Chapter <b>10 </b>
My brother and the Lambert family struck a deal with lightning speed.[]
Ethan and I started appearing as a couple everywhere.[]
Mrs. ckwell had nned to y hard to get and manipte me.[]
After all, as my brother said, if we couldn’t find a new partner quickly, he’d have to abandon the entire American market and the Marshall family would suffer massive losses.[]
From Mrs. ckwell’s perspective, no family would sacrifice their prosperity for one woman.[]
So she was certain we’d eventually bow to them.]
And I’d have to let them control me.]
As for what happened at the bar, in their eyes, as long as nobody died and no major criminal case resulted<b>, </b>it wasn’t a big deal.[]
Unfortunately, things developedpletely beyond their expectations.]
Especially the Bet family bankruptcy created a huge crack in their supposedly unbreakable little group.[]
In less than two months, the ckwell family business was struggling in the storm, barely hanging on.[]
While Ethan and I were in France ordering custom wedding dresses and selecting jewelry, we heard some news.]
On a stormy night, Tiana got ckout drunk at a bar and was “picked up” by some guys when she stumbled out.[]
A few lowlifes took her to an abandoned factory in the suburbs for brutal abuse.[]
Since she was always wild and partying, staying out for days was normal for her.]]
So initially, everyone assumed she was just off somewhere messing around–nobody thought to call police.[]
By the time she was found, she’d been locked in that abandoned factory for over twenty days.[]
Those punks had been taking turns humiliating and torturing her daily. When she tried to escape, they broke both her legs.]
When police rescued her, she was covered in wounds and some parts of her body had started rotting–it was horrific.]
When police came to take her statement, most of Tiana’s teeth had been knocked out and her mouth was full of infected sores.[]
But she was still ranting and raving–cursing me, Garrett, everyone…]
Police followed the trail and eventually found who was really behind it.]
Mrs. ckwell had orchestrated the whole thing.<b>] </b>
When they arrested her, she was still snarling: “That menace! Years ago she killed an innocent girl!“<b>] </b>
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Chapter <b>10 </b>
“Now she ruined my grandson’s marriage and tried to have an innocent girl gang–raped!“[]
“I just gave her a taste of her own medicine!“]
When police came to formally arrest Mrs. ckwell, she chose to kill herself at home.]
With Mrs. ckwell dead, the already shaky ckwell empire quickly followed the Bet family into bankruptcy.]
I heard Tiana’s family dumped her in a mental institution, where she faced daily beatings and torture from orderlies.
She soiled herself constantly and her body continued rotting worse and worse.[]
On a pleasant afternoon, I visited her once at the mental hospital.]
Even reduced to this state, she’d never reflected on any of her actions.[]
Though she could barely move, she still pointed at me with all her strength, shrieking and cursing.
“Sutton Marshall! You think you won?!<b>“</b>]
“You fucking bitch!!”
…
She slurred out every curse word she could think of, innguages I understood and ones I didn’t.[]
I still couldn’t figure out why she was like this.]
But seeing her current state, I suddenly understood-
She just couldn’t stand anyone being better than her.[]
She wanted to maliciously destroy other people’s happiness.
Ten years ago, she envied Luna.]
Ten yearster, she envied me.]
I watched her quietly for a long time before finally speaking: “Tiana<b>, </b>no matter how much you envy others or cause trouble, it’s all pointless.”
“I’m going to live happily ever after.”
“And YOU! You’ll just rot away slowly in this filthy ce until you
die.”
“Your misery is entirely caused by your own evil thoughts. You deserve it.“]]
“You’re not fit to be human.“]
Garrett was prosecuted on multiple charges including malicious bankruptcy and sentenced to seven years.[]
He kept making a fuss inside, saying he wanted to see me.
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I agreed.
Through the cold metal bars, I sat in the visiting chair and picked up the phone.[]
His eyes were dead, his face haggard–no trace of his former swagger remained. His pathetic appearance even carried hints of suicidal ideation.
“Sutton, why?“]
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“Why are you so heartless? <b>If </b>you’d just swallowed your pride and apologized back then, everything would have been fine.“[]
His words made meugh bitterly.[]
I said: “Garrett, you fought tooth and nail to see me, and you still don’t realize what you did wrong?“]
“Ten years ago when Tiana bullied Luna, I don’t believe you were clueless.“[]
“You didn’t stop it. You chose to join them. You participated in raping that girl too.“[]
“In the end, you people tortured an innocent girl to death.“]
“Not only did you feel no remorse, you got worse.‘
“You selfishly thought having money and power meant you could do whatever you wanted.“[]
“Even aftermitting heinous crimes, you always demanded others sacrifice something,promise something, be understanding, make concessions, bow their heads and apologize first–as if that would make everything go away.”
“But where’s the logic in that?“]]
“You reap what you sow,”
“What happened to you and Tiana is karma.“]
“Don’t make scenes demanding to see me anymore. If you really want to die, go ahead. You owe someone a life anyway–you’ll have to pay it back eventually.“[]
I hung up the phone and left, finally ending this twisted chapter for good.]]
Outside, Ethan was leaning against his car waiting for me.]
He said he wanted to take me to see a spectacr flower exhibition.]
From now on, my world would be full of blooming flowers.]]
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