Chapter 3

She turned around, pretending to be surprised.

"Oh, Scarlett. You're back."

"It was so late last night, and it wasn't safe for me to walk back to the clinic. So Ethan let me stay here for the night."

"You don't mind, do you?"

The dark purple hickeys on her neck flared painfully in my eyes.

My mind immediately filled with images of how she had worn my nightgown, thrashing around with Ethan on my bed last night.

Noticing my gaze, she covered her neck in mock embarrassment.

"The mosquitoes last night were so fierce. They bit me so badly."

"Your neck is so clean, Scarlett. You must not have been bitten at all."

"So strange... why did they only bite me?"

With my body aching from the fever and my heart burning with rage, I couldn't hold back anymore. I grabbed a vase from the entryway and hurled it at her.

"Get out!"

But my body was too weak.

The vase shattered right at her feet.

She crossed her arms, dropping her innocent act, and sneered.

"I used to hear that sexually starved women have terrible tempers. Now I see it's true."

"With Ethan's... condition... you've probably never experienced real pleasure, have you?"

"I'm so much luckier than you. Every night with him is absolute heaven."

She aimed directly for my deepest wounds.

Shaking with rage, I lunged at her like a madwoman, wanting to tear that smug look off her face.

Suddenly, her arrogant smirk vanished. She screamed and ran out the door.

"Scarlett, I'm sorry! Don't hit me! I'll stay away from Ethan, I swear!"

"Scarlett, have you lost your mind?!"

Ethan's angry voice boomed.

He didn't hesitate to pull Vivian into his arms, grabbing my wrist and throwing me back with brutal force.

I crashed hard against the wooden table, a sharp pain shooting through my lower back.

My heart felt like it was being crushed.

Vivian showed him the self-inflicted scratch marks on her neck, sobbing dramatically.

"Ethan, I just wore one of Scarlett's nightgowns, and she chased me down to attack me."

"Thank god you came back in time, or I don't know what she would have done to me."

Ethan stared at the red marks on her neck, his eyes turning ice-cold as he glared at me.

"Scarlett, apologize."

I grit my teeth, glaring right back at him.

"Why should I apologize?"

I wasn't the one who did anything wrong!

Ethan raised his hand, instinctively wanting to slap me. But he stopped halfway, his expression twisted with frustration.

"You are absolutely hopeless!"

He kicked my shin hard.

The sudden pain made my legs buckle, and my knees crashed straight onto the shattered glass on the floor. I let out a sharp cry of agony.

"Stay here and think about what you've done!"

Ethan threw his jacket over Vivian's shoulders, picked her up, and carried her out.

Once upon a time, he had held me just as tightly.

In that pitch-black, freezing basement, he was the only light I had.

Now, as I watched his retreating back, my heart finally shattered into a million pieces.

I struggled to sit up, using a pair of tweezers to pull the glass shards out of my bloody knees, my hands shaking violently.

Through the thin walls, I heard the neighbors talking.

"Did you see Captain Ethan carrying Dr. Vivian just now? He looked more worried about her than his own wife."

"Duh. Dr. Vivian might be a base doctor, but she's basically the Captain's personal physician."

"Every time they go on a mission, he keeps her right by his side, protecting her. Whenever anyone gets hurt, the first person she asks about is always the Captain."

Another woman laughed mockingly.

"They're that close? Doesn't the Captain worry about his wife getting jealous?"

The voices dropped to a whisper, but I pressed my ear to the wall and heard every word.

"Jealous? Does she even dare? A woman who was kidnapped and ruined... she's lucky enough to be married to the Captain. How could she possibly throw a tantrum?"

My brain exploded in a loud buzz, turning completely blank.

In a daze, I remembered Ethan's sweet promise from years ago.

"Don't worry, Scarlett. I will never tell anyone about what happened to you."

"The past is in the past. From now on, I am your protector."

I fell back onto the sofa, completely numb to the physical pain in my knees.

At that moment, the last string holding my sanity together finally snapped.