Chapter 2

Sienna Shaw POV

Seeing that I hadn’t grown suspicious, Lucas Lawson comforted me with a few more words before leaving.

I immediately rushed into the bathroom. The moment the door locked, I collapsed in front of the toilet.

I dug my fingers into my throat, my nails scraping against the tender mucous membrane.

I retched violently, tears pouring out with it.

The blue capsule hidden behind my gums, mixed with saliva and stomach acid, was finally vomited into the toilet.

One layer of the blue coating had dissolved, giving off a bitter, cloying medicinal smell.

I stared at the pill, my whole body trembling.

If I swallowed it tonight, tomorrow I would become an idiot who couldn’t even speak clearly.

Lucas Lawson wanted me to be a madwoman. I didn’t have time to be sad or heartbroken. I had to transfer away all the ownership rights to the church immediately.

I pressed the flush and watched the poison get swept away by the water.

Gritting my teeth, I lifted my head and looked into the mirror.

The person in the mirror had a deathly pale face, bloodshot eyes, and blood at the corner of her mouth from where she had bitten through her skin.

I closed my eyes and forced out a fake smile.

Only when the expression of the person in the mirror completely matched the characteristics of a lunatic did I push the door open and walk out.

In the bedroom, Lucas Lawson was standing by the bed.

He held a white porcelain jar in his hand and was using a match to light the calming incense.

When he saw me come out, he blew out the match and beckoned, his voice gentle. “Sienna, this is calming incense I had specially blended for you. Once you smell it, your head won’t hurt anymore.”

I walked over and smelled the rich scent of lavender.

Mixed into the fragrance was an extremely faint fishy odor, like rotting dead fish.

This was the slow-acting sedative Lucas Lawson had given me, specially meant to destroy my nerves.

“It smells so nice, Lucas.”

I obediently nestled into his arms, closed my eyes, and took a deep breath.

Lucas Lawson gently stroked my back, as if petting a dying kitten.

But I could feel his body was tense, his gaze fixed on my face the entire time.

I took advantage of it and rested my head against his shoulder, my eyes unfocused as I slowly closed them.

“Lucas... I’m so sleepy. I’ll sleep for a little while first...”

I mumbled vaguely, my body going limp as I let myself fall.

“If you’re sleepy, then sleep. I’m right here.” Lucas Lawson carried me onto the bed and tucked me in.

He sat by the bed for a while. Only after confirming I was sound asleep did he get up, turn off the lights, and quietly leave.

The moment the bedroom door closed, I opened my eyes. My gaze was clear, without the slightest trace of sleepiness.

Lucas Lawson had no idea that I had switched out this jar of poisoned incense for ordinary lavender essential oil long ago.

I got out of bed and took a backup phone from the deepest part of the wardrobe.

I dialed a number.

The call connected, and an elderly man’s voice came through. “Ms. Shaw?”

“Attorney Carter, it’s me.”

I lowered my voice, my tone ice-cold.

“My father’s reputation has already been destroyed. I can’t lose the last thing he left behind, too.”

Attorney Carter had been my father’s most trusted legal adviser when he was alive.

“Ms. Shaw, have you made up your mind? If you secretly transfer the design patents now, once Lucas Lawson finds out, he absolutely won’t let you go.” Attorney Carter’s tone was worried.

I gripped the phone tightly, my knuckles turning white. The pain from my broken nail made me tremble.

“I have no choice.”

Gritting my teeth, I forced out the words. “Tomorrow, Lucas Lawson is going to force me to sign the church’s ownership rights over to Serena Stone. Before he makes his move, I have to transfer all the design patents I hold into the overseas private trust my father left behind.”

“All right. I’ll handle it right away. The transfer will be completed within two hours. But Ms. Shaw, what will you do tomorrow?”

I didn’t answer. I quietly hung up.

I turned my head and looked at the white dress Lucas Lawson had chosen for me in the wardrobe.

Under the bleak moonlight outside the window, that dress glowed a ghastly white, looking exactly like burial clothes.

I closed my eyes and lay quietly in the darkness.