Chapter 6
When Bella finally came to, the pain was so sharp it nearly took her breath away. She was back in her own bed, both hands wrapped in thick bandages that throbbed with every heartbeat.}
“Ma’am, you’re awake?” Marian was sitting right beside her, eyes swollen from crying. “Your hands… I’ll call Mr. Rangel, he should come home-”
“No.” Bella’s voice was barely a whisper as she shook her head. “He’s the one who had this done to me.”
Mrs. Warren gasped, stunned. “That can’t be! Mr. Rangel used to follow you to and from school every day–he was always so scared you’d get hurt..”
Silent tears rolled down Bella’s cheeks.
Everyone always said he loved her.”
So why did it feel like his love had just vanished overnight?}
She didn’t get it. No matter how she tried, she just couldn’t understand.}
While she was healing, Bella saw Sean and Calista’s perfect lives splashed all over Calista’s social media. There they were in Paris, front row at a fashion show. Sean rented out a whole amusement park just for her. He even set off an entire fireworks display on her birthday.}
week later, Sean finally came back–with Calista by his side.}
His first words to Bella were cold and sharp: “Calista’s birthday is coming up. You’ll plan the party–as payback for burning her.“} Bella was too tired to fight back.
She didn’t want any more drama before she left, so she just nodded. “Okay.“}
That week, Bella barely slept at all. Her hands hadn’t even healed, but she still picked out every single bouquet, double–checked every dish, made sure everything was perfect.
The servants watched her with pity in their eyes, but not one of them dared to help.
On the night of the party, the Rangel estate was glowing with lights. Guests milled around, whispering behind their hands.
“The wife throwing the mistress a birthday party? I’ve never heard anything like it…“}
“Mr. Rangel must really love that woman. Did you see those gifts? Each one could pay off a mortgage.”}
Bella stood in the corner, tuning out the gossip. All she could see was Sean at the center of the room, flawless in his suit, checking his watch again and again. He was clearly waiting for Calista.
Minute after minute ticked by. Calista never showed.
Sean’s face grew darker with every passing second, until he finally sent an assistant to look for her.
A few minutes later, the assistant rushed back, breathless, a letter clutched in his hand. “Mr. Rangel! Ms. Marshall is gone–she left this behind.”
Sean snatched the letter, his expression changing as he read. Then, suddenly, he hurled it at Bella.
“Bella!” His voice was frozen with rage. “You’d better have a good explanation for this.”
The letter landed at her feet. Bella bent down, her hands shaking, and picked it up. Calista’s neat handwriting stared back at her: Sean,
By the time you read this, I’ll be gone. I love you, I really wanted to spend my life with you. But Bella threatened my parents. I have no choice but to leave. From now on, we can never see each other again.}
“It wasn’t me.” Bella’s voice was numb as she handed him the letter. “I never did that.”
“You always say that!” Sean’s hand shot out, gripping her throat. “But you always find a way to get what you want!”
Bella gasped for air, staring back at him, refusing to look away. “I… really… don’t know…”
But Sean didn’t believe her. Not for a second.
He was convinced Bella had driven Calista away. Desperate for answers, he had Bella’s parents dragged up to the rooftop of Rangel Corporation.
Her parents dangled a hundred stories up, their lives hanging by a single rope.
“Tell me where Calista is!” Sean’s voice was ice–cold, his fingers digging into Bella’s chin as he forced her to look at the drop. “Tell me, or your parents die.“)
“Dad! Mom!” Bella’s heart broke. She never thought he’d love Calista so much that he’d risk killing her own parents.}
Her voice cracked, on the edge of hysteria. “I really don’t know! I don’t even know when she left! Sean, please, let them go–they’re
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innocent, please!”
Sean just laughed, dark and cruel, and raised his hand in a silent signal.
A bodyguard stepped forward, pulled out a knife, and started sawing through the rope–slow and deliberate.
“No!” Bella screamed.
The grinding sound of the blade cutting the rope was torture, scraping straight through her soul.
“I really don’t know!” Bella dropped to her knees, hitting the ground so hard her forehead almost split open. “Sean, I swear–I really don’t! If I sent her away, may I never know peace, may I die a miserable death!”
Still, the knife kept sawing, the rope growing thinner and thinner.
Sean bent down, grabbing her by the back of the neck. “Last chance. Where is she?”
Bella looked up at him, her eyes full of hopelessness. For a second, everything blurred and she wondered–was this the same man who once swore he’d die for her?$
Just as the rope was about to snap, a bodyguard burst through the door.
“Mr. Rangel! We found Ms. Marshall! She’s at the airport!“}
Sean let go of Bella instantly, bolting from the rooftop without a second glance.
ཨོྃ ར ཋ
The bodyguards rushed to pull her parents to safety, the rope finally giving way just as they reached the edge.“]
Bella crawled to her parents, grabbing their cold hands and finally letting the tears fall.
“Dad! Mom!“}
Her mom’s wrists were bruised and raw, her dad’s back was scraped and bloody from the rough wall–each wound stabbing into Bella’s heart.
In the ambulance, her mother wiped away her tears with trembling hands. “Sweetheart, he used to worry for days over the tiniest cut on your finger…”
That was all it took. Bella broke down completely, sobbing so hard she could barely breathe.>
