Chapter 22
Alessa had been tortured horribly. She was underfed and kept awake most of the time. She also suffered the same things she put Jasmine through countless times.
She was trembling when the door creaked open, and a ray of light shone into the basement.
She wasn’t sure what had happened until Martin walked through the door. Immediately snapping out of her daze, she crawled over and held his thigh tightly as if she were clutching
at a lifeline.
“Martin, I’m sorry. Please forgive me. I won’t bother you and Jasmine again. I’ll stay far away from you guys and never get in your way anymore. Have mercy on me. I really am sorry for what I’ve done!”
Alessa cried out miserably as she begged, looking utterly broken and pathetic.
Martin didn’t respond to her. He merely scanned her face in detail, noticing the absence of innocence and beauty, replaced by insatiable desire and greed.
Why on earth did he choose Alessa over Jasmine, and lose someone most important to him in the process?
At the thought of it, Martin was angered. He wished he could tear Alessa to pieces, but Jasmine and Nora were right. When all was said and done, his own foolishness clouded his judgment. Alessa wouldn’t have been able to do all those terrible things without his authority.
He calmed himself down before tossing the pictures to the floor. When Alessa saw them, she was shocked, and her eyes narrowed dramatically.
It was the most shameful part of her past that she desperately wanted to stay buried. She returned to Corvalis because she couldn’t hack it overseas. To her dismay, Martin dug up her ugly history after all.
She fumbled in panic, and helplessness flashed in her eyes. No, no, no. It’s not me. Martin, you have to believe in me. That isn’t me in the picture. These pictures must’ve been photoshopped! Someone’s trying to set me up!
“It’s Jasmine, isn’t it? She didn’t want you to spare me. That’s why she forged these pictures to fuel your anger.”
Alessa clutched her head and rambled on as if she were possessed. “That’s not how my life overseas was like. I went to a top–notch college. I had a wonderful job and a boyfriend who loved me deeply.
“None of these happened. Everything you see in the pictures isn’t true. That wasn’t the life I
Chapter 22
led!” As she cried out, she suddenly burst into tears.
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At first, Alessa led a carefree and happy life overseas. Thanks to her alluring appearance, she strung along several men, all of them willing to spend on her. Even if she did something wrong, someone was always there to resolve it for her.
As time went by, however, things changed. She didn’t even realize when it started happening, but one by one, people around her left her. Failing to get a graduation certificate, she was forced to buy one from a trashy college.
Alessa tried looking for a job, but it didn’t work out, either. She simply couldn’t support herself. Flat out of options, she started seducing men to win their affection.
Before long, however, her name was spread far and wide in the country, and not in a good way. When it became apparent that she could no longer stay there, she returned to Corvalis.
At first, Alessa was relieved she still had Martin, the big dummy, who was still waiting for her. Only now did she realize that nothing had changed in her life. Everything she did comes with a
price.
Falling to her knees, she wept pitifully, apologizing and bowing humbly. Martin remained expressionless as he gazed at her, not speaking until she ran out of breath.
“Leave.”
That was the last thing Alessa expected to hear. Her eyes widened with disbelief, and she murmured, “What? Martin, what did you say?”
He repeated what he said. “Leave, Alessa. From this day on, we have nothing to do with each other. I used to love you from the bottom of my heart, but too much time had passed, and I already have feelings for someone else.”
Alessa wasn’t sure how to feel when she heard Martin’s words. More accurately, she didn’t
even know where she should head next.
Martin ignored her and left, leaving the basement door open. She was free from his
bodyguards and their tortures, but it suddenly felt like the uncertainty of her future was more terrifying than what she was put through.
A long time passed, and Alessa slowly got up, stumbling her way out of the basement. After she left the Quinlan residence, nobody knew where she went. For that matter, nobody cared.
After Martin got a proper rest, he took over Quinlan Group again.
Relief washed over Nora. She had never wanted to manage the family or its business. She had her own dreams and goals.
