" "I bought the ticket in advance. There's still one week left. I'm going to rest properly." Lily took her time explaining to Joy, which was rare for her. After all, there were only a few people who had shown her any consideration, and Joy was one of them. "You're going abroad, huh? Make sure you come back to the hospital to have your dressing changed before you leave. Since your flight is going to last for a few hours, I'll tell Dr. Wilson to get some painkillers ready for you." Lily felt warmth bloom in her heart. Just as she was about to thank her, the door opened, and Shaun walked in with a frown. "You're going abroad?" Lily was not expecting him to show up. But her shock only lasted for a moment before she composed herself. "There's going to be an academic research conference at the end of the month. Have you forgotten about it? They invited me three months ago. I already told you about it, but you were traveling with Ninian," she said flatly. Shaun was stunned. He recalled that this was true, but he had never paid it any mind. "You're hurt. You shouldn't go." He sat down by her bed and put on an expression of mock concern. Joy tactfully decided to leave. "I'm not as delicate as Ninian. Besides, I already agreed to go. I can't just back out at the last minute." Shaun was speechless. "You're still mad at her?! She's still young, and I only treat her like my sister." That was appalling. He treated her more like his lover. Lily was tired and could not be bothered to argue with him. After all, she had seen and heard everything. There was no need to drag it out since she had decided to leave anyway. "I hope you do." "What are you trying to say?" At his words, she felt irritated. But when she met Shaun's gaze, she felt uneasy. She had a bad feeling that something was about to happen. Shaun looked away and was silent for a long time. "Nothing. Get some rest." She watched him leave, but her suspicion grew deeper. Her instincts were right. The next day, after she changed her dressing and went back to her ward, a group of reporters burst inside and nearly knocked her down. "Miss Quinn, why did you refuse to approve the use of medical equipment on the boy? Is it because the boy wasn't worthy, or are you saying that your hospital doesn't treat people well?" "I heard that the boy’s father attacked you out of revenge, and you shifted the blame on someone else to escape from being held accountable. That's why an innocent woman was hurt. Do you have an explanation for that?" "Doesn't your conscience hurt? That boy was just ten years old! Don't you have a family? Is refusing to approve the use of medical equipment the way you do things?!" "This is murder! How could someone like you still live? You should burn in hell! And now you even want to sue the boy’s father? How could you be so shameless?" Accusations surrounded Lily from every direction, leaving her mind in complete chaos. Even so, she could vaguely piece together what had happened. Chapter 9 "I didn't do it." "Weren’t you the one who refused to let them use the medical resources? Weren’t you responsible for that boy’s death? Wasn’t that why his father attacked you? And didn’t you deliberately shift the blame and cause an innocent person to be injured?" "Look at you! Aren't you worried about your family getting punished for what you did?" The people got angrier as they spoke. Some of them deliberately shoved into Lily, and she cradled her wound to do her best not to let it reopen. When she heard their words, it felt as though something had seized her heart. She could not forget how Ninian and Shaun had told her to just wait when she begged them to save her mother, or how her mother had died, and Shaun had told her not to file a police complaint and to just forgive Ninian. Most of all, she could not forget that her mother had been buried without her permission. She was humiliated even in her death. "I told you that it wasn't me! If you don't believe me, check the security footage!" "You mean this? Mr. Stone said that you're the person in charge. Why are you still lying?" A reporter played the video. It showed Shaun personally claimed that Lily was responsible. The revelation struck Lily’s heart like a crushing blow. At that moment, she understood why Shaun had come to her yesterday. He was worried that the incident must have been attracting more and more attention. She clenched her fists and wanted to go look for Shaun. But when she tried to leave, police officers walked toward her. "Are you Lily Quinn? There was a murder case in your hospital recently, and we need you to cooperate with us for an investigation." "I will, but I need to see someone first," she said anxiously, but she could not find Shaun. The police officers took hold of her and escorted her away. As she left with them, she saw Shaun carrying Ninian into the car and fastening the seatbelt for her. "Shaun!" she roared at him indignantly. Why? Why was he doing this to her? … Lily spent six days in