<h4>Chapter 82: Betrayal</h4>


    Anna’s POV


    "Anna, you really don’t know why?" Logan asked, his voice eerily calm despite just having confessed to attempted murder.


    I kept my face expressionless, though my heart hammered against my ribcage like a trapped bird. "I know it’s not Samuel. He had no reason to harm me when we were about to partner up. I know it’s not Jack. And if it were George, he wouldn’t be sitting here today."


    Logan stared directly into my eyes, his gaze unnervingly steady. "Then why are you so certain it’s me? In your heart, am I really such a cruel, despicable person, Anna?"


    I shook my head, still struggling to reconcile this monster with the boy I’d grown up with. "No. Until I sat down in this room, I didn’t know who was behind this. It was Carl using Oscar that made me remember something."


    "What?" Curiosity flickered across his face.


    "The shoes you gave me." As I spoke those words, certainty crystallized in my mind. The realization felt like swallowing broken ss.


    I analyzed the situation with forced detachment, keeping my voice clinical despite the storm raging inside me. "You know me too well. You knew I’d feel ufortable in enclosed spaces after a while and would step outside for air. So you had Carl tamper with the terrace railing. Hotel surveince only keeps footage for a week, so Carl must have sabotaged the railing a week before the party, right? And that slippery wax on the floor, plus those shoes you gave me-were those your backup ns in case I didn’t fall to my death?"


    Oscar lunged forward, grabbing Logan’s cor. "What shoes? Logan, did you really do this? Have you lost your mind? WHY?"


    I stared at Logan, who showed no panic whatsoever. He remained perfectlyposed as he replied, "I wasn’t trying to kill you. If I could, I’d trade my life for yours in a heartbeat.


    Carl had already prepared plenty of padding below. You wouldn’t have died. Remember when we were kids and you got stuck hanging from my family’s wall?"


    His casual tone when discussing my potential death ignited fury within me, but Oscar reacted first. He smashed his fist into Logan’s face with a sickening crack. "What if she hadn’t caught the railing? What if she’d fallen straight down? You talk about this so lightly, but she could have DIED! How could you gamble with her life?"


    Logan’s lip split open. He casually wiped the blood with his bandaged left hand, immediately staining the white gauze with a jarring ssh of crimson.


    "But I won the gamble, didn’t I?" he said coldly.


    I suppressed the violent emotions churning inside me, eyeing his injured arm as I asked with forcedposure, "Why would you do this?"


    Logan nced at Marcus, who had remained silent throughout, though his powerful presence filled the room without him saying a word.


    "Why indeed?" Logan seemed to be asking himself. "I’d like to know that too. Why is it that even though I knew you first, you fell for Jack Simpson? I finally waited until your divorce, but you still couldn’t see me. Why, Anna?


    Why do you ignore everything I do?


    Whether it was that arranged date or my confession, you rejected me without hesitation. Even when I offered you everything I have, you still refused."


    He fixed me with a cold stare. "I just wanted to be closer to you. If you were disabled, Marcus and Jack definitely wouldn’t want you anymore. Then you would be mine."


    His horrifying words sent ice through my veins. Was this really Logan? How could his love be so twisted and diseased?


    "Logan?" Oscar grabbed his brother’s cor again, his voice breaking with disbelief. "Do you hear yourself? Are you even human anymore? This is Anna who grew up with us! You wanted her to be disa—" He couldn’t even finish the word.


    I took a deep breath, fighting to control the tremor in my voice. "Tell me about Samuel."


    Logan exined with disturbing nonchnce: "Samuel was a helper I found specifically for you. The drugging incident was my doing—I just didn’t want him cooperating with the Simpson family. I never expected you to enter that room, and the subsequent rumors weren’t part of my n. Of course, Samuel’s main purpose was to prevent you from partnering with Mr. Murphy or Jack Simpson. Later, when I wanted to partner with you myself, I tried to push him out. But I discovered he was looking for whoever drugged him, and I worried he’d expose my darker side to you. So I arranged that blind date through my family, followed by the confession, marriage proposal, and the ’ident’ at the birthday party... It was my first time nning something like this, so it wasn’t perfect. I rushed things."


    Iughed bitterly. "Not perfect? So Samuel was your pawn from the beginning."


    Logan adjusted his sses, frustration crossing his face. "It was exposed too early." He nced toward Marcus. "I underestimated Mr. Murphy’s influence in America."


    My heart felt like it was being shredded. The pain of betrayal, disappointment, and anger swirled together into a nauseating cocktail. I wanted nothing more than to cut him from my lifepletely.


    "Just go," I said, exhaustion seeping into my voice. "Let’s try not to see each other in the future." With our families’ connections,plete avoidance was impossible, but from now on, we would be strangers.


    Logan looked at me. "You’re not going to call the police?"


    "No," I replied tly, unwilling to say more.


    Logan turned and left the room. Oscar stood there looking utterly dejected, seemingly wanting to say something but unable to find the words. Carl was escorted out shortly after, leaving only Marcus and me in the living room.


    My shoulders slumped with the weight of everything that had happened. I couldn’t possibly have Logan arrested, but losing someone I’d thought was a good friend left a hollowness in my chest that made it difficult to breathe.


    A servant approached. "Mr. Murphy, lunch is ready."


    Marcus nodded for them to proceed.


    "Uncle Marcus," I said quietly, "could you ask Peter to take me home? I have no appetite."


    Marcus walked over to me and, without warning, bent down and lifted me from the sofa.


    I gasped in surprise. "What are you doing?"


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