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My soul left my battered body. I saw Evan, still grimly tormenting me.
Nearby, Nathan pinned Zoe, kissing her passionately.
He had no idea the person his friend had tortured to death was me.
And I couldn't leave.
Trapped, I watched the depravity, sickened.
Time dragged.
Zoe crawled from the crowd, unlocked a safe with a key, and took out a dazzling crown.
She left, gleeful.
Later, Nathan wokeup .
Passing Evan, he glanced at my body, his eyes filled with contempt and disdain.
Strangely, when he left, I was forced to follow, tethered within six feet of him.
The cruise had docked.
In the hiring room, waves of young, beautiful women applied to be servers.
I wanted to scream, Don't come! It's hell!
But my mouth wouldn't open.
I trailed Nathan home. He showered, changed, and, looking exhausted, headed to my place.
It was probably 5 a.m.
I'd normally be asleep in bed.
But my body was on the ship.
When Nathan arrived, quietly setting his shoes down, he saw the empty bedroom and lost it.
"Sissy, you didn't come home!"
He frantically called my phone, met with" The number you've reached is off."
Furious, he smashed his phone, then picked it up, rushing out.
I followed.
He took a cab to my workplace, squatting at the entrance until 9 a.m., then made a call.
"Find Sissy. Bring her back at all costs."
"She'd never miss work or leave me. Something's wrong."
"I said, at all costs!"
Exhausted, he returned to my place, collapsing on my bed, clutching my pillow.
He frowned.
I remembered a few days ago, half - asleep, I felt him come home, hug me in his sleep, and mumble about the bed being too hard.
I'd grown up on hard beds in the orphanage and didn't mind.
He never mentioned it again.
But loving someone means wanting their happiness.
He worked six jobs—how could he rest on a bad bed?
The next day, I ordered a softer mattress, due to arrive today.
Would he feel a flicker of warmth when it came?
Probably not.
I laughed bitterly. To a rich heir, my painstaking purchase was likely trash.
I regretted not doubting him.
Last month, when he got a $9,103 paycheck, spinning me around, vowing to save $300,000 to marry me, I wanted to be his wife.
So I started saving, eating half a bun in the morning, saving the rest for lunch.
It wasn't worth it.
I'd been a fool, and it cost me my life.
Tears fell.
I wanted to punch Nathan, but I couldn't touch him.
What could I do?
The doorbell rang.
Nathan, irritable, opened the door. Seeing the mattress, he froze,murmuring," Sissy, did you buy this for me?"
He smiled faintly, his mood lifting.
Humming, he moved the mattress to the balcony to air out, then made another call.
"Check the underground networks. I need to see Sissy today."