detention. During that time, she could barely sleep or eat because Ninian had told the people there to make sure she was treated "nicely." They drenched her bed with water at night and threw her food into the trash. The people there did not hit her but did everything else to torment her. "Well, what's this? It looks like a charm." "There are words written on it. ‘Stay safe and happy, my beloved daughter.' How touching!" "Isn't that right? Miss Quinn has been sent to detention. I'm sure her mother's heart is aching for her." Lily had been sitting in a corner and staring blankly into space when she heard that. She whipped her head up and saw the group leader twirling a charm between her fingers. Lily's mother had given that to her. It was one of the few possessions she had left to remember her mother by. She instantly shot to her feet. "Where did you get that?!" "Someone gave it to me, of course. It looks nice. Pity that it's going to get ruined." "Give it back!" She rushed forward and tried to snatch the charm back, but those women toyed with her and kept throwing it between them. They forced her to run back and forth to catch it. "Come now! Try grabbing it!" "Why are you still acting like a pampered heiress while here? You still don't know your place, do you?" "If you want to ask for a favor, beg for it. Do you understand?" The group leader tossed the charm up in the air and caught it. The others snickered and waited for her to make a fool of herself. Lily cradled her wound. Her wound had never properly healed, and every day she had spent in detention had felt like a year. Gritting her teeth, she charged at the ringleader and tackled her to the floor. Chapter 10 Lily bit down hard on the woman’s ear. "Ah!!! Let go!" "I know that you want your sentence reduced. If you don't return the charm to me, I'll make sure you make sure you spend the rest of your life behind bars!" "What are you looking around for? Pull her off of me!" "You wouldn't dare, unless you really want me to die here! If someone gets beaten to death in prison, you'll get the death sentence! You know this!" Still biting down on the group leader's ear, she spoke through muffled words, yet somehow managed to sound utterly intimidating. When the ringleader saw Lily covered in blood, fear finally appeared on her face. "I'll give it back! Let go!" Lily spat out all the blood but kept her eyes trained on the woman. The leader was terrified and returned the charm to her. "Don't think this is the end. Do you really think you're such a hotshot? Your husband has already run off into the arms of another woman. Even if you go back, you'll only continue to suffer." She was right. That was the reason why she was not going back to him. As Lily held the charm, she caressed the words on it. Her eyes prickled with tears. ‘Mom, I'll take you away with you soon,' she thought. … On the morning of the seventh day, a prison guard said, "Lily Quinn, you can leave." The doctor at the detention center helped treat her wounds and returned all her belongings to her. She held her phone and handbag in her hands, and the identification documents she had taken from the villa long ago was inside the handbag. As she stood at the entrance, the sunlight shone directly overhead, and the glare was blinding. Finally, everything was going to end. She went to the hospital first to have her wound cleaned and bandaged again. Unfortunately, she did not see Joy. However, Dr. Wilson was very careful. Perhaps Joy had told him to be more attentive. After collecting her medication, she went to the funeral home to retrieved her mother's ashes before hailing a cab to leave. On her way to the airport, Shaun called her. "Lily…" "I know what you want to say. There's no need for it. Let it be. I need to catch my plane." Her voice was cool and indifferent. When she looked outside, she saw Ninian's birthday advertisement playing across a giant LED screen in the city. She felt nothing when she saw that. "I know you're angry. When you come back, I'll give you something. I'm sure you'll like it. Once Ninian personally takes over those smaller companies, we can return to our normal lives." At this point, the cab stopped at the red light. Lily stared at the advertisement. It was a video Shaun had filmed for Ninian's birthday. Honestly, it seemed romantic and beautiful. "Do you seriously think that we can go back to how we were before?" "What on earth are you saying? We've been doing just fine. Stop overthinking things. Once you're back, I'll pick you up. I'll give you whatever you want." The cab started moving again. "Fine. I want to leave you forever," she said softly. It was a pity that Shaun had already hung up. This was destiny. TThey were destined to have no future together.Lily leaned against the window. Out of the corner of her eye, she caught sight of the urn, and a faint smile appeared on her lips. From this moment on, she would live for herself, and Shaun would never appear in her world again.