From his phone, the shrill questions of reporters rang out.
My desperate, trembling voice from that moment filled the air, trying to explain and trying to survive the onslaught.
On the screen, I looked pale, clutching a crutch, overwhelmed by a sea of flashing cameras and microphones. I resembled a stray dog cornered, stripped of every ounce of dignity.
Blood roared in my ears.
Without thinking, I sprang to my feet, grabbed the phone from his hand, and slammed it against the marble floor.
The screen shattered on impact.
Still unsatisfied, I ground my heel into the broken pieces, twisting until nothing remained but shattered glass and twisted metal.
I looked up, scanning the room with a glare so sharp it could cut.
My voice came out low, deadly. "If you don't shut up, the next thing to rot will be your mouths."
The event hall went silent.
No one moved. No one dared.
Maybe they didn't fear a cripple. But they feared a madwoman—a madwoman who had just defied Dylan to his face, unflinching and violent.
Even Dylan's bodyguards, stationed to keep me in check, hesitated.
They hung back, unwilling to come any closer, reluctant to test me.
...
Dylan and Amara were already on their way to the hospital, sitting in the luxury car arranged by the banquet organizers. What they didn't know was that I had hidden cameras inside the vehicle, recording everything, and capturing every word and glance.
Amara, her cheeks streaked with fake tears, leaned in close to Dylan, playing the damsel in distress.
"Dylan, I think Elaine just can't let go of you, and that's why she's acting so crazy. She's always been selfish, jealous, and unable to stand it whenever you show me care. I worried from the very start that if you stayed with her, she'd end up hurting you."
Dylan stroked her hair, murmuring in a soothing voice. "Don't worry. I've already seen her true face."
Then, he sneered, his words cutting through the tension, his voice clearly carried through the hidden mic straight to my ears.
"I shouldn't have been soft-hearted back then. I should've broken her other leg, too. That way, she'd never stand again."
I froze.
Memories flooded back in a rush.
The time he locked me in that villa, stripping me of my chance to study abroad, forcing me to give up the career I loved so that he could keep me chained to him.
The day I was kicked out of the Hartman estate.