“Mrs. Moore, Mr. Carter just stormed in with his men and took your Rosary Beads. He said he’s giving them to Grace as her release gift. We tried to stop him—we were beaten.”
I tracked Ethan down at the suburban villa in New Jersey.
It had once been his wedding gift to me. Now, it had been turned into their love nest.
The décor had been completely redone in Grace’s style, even the trees in the yard trimmed into the shape of two people kissing.
When I arrived, they were grilling in the garden, feeding each other mouth-to-mouth.
Grace spotted me and looped her arm through Ethan’s.
“Oh, sis, you’re here. Finally realized Ethan cares more about me? Couldn’t stand being ignored anymore, so you came to apologize?”
“Or maybe… you came for this?”
She stroked the Rosary Beads around her wrist with pride.
“I heard you spent a fortune—over a billion—to buy this. Must be precious, right? But Ethan loves me so much, worried about my nightmares, he gave it to me for comfort.”
“And this villa too. He gave it to me as compensation.”
Ethan pinched her nose affectionately, like she was a mischievous child.
“Anna, control your people. It’s bad enough you laid hands on me, but they nearly hurt Grace. If it happens again, I’ll feed them to the dogs.”
“As for the villa and the Rosary Beads—consider them your apology to Grace. Stop your madness.”
I couldn’t help but laugh.
Once, he had gone to every extreme to make me as insane as he was.
Every time I lost control, he’d beam with satisfaction, even delivering my enemies straight to me for torment.
And now, he despised my madness?
I pulled documents from my bag and flung them in his face.
“Ethan Carter, open your damn eyes.”
“That’s not a Rosary Bead. That’s our dead child!”
Back then, when Ethan had been kidnapped by rivals, I was eight months pregnant. I led men straight into their base.
They cut my baby—and my womb—out of me, turning my child into Rosary Beads.
Feigning death, I slit the enemy’s throat as my final act.
But the Beads vanished, no one knew where.
Ethan froze, staring at the papers for a long time before glancing at Grace.
“Grace, I’ll find you another, better Rosary Bead. This one…”
“No! You heard the seller. That child’s birth horoscope was unique, destined, sacred. Made into Rosary Beads, it brings peace and fertility. Nothing else could compare!”