Chapter 8
The jar was filled with vibrant paper stars, and my eyes twitched as I glared at Benson.
It struck me then how much more worn and unkempt he appeared than ever before.
His hollow eyes and scruffy, oily face were in stark contrast to his attempt to look at me with “affection.”
“Bailey, I’ve saved every star–shaped love letter you sent me over the last decade!” he exclaimed.
“How can you suddenly fall for someone else after all this time? I know you’re just using this guy to get a reaction out of me.
“I’ve already apologized–can’t you just let this go and come back with me?”
I must have been out of my mind to have loved such a brazen person for ten years, and in the previous life, I even sacrificed my entire family just to marry him.
I looked at Benson with a cold stare.
“Benson, I truly loved you for a decade.
“But you never returned my feelings. Wasn’t it because you always had Melisa, the woman you loved but couldn’t be with, in your heart?
“Back then, the two of you didn’t dare reveal your relationship because of your status as adoptive siblings, fearing society’s judgment. Now that the Gaskal family has gone bankrupt, you should take this chance to be
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together.
Benson stopped in his tracks and released an unsettling, eerie laugh.
“Melisa… So the one on your mind is that bitch Melisa…”
His face twisted with laughter, and I shrank into Oliver’s embrace, overwhelmed with fear.
Oliver motioned for his bodyguards to remove Benson and then led me to the car.
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Yet, I couldn’t forget Benson’s eerie laugh and his abrupt verbal attack on the sister he claimed to love dearly.
NEW
الله
Eventually, I asked my assistant to look into Melisa’s whereabouts.
Despite always feigning weakness and vulnerability, this woman seized the opportunity to drain the Gaskal family’s bank accounts and vanish once the family’s status crumbled at the engagement banquet.
Investigations revealed that while Benson and his parents were held awaiting trial, she fled overnight with a stash of luxury items to sell.
The private investigator traced her last activities to her hometown in the Southwest, where she had been using a different name.
At first, I dismissed the situation since the Gaskal family was no longer of
concern to me.
However, only a few days later, Benson showed up at the Kimbere Group, standing in my way.
He was dirty and disheveled, with mud covering him and a large burlap sack on the ground beside him.
I frowned and reached for my phone to call security.
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Benson flashed me a flattering smile, as if he was fishing for approval.
“Bailey, let me prove my sincerity to you…
“This time, you’ll finally see that I am the one who truly loves you.”
While he spoke, he opened the sack and pulled out a woman covered in blood.
It was Melisa!
She appeared to have been drugged and kidnapped by Benson, as she was still unconscious.
A shiver ran down my spine as I remembered how the Gaskal family had used cold water to revive me before subjecting me to torture.
Despite their claims of royal lineage and refined manners, they were nothing but heartless criminals.
As anticipated, Benson showed no compassion to his adopted sister, whom he had once cherished.
Each kick he delivered was aimed viciously at her most vulnerable areas.
When he let out a roar and stomped on Melisa’s back, the unmistakable sound of a bone snapping echoed through the room.
Melisa barely managed to open her eyes, spitting out a mouthful of dark red blood.
Only then did Benson grin with satisfaction, pulling her up by her hair.
“Run, you coward! Why don’t you try to escape now? No matter how far you go, you’ll never be out of my reach.
“All these years, if you hadn’t enticed me and destroyed my relationship
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with Bailey, she wouldn’t have been angry enough to marry someone else.
“This is all your doing, you tramp! Bow down and beg for Bailey’s forgiveness until she’s appeased.”
Melisa shook her head, her eyes wide, as she choked out sobs of pain.
Benson ruthlessly kicked the backs of her knees, causing them to hit the marble floor with a loud thud.
With a resounding crash, Melisa’s knees collided with the marble floor, startling me.
Benson, with eyes blazing red, was consumed by his rage. He lifted Melisa’s head as if she were a ragdoll and slammed it down forcefully.
Each blow sent shivers through everyone watching.
Yet, he wasn’t satisfied. With a deranged grin, he wrapped his hands around her neck. “Slut, aren’t you going to apologize to Bailey?” he demanded.
Blood trickling down her face from the assault, Melisa suddenly burst into hysterical laughter.
“Benson, you’re a pathetic fool! A worthless piece of trash!” she taunted.
“Do you think I don’t know? When the Gaskal family fell, you were so embarrassed that you pretended to be noble. You only adopted me to appear superior by ‘saving‘ someone!” she continued.
“Hahaha! You’re a hypocrite pretending to be virtuous! Disgusting!” Her words provoked another vicious assault.
As soon as Melisa spoke, she was violently struck again.
I watched as she hovered on the brink of death and gave my assistant a
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look, urging them to call the police.
At the same time, I needed to divert Benson’s attention to stop him from committing murder at Kimbere Group.
So I shouted, “Melisa’s right! Benson, you’re nothing but a hypocritical coward full of insecurity!”
As expected, he stopped in his tracks and turned to me in shock.
“Bailey…” he began.
But before he could continue, security guards who had quietly surrounded him tackled him to the ground.
Melisa was pulled aside, and I immediately instructed someone to rush her to the hospital.
To my surprise, she gazed at me for a while before suddenly smiling mysteriously.
“Bailey, I’ve got a secret to tell you,” she said.
