Chapter 6
1013 Words
Rowan crashed hard onto the floor, the skin on her elbow scraping raw.
She winced and sucked in a sharp breath, struggling to push herself upright. When she lifted her head, she saw Miles staring at her, his face etched with pain and bitter disappointment.
"I thought you'd truly learned your lesson," Miles said through gritted teeth, "but I never expected you to send people to stalk and hurt Zara. If I hadn't arrived in time, she would've been..."
He cut himself off, yanking Rowan to her feet with brute force, his tone icy. "Apologize to Zara right now."
"I didn't do it."
Rowan endured the dull throbbing in her abdomen and legs, her fingers tightening slightly as she stood straight, meeting Miles's gaze calmly without a trace of guilt.
"The villa is fully monitored. I haven't stepped foot outside since I got here. Check the surveillance footage if you don't believe me."
"All the cameras are broken."
Miles's grip on her hand tightened involuntarily, drawing a pained flinch from Rowan. He loosened his hold slightly the second he saw her discomfort, but his expression remained unyielding.
"The servants saw you sneak into my study."
Rowan was no fool. Her gaze instantly snapped toward Zara.
A taunting, triumphant smile tugged at Zara's lips, yet she nestled deeper into Miles's embrace, her voice trembling with feigned tears. "I'm sure Rowan didn't mean any harm. Maybe… maybe someone misunderstood her intentions and targeted me on purpose."
A dark thought crossed Miles's mind, and his eyes turned deep and unfathomable as he stared at Rowan.
Rowan's heart dropped.
"Did you get Mr. Lewis to target Zara at the company?"
The moment the question left his mouth, overwhelming absurdity and sorrow crashed over Rowan like a tidal wave.
Mr. Lewis had never spared her any kindness. His move against Zara was nothing more than a ploy to seize more power and take over the company.
Zara had only faced trivial workplace hurdles. In contrast, Rowan had once been kidn*pped by company directors, hung over a rushing river, and barely escaped with her life.
"I was locked up in a psychiatric hospital. How could I have threatened anyone?" Rowan suppressed the raging emotions churning in her chest and replied steadily.
"Who else would target Zara but you?" Miles blurted out instinctively.
He fell abruptly silent when he saw the light fading from Rowan's eyes, before speaking stiffly. "I'll overlook everything else, but you have to apologize to Zara now."
"Miles, don't push Rowan. She's emotionally fragile right now. What if she has another episode…" Zara whimpered softly.
Her words only stoked Miles's anger further. "Does being unwell give her free rein to act recklessly?! Rowan! Zara is kind enough to let this go, but you have no right to bully her like this!"
Bully?
Who was the one truly bullying whom?
She would never surrender meekly. Anyone who humiliated and wronged her would pay with everything they had.
Rowan's head snapped up, her eyes blazing with ruthless ferocity. The second Miles reached out to grab her, she tightened her grip on the sharp object hidden in her palm and drove it hard toward his neck.
A flash of silver cut through the air. Before Miles could react, the sharpened silver fork pierced straight into the flesh of his neck.
"Ah!"
Miles cried out in agony, yet his fingers locked tightly around Rowan's wrist without hesitation.
He'd caught her wrist just in time—one second later, and the fork would have sliced through his throat.
"Miles!" Zara screamed in terror, too frightened to step forward and intervene.
Rowan shot her a cold glance, then shoved Miles away without hesitation. She lunged forward, grabbing Zara hard by the hair. As the bloodied fork hovered above Zara's face, she shrieked in panic.
"You can't kill me! I'm pregnant!"
Those words froze Rowan mid-action.
She stared blankly at Zara. Zara was pregnant?
A child… She'd lost her own child forever.
In that split second of distraction, Miles seized his chance. He grabbed Rowan's wrist from behind, wrenched the fork out of her hand, and slapped her hard across the face.
Bang!
Rowan's head slammed into the wall. Sharp, dizzying pain exploded in her skull, and a loud ringing filled her ears as she crumpled to the ground.
Through her fogged senses, she heard Miles's anxious voice. "Zara, are you alright?"
His tone turned icy cold as he barked orders at the servants. "Mrs. Dye has lost her mind. Drag her outside and make her kneel to apologize. She is not allowed to stand without my permission."
"Yes, sir."
The servants hurried over to Rowan. Weak and defenseless, she was dragged outside by her arms, forced to her knees on the rough, hard stone pavement.
The scorching midday sun blazed down on her, burning her skin and pushing her to the brink of unconsciousness. Just as she was about to black out, a basin of cold water was dumped over her head, jolting her awake.
This torture repeated over and over until a high fever burned through her body.
Through her delirium, she saw Miles standing before her. He stared down at her for a long moment before speaking.
"Rowan, I know you didn't send Mr. Lewis to target Zara. But she's exhausted lately, and she needs an outlet for her stress… Just bear this for a while. I'll tend to your wounds when I come back."
So she was nothing more than a tool for Zara to vent her frustrations.
Rowan wanted to laugh, wanted to scream and curse. Instead, she could only watch numbly as Miles left with Zara in his car.
Once the car disappeared from sight, she was left alone, kneeling powerless at the villa gate.
Her strength finally gave out, and she collapsed heavily onto the ground.
Right before she slipped into complete unconsciousness, she heard rapid footsteps rushing toward her.
A pair of strong arms lifted her gently, and a low voice murmured softly. "Rowan… you're still as stubborn as you were when you were little."
- Writer
