Chapter 20
Two years ago, Emily was hated by her parents and brothers. Her fiancé Vincent, who had grown up with her, had also grown tired of her. She lived like a rat everyone wanted to chase away.
So she clung desperately to anything that could prove she hadn’t been abandoned.
That was when Vincent called her, saying he had something important to tell her-just the two of them.
His voice over the phone had been so gentle, so full of emotion, that Emily thought maybe they were back to how things were before Lydia came back.
So she left behind the bodyguard Charles had arranged and went alone to that half-built building with no cameras.
But when she got there, it wasn’t Vincent waiting for her. It was the Bennetts, holding rope and cloth, saying, “This is for your own good.”
They took everything she had and tied her up-sent her straight to that living hell.
Emily had asked herself over and over why Vincent would lie to her.
Lydia had already agreed to be with him. Everyone around them had been helping make that happen.
And he had sworn-he swore he would never lie to her.
But even so, she couldn’t help holding on to one last hope. Maybe Vincent hadn’t lied. Maybe he really hadn’t known she’d been taken. Maybe he’d been searching for her too.
She told herself that the next time they met, she had to ask him-had to find out if he had ever truly betrayed her.
That belief was what helped her survive the endless painful days and nights at St. Gabriel’s. She imagined every possible way he might answer.
But she never imagined that what Vincent would say was: “I thought two years would be enough for you to get over it. I didn’t think you’d still be this obsessed.
“Emily, your clinginess is really annoying.”
Emily went pale and nearly lost her balance. “So you knew where I’d be sent, and you still tricked me into going there?”
“Y-you have any idea what kind of life I lived these past two years?” Her voice shook, low and hoarse, like a hand was squeezing Vincent’s heart.
He looked away, guilty, not daring to meet her eyes. But the next second, he felt Lydia gently squeeze his hand. Vincent snapped back to reality and suddenly didn’t feel guilty anymore.
He told himself Emily had always refused to accept Lydia. She bullied her and even pushed her down the stairs. If they hadn’t sent Emily away, if they hadn’t taught her a lesson, she would’ve ended up hurting Lydia for real.
So he frowned and said coldly, “Everything you went through-you brought it on yourself.”
Emily had prepared herself, but she never imagined he’d say that. She didn’t even know what she’d done wrong to deserve that kind of punishment.
For a moment, it felt like despair and grief were going to swallow her whole. But at the same time, she had never felt more clear-headed.
Haven’t two years of punishment been enough?’ she thought. What am I still hoping for?”
Vincent, who’d been full of anger and impatience just a second ago, suddenly froze. For a split second, he remembered the Emily before eighteen-bright, confident, full of life.
He almost wondered if the girl standing in front of him was still the same Emily he used to know.
Lydia had been standing in the back, quietly watching Emily’s pale face like none of this had anything to do with her. But when she looked up and saw Vincent staring at Emily in a daze, she suddenly panicked.
