Chapter 44

“Olivia, do you know how miserable Leia was while you were living your princess life? I personally went

to the village where she used to live. It was a poor and desolate hellhole. Many of them hadn’t had a

full meal for three whole days. I heard she had been sold off and locked in a woodshed like a dog.

She’s the daughter of the Miller family, she should’ve been treated like a princess, but she was treated

like dirt! She suffered for so many years, and when she finally made her way to Aldenvine… could have

found her if she held on for a little longer.”

I

Olivia couldn’t speak. She could hardly breathe with Ethan’s hands around her neck. Tears couldn’t

stop flowing from her eyes as pushed Ethan back, trying to stir him from his rage.

Ethan was lost in his grief. “She was tainted by that bastard, your father. She was choked to death and

stuffed in a box. She must have felt so hopeless. You look like you’ve lost all hope now too. Can you

feel even a little bit of what she felt?”

“Let … go!” Olivia struggled, but it was useless.

Ethan’s eyes

were

red like a rabid animal.

Olivia struggled to breathe. She knew that she was going to be choked to death if this continued. She

had to keep fighting.

“Olivia, I was going to let you go, but you came barging in.”

The look on Ethan’s face grew more intense. His eyes lost their focus as he slowly said, “Liv, let’s go

see Leia. She must be so lonely. My suffering will stop after we’re both dead in the ground.”

Olivia knew that Ethan had lost his mind when he said that. In her struggle, Ethan accidentally touched

her wound that had just been stitched up yesterday. The wound ripped, and fresh scarlet blood soaked

her white silk nightgown.

Seeing the red, Ethan finally let her go. Olivia lay on the ground. Ethan wanted to check her wound, but

Olivia quickly retreated. Her eyes stared at him in full alert.

Ethan retracted his hand numbly and regained himself. What had he done? He almost killed Olivia.

“Your arm…” he said hoarsely.

Olivia got up from the ground, grabbed her coat from the sofa, braced the cold, and left the Miller

residence.

She thought she was a goner when he started choking her. It was like her whole life was about to end.

She thought she would die, and worse, the near–death experience was not as calming as she thought

it would be.

She only had one thought–run!

Ethan looked down and stared at his hands. How could he do that to Olivia? The raging cold wind from

outside brought him back to his senses.

He quickly followed after Olivia with his car as he thought of how frantically Olivia had rushed into the

snowstorm.

Olivia was not thinking. She hid behind a tree the moment she heard a car. She was still trembling

when she saw Ethan leave. She was safe from the clutches of danger.

She searched for her phone and hesitated before calling Everly. Everly’s loud voice came through,

“Miss me, babe?” Olivia suppressed her sobs. “Eve, can you come pick me up?”