I shook my head. “That’s not going to happen. Lilian will never let me marry Luca so easily.”
Zoe’s anxiety grew. “She’s probably already called the reporters. I bet she’s written up a hundred press releases waiting to tear you apart tomorrow.”
“And her fans... those obsessive ones are ruthless. What exactly are you planning?!”
I stared out the window and whispered more to myself than to her. “Luca treats me like I’m a toy... but someone else once saw me as something worth protecting.”
That night, after Grant had left, another man came.
I was barely conscious, my mind a blur. I could not even remember what he looked like.
Still, I remembered the man told me that if I chose to report everything to the police, he would stand by me.
In the end, I chose to believe Luca and he would probably be very disappointed by that.
The next day, he came to pick me up. I was momentarily stunned to see him dressed so formally. He even brought a shirt for me.
I took it with a faint smile and changed while saying, "Luca, we’ve been together for ten years. That’s a long time."
He gave a sigh, almost nostalgic. "Ten years ago, I promised to marry you. Today, I’m finally keeping that promise."
"You just announced your engagement to Lilian Yates. If the media catches you registering a marriage with me, the fallout will be massive."
He sneered, "Isn’t that exactly what you’re counting on? But your plan will fail."
I chuckled, too. With Lilian in the picture, no matter how well he planned it, everything would fall apart.
And sure enough, just as we stepped out of the car in front of the City Hall, a wave of reporters surged forward. The street, which had been quiet just moments ago, was suddenly filled with flashing cameras and raised microphones.
Luca’s face darkened in frustration, but I still had the energy to mock him. "Didn’t you talk this over with Lilian? I thought she always did what you asked."
The reporters’ cameras were practically shoved into our faces. His bodyguards quickly surrounded us and started pushing us back into the car. But just as I was about to climb in, a searing pain exploded across my back and it felt like my skin was being torn open.
Someone in the crowd screamed, "It’s sulfuric acid!"
The crowd scattered in chaos. I collapsed into the seat, completely unable to move.
Luca shouted in panic, "Drive! Get to the hospital now! And go find out who did this!"