Chapter 3

Ray's face changed in an instant. His voice cracked out like a whip.

"Shut up!"

But the man ignored him and turned to me instead.

"Mrs. Gilbert, you still don't know, do you?"

"Three years ago, the Gilbert Group never went bankrupt at all."

My whole body went rigid.

The man grinned.

"When Miss Fox first started interning at the Gilberts, she brought coffee to Mr. Gilbert's office every single day. Twisting her ankle so she'd fall into his arms, working late into the night so he'd have to drive her home."

"All you did was remind her once, that a woman is better off relying on herself instead of always looking for shortcuts."

"She turned right around and went crying to Mr. Gilbert, asking who you thought you were, putting on airs and lecturing her."

The man mimicked Valerie's tone, sneering.

"Didn't Lena marry you back then because she'd sized up your talent and knew you'd make it big sooner or later?"

"She just got her hooks in earlier than me, picked out a promising stock ahead of time. What gives her the right to call it true love, and call me a gold digger for getting close to you?"

"If you really went bankrupt, left with nothing, she'd have run faster than anyone."

"So they made a bet."

"If you could truly rough it out with him, never leaving no matter how poor he got, then Miss Fox would do it with Mr. Gilbert against the floor-to-ceiling window of his office. Something bold, just once."

The man looked at Ray, smiling.

"To win that bet, and to please Miss Fox, Mr. Gilbert had us help him stage the whole bankruptcy act."

"Then he handed you over to the gambling ship himself, to see whether you'd abandon him."

I stared at Ray, dazed.

His face was ashen. The words rushed out of him.

"Lena, Valerie was young back then. She just wanted to prove something."

"I was only humoring her that one time. I never thought they would actually—"

Something tore loose inside me, soul from body.

So that nightmare three years ago had been fake from beginning to end.

The man watched the color drain from my face and kept going.

"That whole month, whatever you went through each day, we reported it all to Mr. Gilbert."

"Beaten until you couldn't get up, and still you wouldn't sign the divorce papers."

"You said even if Ray went bankrupt, ended up crippled, never got back on his feet as long as he lived, you would never leave him."

"Mr. Gilbert was very moved."

"So he turned around and told Miss Fox what you'd said. That you loved him enough to throw your life away."

"If he was willing to use a wife who loved him that much just to coax her, what did she have left to be jealous over?"

"He wanted her to be sensible, to stay by his side with an easy mind."

So my crying and my despair that whole month had only ever been a toy for their flirting.

I wanted to cry. I wanted to ask him why.

But the Wishing Willow wouldn't let me blame him, and it certainly wouldn't let me hurt Valerie.

My soul slammed against this body in agony.

Even with my eyes flooded with tears of pain and despair, my face still held that twisted smile.

"It's all right."

I heard myself say it gently.

"Valerie just feels insecure."

"You wanted to prove you love her. I understand."

The color drained from Ray's face in a heartbeat. He stumbled toward me and pulled me tight against him.

"Lena, don't be like this. I'm scared—"

He drew out the second Wishing Willow with shaking hands, his eyes full of regret and pain.

"I was wrong. I never should have turned you into this for Valerie's sake, and I never should have made you suffer in her place."

"I don't want you on that gambling ship anymore. I'll bring you back to yourself right now, even if you never forgive me once you wake."