Chapter 22
Scarlett learned obedience on the twenty-seventh day of captivity,
She no longer resisted, stopped refusing food, and even offered Sebastian a soft smile now and then.
He was suspicious at first, but slowly started to think she’d finally resigned herself to it.
That morning, as he stood by the bed adjusting his tie, he asked, “What do you feel like eating today?”
Scarlett sat against the headboard, her hair cascading over her shoulders. Her voice was calm. “Whatever you cook.”
His fingers stilled. For a moment, surprise flickered across his face. Then he smiled. “All right.”
He turned and walked into the kitchen, his silhouette unguarded, almost… at ease.
Scarlett’s eyes followed him until he disappeared down the hallway. Then she immediately threw off the covers, reached
under the mattress, and retrieved a tiny microcomputer-stolen from his study a week ago.
Her fingers flew across the keyboard. Within seconds, she had hacked into the island’s security network and quietly
dispatched an encrypted distress signal.
Three Days Later – Midnight
Scarlett stood on the edge of a cliff, wind whipping violently through her dress.
Footsteps pounded behind her – Lancaster had arrived with backup.
“Scarlett!” He rushed toward her, panting. “Let’s go!”
She turned, glanced once at the guards chasing them-and suddenly smiled. “Lancaster,” she asked, “are you afraid of
heights?”
Before he could answer, she yanked him off the edge.
Beneath them, violent waves crashed against the rocks-but Scarlett had already scoped out footholds along the cliff
face.
The guards didn’t dare follow, watching helplessly as the two disappeared into the darkness.
Waves crashed against the rocks as Scarlett and Lancaster, soaked to the bone, crawled onto shore, breathless and
shivering.
“This way!” Lancaster, grabbed her hand, dragging her toward the speedboat waiting offshore.
Suddenly, a blinding spotlight swept over them.
Sebastian stood on the beach, flanked by rows of armed guards.
“Had enough of playing fugitive?” His voice was cold.
Scarlett stepped in front of Lancaster, shielding him. “Sebastian, let him go.”
Sebastian stared at her-and to their surprise, he smiled. “Fine,” he said.
“But you stay.”
Chapter 22
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Just as she opened her mouth to respond, a loud crack split the air.
A boulder from the cliff above broke loose, crashing down toward them!
“Watch out!”
Sebastian lunged forward, shoving them both out of the way.
The massive rock crushed his leg on impact. Blood spread quickly through the seawater.
Scarlett was thrown backward, her head slamming into the jagged stone. Everything went black.
Just before losing consciousness, she forced her eyes open-saw Sebastian lying in a pool of blood, pale, unmoving, eyes
locked on hers.
“…Scarlett,” his voice trembled, “are you hurt?”
She tried to speak. “Sebastian… let me go.”
When Sebastian woke up, the first thing he felt was the numbness in his legs.
A doctor stood by the bed, speaking in a low voice. “Mr. Reed… Your spinal nerve was damaged. We… can’t be certain
about motor function in your lower limbs.”
His assistant wiped his eyes, voice hoarse. “I’ll tell Miss Shaw. If she knew you got hurt saving her-”
“Don’t,” Sebastian cut him off, voice cold and final. “No one tells her anything.”
He turned his face to the window. The sun was too bright-it stung his eyes.
He remembered the last thing he saw before blacking out.
Scarlett, barely conscious, still trying to stay awake… whispering, “Sebastian… let me go.”
And in that moment, he finally understood what “unbearable pain” really meant.
Some mistakes, once made, mean losing her forever.
One Month Later
- Sebastian sat in a wheelchair, staring at the television screen.
“Today, Sinclair Group CEO Lancaster Sinclair and Scarlett Shaw were officially married…”
The broadcast played a clip of their wedding. Scarlett stood in white, her smile glowing.
She had once smiled at him like that.
Before he sided with Lily.
Before he had her thrown in jail.
Before he drove her to the point of burning down their villa in despair.
Sebastian turned off the TV and wheeled himself into the study.
A manila envelope sat on his desk-his assistant had just dropped it off.
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He opened it. Inside were photos and reports: a full month of Scarlett’s life.
She and Lancaster kissing beneath the Bridge of Sighs in Venice.
Her arm looped through Lancaster’s at charity galas, laughing like the world belonged to her.
She even… started learning how to cook-because Lancaster had a sensitive stomach.
Sebastian stared at the images, and slowly, a broken smile spread across his face.
Once, she had loved him with everything she had. And he destroyed it.
Now, all her warmth-her laughter, her care-belonged to someone else.
He made his way to the ruins of the old house. It had burned down long ago, but he still came back.
Sitting there amid the scorched remains, he lit a cigarette. Ash curled off the tip as he stared blankly at the blackened
walls.
Suddenly, his phone rang.
“Hello, this is Cartier’s custom center,” said a courteous voice. “We’re calling about the custom men’s wedding band ordered by Miss Scarlett Shaw. She listed your contact information-may we ask if the ceremony went smoothly?”
Sebastian’s fingers trembled. Ash dropped onto his pants, burning a hole through the fabric.
So… she really had planned to marry him.
Back when he still had her love.
Before the lies.
Before the betrayal.
Pain shot through his chest like a knife. He bent over, gasping.
“Sir?” a passerby called, curious. “This house is burned to the ground. Are you waiting for someone?”
Sebastian looked up. The sunlight hit his pale face, but he didn’t blink.
“…Yeah,” he said softly. “I’m waiting for someone.”
But he knew-she wasn’t coming back.
The sun was shining, warm and golden. But no one would ever burst through that door again, grinning recklessly, and call
his name,
“Sebastian Reed!”
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