I Married His Brother to Save Him

Chapter 7 Frame Sylvia

Sylvia met his gaze, tears glistening in her eyes like candlelight, but she shook her head firmly, without hesitation.

No regrets.

If she had chosen to stay, he would have died, reduced to nothing but ashes.

Julian's face darkened instantly. Grace, watching their exchange, ground her teeth so hard her jaw ached.

"Julian, what were you saying?" she asked, forcing a sweet smile.

"Just arranging for her to help with our wedding photoshoot tomorrow," Julian replied casually.

Grace's eyes narrowed, her fists clenching at her sides. She would not let Sylvia ruin her day.

The next day, during the photoshoot, Grace ordered Sylvia around cruelly, barking demands left and right. During a break, a sly, malicious gleam flashed in her eyes. "Get me some water, Sylvia," she demanded.

Sylvia handed over the only water bottle she had.

The second Grace twisted the cap, she hurled the contents straight at Sylvia's face. Sylvia raised her arm to shield herself, taking the full brunt of the liquid, and translucent blisters bloomed on her skin instantly, searing pain lancing through her arm.

Mute and helpless, she could only watch as Grace shrieked, "What poison did you put in this?!"

Julian snatched the half-empty bottle, and one whiff made his face turn ashen. "Sulfuric acid?"

His gaze fell on Sylvia's blistered arm, and Grace clung to him, fake sobs wracking her body. "Julian! I just took a sip! Will I die?!"

His palm struck Sylvia's face with brutal force, sending her staggering backward. "You mute monster! Now you're trying to steal her voice too?"

His gaze was icy, filled with unbridled hatred, as if she were already dead to him. "Hurt her, and I'll destroy you."

Sylvia's cheek burned, her right ear ringing so loudly she could barely hear, the sound muffled as if she were underwater. She fumbled for her phone to explain, but Julian had already carried Grace away, not sparing her a single backward glance.

Staring at her ruined, blistered arm, she swallowed her tears and hailed a taxi to the hospital.

The doctor gasped when he unwrapped the bandages, his face filled with pity. The antiseptic burned fiercely as it cleaned the wound, and Sylvia bit down hard on a blood-soaked gauze to muffle her cries. As the doctor peeled away the blackened, dead flesh with tweezers, Sylvia realized with horror that her right ear was nearly deaf—she could only hear a faint, muffled hum.

An examination confirmed her worst fears: a perforated eardrum, causing temporary hearing loss.

Three years ago, she had lost her voice because of Julian. Now she was losing her hearing too?

Wandering the hospital corridors like a ghost, she caught a familiar voice whispering angrily in a hallway. Steeling her resolve, she approached quietly, and her blood ran cold at what she heard.

Grace was on the phone, her voice dripping with venom. "Why didn't the acid hit her face? I wanted her disfigured, so Julian would stop looking at her! That wretched Sylvia—I have to get rid of her. I should burn her alive, that's the only way to end this."

Sylvia absorbed the words in silence.

'Burn me alive? An excellent plan. I'll help you see it through.'

Sylvia dragged her injured body back to the Hugo family's estate. Julian was waiting for her, fixing her with an icy glare. "If Grace hadn't stopped me, I'd have thrown you out! Don't you dare show your face at the wedding—you'll bring nothing but bad luck."

Sylvia nodded stiffly, turning to vanish into her room without a word.

On the eve of the wedding, Grace summoned Sylvia to a derelict storage room at the back of the villa—the exact exit Sylvia had planned to use to escape.

Grace stared her down, a cruel smile on her lips. "You wouldn't tell Julian about the truth, would you?"

Sylvia shook her head.

Grace laughed mockingly. "How generous. Or do you know he'd never believe you? Julian loves me now. I'm the only one who will be his bride. Don't try to steal him from me."

She pulled out a lighter and ignited the pile of flammable debris behind her. Smoke and sparks spiraled upward, flames quickly engulfing the room.

Through the blaze, Julian's desperate voice cried out, "Grace! Where are you?!"

Grace shrieked in fake panic, "Julian, help me! I can't breathe!"

Julian kicked open the warped door and burst into the room, and a molten chandelier crashed down from the ceiling. Without hesitation, he threw himself over Grace, taking the brunt of the falling fixture, completely indifferent to Sylvia, who had been knocked to the ground by a collapsing picture frame.

"Don't be afraid. I'm here," Julian said, his body trembling, but he carried Grace out of the fire without looking back.

"You saved me, but what about her?" Grace prompted deliberately, nodding toward Sylvia.

Julian shot a cold, dismissive glance backward at Sylvia, who was sprawled on the ground. "Who cares if she dies? You're the only one that matters."

Hearing this, Grace smiled in satisfaction, then fainted feebly to spur Julian into running faster.

Sylvia watched their retreating figures in stunned silence, tears streaming down her face.

'So be it. Now we are even. Farewell, Julian.'