Chapter 4

Willow POV

For the next two days, I locked myself in the guest room to recover.

On the third evening, Daniel came in carrying a velvet jewelry box.

He sat down beside the bed and held out the box. Inside was an expensive diamond necklace.

"For you."

I didn't take it. Didn't even glance at it.

Daniel looked at my indifferent profile. After a moment of silence, he spoke. "Are you still upset about what happened at the banquet?"

He did not wait for an answer. "Quinn knows she was wrong. She is young and likes to joke. Since you are older, you should be the bigger person."

I jerked my head up, looking at him in disbelief.

He clearly knew Quinn had drugged me. He clearly knew I had almost been publicly humiliated or worse. Yet he wanted to brush it aside with "she's young" and "just joking"?

A chill shot from my feet straight to the top of my head. Voice trembling, I forced out one word: "Get out!"

Daniel's expression darkened. He seemed surprised by my reaction.

He suppressed his displeasure, stood up, and looked down at me from above, his tone carrying a final warning:

"Keep the necklace. This matter ends here. Willow, remember what I said-don't go looking for trouble with Quinn."

With that, he turned and left.

The moment the door closed, I bit my lip hard to keep from crying out, but my trembling shoulders still betrayed my anguish.

That afternoon, I was organizing some old clothes I rarely wore to donate when the guest room door was violently flung open with a bang.

Daniel had returned, his face iron-dark.

He rushed over in a few strides and grabbed my wrist viciously.

"Willow, didn't I warn you not to touch her?!"

He yanked me so hard my wound hurt. I struggled. "What are you going crazy about now!"

"I'm going crazy?" Daniel's eyes were sinister, the words practically grinding through his teeth. "Quinn just got hit by a car. The doctor said she almost became a vegetable. You dare say you didn't arrange it?!"

"It wasn't me!" I immediately protested.

"Who else but you!" Daniel didn't believe me at all. Rage had burned away his reason.

He suddenly began dragging me outside.

My struggles were useless against his absolute strength. He roughly dragged me out of the villa and shoved me into a car.

The car sped all the way to a deserted road in the suburbs.

Daniel pulled me out of the car. Another black sedan pulled up right behind us.

Quinn got out of the passenger seat, gauze taped to her temple. Seeing me, she immediately showed a frightened and aggrieved expression, shrinking behind Daniel.

Daniel looked at Quinn's weakened state, then turned to me with murderous eyes.

"Whatever she suffered today, you'll pay back double!"

Dread shot through me. "What do you want to do?!"

Daniel didn't answer. He took out a coil of rough tow rope from the trunk. Despite my desperate struggles and screams, he tied my hands tightly with the rope.

Then he secured the other end firmly to the tow hook on the rear of his black sedan!

"Daniel, let me go!" I screamed, unable to believe he would do this.

The next second, I saw Quinn get into the driver's seat, her face showing undisguised malice and satisfaction.

Daniel looked at me like I was an inanimate object, coldly spitting out two words: "Drive."

The engine roared.

The car suddenly started!

I felt a tearing pain in both hands. My entire body was violently slammed to the ground by an enormous force.

I was dragged like a piece of torn cloth. Pain engulfed my whole body. Blood quickly stained the road beneath me.

I don't know how long it lasted before the car finally stopped.

I lay barely alive in a pool of blood, my clothes torn to shreds, exposed skin covered in horrific wounds.

Daniel walked over, looked down at me coldly, left one sentence-"Take her to the hospital"-then turned and left with Quinn in his arms.

I watched their departing figures, my vision blurred by blood and tears, until I finally couldn't hold on anymore and blacked out.