I thought the story of the farmer and the snake was about me and Kate. Turns out, it was really about Max and ude.


    We were brought to ude''s mansion, a ce all too familiar to me. The rooms, the decor-everything was unchanged. Except now, it felt lifeless, as if the warmth had been sucked out of it.


    ude stood in front of us, carefully removing the ck hood from my head. He then pinched my cheek yfully. "This morning, when Uncle had me kneeling in the chapel, you didn''t evene to look."


    I stared at him, words failing me. ude was never simple. He had bided his time with Max, never truly loyal, like a wolf in sheep''s clothing.


    "ude, get your hands off ire! Who do you think you are?" Kate was furious, wriggling against her bonds to get at him.


    "Kate, if it weren''t for you, I''d be marrying ire today. It''s all your fault!" ude''s eyes suddenly turned red with anger.


    He grabbed Kate by the throat, cutting off her air.


    "ude, let her go." I tried to keep my voice steady, avoiding a direct


    confrontation with him.


    "Fine, I''ll let her go." With just a nce from ude, someone dragged Kate away and tossed her into the pool in the backyard.


    I watched in horror as they threw her in. "Are you crazy? She''s tied up, she''ll drown!"


    But ude ignored me, calmly untying my hands and feet. He


    gently touched the marks left by the ropes. "Does it hurt? If I hadn''t done this, you''d be getting a marriage license with my uncle. When theard about it, I wanted to kill everyone."


    For a moment, I truly worried for Max and his misced trust.


    "Do you have any idea how much Max has done for you? He wants you to take over Hilton Holdings." tried stalling, ncing at the clock. It was already ten. Max would surely notice my absence from the Evergreen Health Center.


    "I don''t want Hilton Holdings. I want you, ire. Is that so wrong?" ude''s eyes softened to pleading, a stark contrast to his earlier madness.


    "Can you at least get Kate out of the pool? I don''t want to be with a murderer." I looked at Kate''s limp body in the water, terrified of pushing ude too far.


    "What, and then you''ll be with me?" he asked, his tone almost hopeful.


    I pouted, giving an indifferent nod. ude snapped his fingers, and Kate was promptly fished out of the pool.


    Relieved, I sank into the couch as ude handed me a te of freshly sliced peaches. "Your favorite, right? I remember you can''t have mangoes; they give you allergies. So, I made sure Lydia never brought any into the house."


    I forced a smile. These were things I hadn''t even noticed in my past life. Watching Kate offer ude mangoes, hearing him say he didn''t like them, now I understood -he avoided them because of me.


    But love, when it arriveste, feels like a cruel joke.


    "ire, why aren''t you eating? There are also some iced cherries. You can have as much ice cream as you want to These cherries are chilled, just the way you like them. I won''t control what you eat like Max did," he added, trying to win me over with freedom and indulgence