As if he were trying to please Eira, Larry handed her the medicine the bodyguard had brought in.
"If you're still not satisfied, then feed it to her yourself."
Only then did Eira smile.
Holding the bottle, she walked toward me, her voice dripping with fake pity.
"Isabelle, just think of this as atoning for all the terrible things you did before."
If spending over a million dollars supporting her over four years counted as a crime,
then yes, I was guilty beyond forgiveness.
I regretted helping Eira, and I regretted choosing Larry as the man I was going to marry.
As I watched Eira draw closer step by step, I kept backing away.
But there was nowhere left for me to go.
Eira ordered the bodyguards to hold my jaw.
She had just taken out a pill when Larry's phone suddenly rang.
"Curtis? You're back in the country?"
A flicker of panic flashed through Larry's eyes.
It felt as though I had suddenly grabbed hold of a lifeline, and I screamed with everything I had,
"Curtis Vickers, save me!"
But in the very next second, Eira shoved the pill into my mouth.
Her eyes were filled with malice.
"Stuff her mouth shut!"
All I could do was make muffled, desperate sounds.
That tiny pill was forced down my throat.
Larry shot me a glare, then turned back to the phone and said to Curtis with a smile, "It's nothing, Curtis. Isabelle and I are just fooling around. I've got to go. If I keep this up, she'll really get mad at me."
He quickly hung up, impatience thick in his voice.
"Isabelle, why do you always have to be so troublesome? If my brother finds out you had a child with another man, do you really think you'll still be able to marry me?"
I shook my head desperately, only broken whimpers escaping my mouth.
But inside my body, a strange and terrifying heat had already begun to spread.
I grew more and more afraid.
I did not want to marry Larry anymore.
I did not want to love him anymore either.
But all of that, I could only scream inside my own head.
He could not hear any of it.
Larry let out a sigh.
Seeing the unnatural flush on my face, he waved a hand at the bodyguards.
"All right, all of you, get out."
The moment the bodyguards left, I was finally able to speak again.
But when I opened my mouth, what came out was only humiliating, shameful sounds.
Eira smiled in a way that made my skin crawl.
"Gavin, why aren't you hugging your wife already? She's the one who's going to give you a child. You have to cherish her properly, understand?"
"My Elly is so kind."
Larry tapped the tip of her nose indulgently.
Desire flickered in his eyes.
"I've done everything I promised you. Don't forget what you promised me."
Eira shyly punched him lightly in the chest.
"You're awful."
The two of them walked out together arm in arm, and the door shut behind them.
Gavin lunged forward excitedly and wrapped his arms around me.
"Kiss kiss..."
"Larry..."
I called Larry's name weakly, trying to push the man in front of me away.
But my body had no strength left at all.
The burning heat inside me only grew stronger.
Tears streamed down my face in despair as I bit down hard on my tongue, trying to use pain to keep myself conscious.
By then, only one thought remained in my mind.
Gavin absolutely could not touch me.
Otherwise, I would rather die.
While Gavin was taking off his clothes, I staggered toward the door.
The moment I pulled it open, I crashed straight into a solid chest.
A familiar cedar scent instantly filled my nose.