Chapter 2
The tension inside the car thickened into silence
Dominic noticed her shift in mood. I knewthere was no hiding
hiding the wedding incident from her, so he offered a half–hearted explanation. [
“Before Chloe’s grandfather died, I promised him I’d look after her. You know Lucas Montgomery. If Chloe married him, her life would be ruined. That’s why I had to stop the wedding-
These were just empty
y excuses to pacify Isabella.||
The real reason he crashed the wedding was because he still had feelings for Chloe and couldn’t stand watching her marry someone else
And his desperate search for that necklace, a token that hadn’t meant anything legally for years–was because deep down, he believed he should be the one marrying Chine
The thought twisted something sharp inside Isabella
She turned her face toward the window, letting the tears fall silently.
“Well. Lucas has found someone now. He won’t be bothering Chloe anymore. You can relax-
Hearing her confident tone, Dominic’s brow furrowed. “Lucas found someone new? Who told you that?“]
Isabella was about to tell him that she was the bride.
But just then, his jarring ringtone cut through the car.
The moment he answered, Chloe’s sob came through the line
“Dominic, my parents are furious I ran off. Theyre making me kneel and threatening corporal punishment. I’m gonna die in there: What should I do?”
Tin coming right now!” he barked
He hung up quickly and turned to Isabella Tabella, something’s come up. Can you go look for the necklace first?”
tubella opened her mouth, but no sound came out.
She nodded silently. Then she opened the car door and stepped out alone.
After watching his car disappear into the darkness, she hailed a Uber to the dump
The garbage truck had already emptied its load. Looking at mountains of trash under the dim lights, she rolled up her sleeves.]
Fighting through the stench, she spent five grueling hours before finding her discarded things ||
After turning every box upside down, she still couldn’t find the necklace ||
Then the housekeeper called
“Miss Bennell, we found the necklace. It was under Mr. Hinton’s pillow. Must’ve slipped there
Isabella let out a bitter laugh
e while he was sleeping.“1
How deep must his love be to sleep with that necklace, holding in memories even in his dreams?
And they’d shared that same bed every night, yet she’d never noticed
Might had fallen completely. With no taxis in the remote area, she had to walk home.
Down was breaking, her feet bloodied and legs swollen, when she finally reached the house
She’d left in such a hurry she’d forgott
I forgotten her keys. Too tired to even knock, she leaned against the door and passed out.
Some time later, Isabella was awakened by someone
Б
she opened her eyes to see Dominic’s assistant standing over her. He was clearly anxious. Miss Bennett, Mr. Hinton is in trouble. Please come to the hospital right away!“[]
Isabella’s mind was foggy, unable to process what was happening before being pulled into a car.
The cold autumn wind brought her back to her senses, and she finally thought to ask what had happened.]
The assistant looked uneasy, hesisting before pulling out his phone to show her a video
“Mr. Hinton went to the Winslow estate yesterday. He offered to take Miss Winslow’s punishment. They gave him one hundred lashes. He passed out afterward and was taken to the hospital.
