Chapter 9%
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When I saw the crystal bracelet on my wrist, I blurted out instinctively,
“You were the one who saved me back then?!”
At seventeen, I was kidnapped by one of my father’s enemies. There was another girl taken with me.}
Both my legs had been broken, and I couldn’t run. It was her who hid me inside an old, abandoned paint barrel.”
Later, Sherina was the one who found me. From that moment on, I felt a deep sense of gratitude toward her which slowly twisted into affection.
But thinking back now, the truth became painfully clear. Sherina didn’t save me. She had merely opened the lid of the paint barrel. My father, the police, and several others were all standing nearby–yet in that moment, I only saw her.”
Meredith, clearly displeased, nodded sharply.”
“Yeah. Someone said they’d never forget me. But just a month later, your whole family left the capital without even leaving a phone number.”
Back then, my father had been terrified the kidnappers would return, so he moved us away from the capital and started over elsewhere I lowered my head, feeling guilty.
Meredith leaned into my chest again and murmured, “Forget it. I can’t blame you. It was Sherina’s scheming that ruined everything.” I chuckled and softly agreed.}
Neither of us noticed Sherina hiding in the shadows nearby.”
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Meanwhile, Sherina’s face turned ashen, her mind haunted by the image of Calum holding Meredith in his arms. The effortless warmth between them–the way they looked at each other–was enough to let jealousy consume her from the inside out.”
No matter how fiercely she tried to deny it, the truth was inescapable–she liked Calum.}
She had basked in his affection, clinging to it quietly, but never allowing herself to let go of her pride as the adopted daughter of the Gray family.
Beneath it all, she still looked down on him, constantly rejecting him with a sense of superiority, trampling on his self–worth time and time again.”
Now, she stood frozen, bitterness flashing in her eyes–but still, she didn’t dare take a step forward.}
It wasn’t until Calum and Meredith walked upstairs, hand in hand, that she finally moved.”
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At that moment, her phone rang. Mariah’s voice burst through, laced with panic.
Where are you? Warren is gone again! He got a call from Calum and just disappeared! He must’ve forced him to leave us!“} Sherina’s brows furrowed. “Calum called him?”
She had been at the estate the entire time. She hadn‘
seen Calum touch his phone once.
Mariah snapped, “Who else could it be? Warren even said it himself–it was Calum! Hurry up and help me find him! If we wait, something bad might happen again!”
But for the first time, Sherina’s tone was cold. “Call the police.”
She didn’t rush off to search for Warren.}
Instead, her thoughts churned–replaying past events, lingering over moments she had dismissed or ignored–until a terrible realization began to form.
Without a word, she dialed the police herself. Then she made her way to the estate’s security room and accessed the surveillance footage. She pulled up every incident Warren had accused Calum of–every supposed act of violence or cruelty.
But what unfolded before her was the opposite of everything she had believed.§
Warren had jumped into the pool on his own.”
He had broken his own leg.”
He had torn his own clothes.
He had thrown himself down the stairs.”
Lie after lie unraveled before her, the truth plain as day in every clip.
Sherina stood in stunned silence. Then, shaking with rage and shame, she clenched her fist–and punched herself hard in the face. Warren had lived under the Gray family’s protection for years. And every time he had pointed fingers at Calum, she and the others had believed him without question–forcing Calum to endure humiliation, to apologize over again.
But now, with the truth laid bare, she saw it clearly.!!
She had been a fool.
Without saying a word, Sherina turned and walked out of the surveillance room.
She had lost all courage to face Calum again.
The next time I saw her was on the day I married Meredith.
11:05 AM
