Chapter 6

Sienna Shaw POV

I don’t remember how I got back to the villa.

I only remember that, that night, the private doctor used tweezers to pick the grains of sand and mud from my wounds one by one.

A week later, the bloody cuts on both my knees had scabbed over.

Lucas tossed a pair of white stockings and an oversized coat onto the head of the bed.

He reached out and gently stroked my cheek. “Tonight is a collaboration between our two families. The banquet is being held on a cruise ship in international waters. Be good. Don’t go crazy again. I’ll take you out to enjoy the sea breeze.”

But when I truly boarded the cruise ship, I realized that every step up the stairs tore open the wounds on my knees again and again.

Thick blood seeped into the white stockings, dyeing them red. The pain made cold sweat pour out of me.

Lucas’s hand tightened slightly around my shoulder, his grip so strong it nearly crushed my bones. He whispered in my ear, “There are important foreign guests here today. If you dare act crazy again, I’ll have you locked in a psychiatric hospital.”

I let him grip my arm and lead me into a corner of the banquet hall.

Not far away, Serena wore a custom gown and held a glass of red wine, moving gracefully among the powerful and wealthy.

Everyone surrounded her at the center, praising her as the genius who designed that church.

And I was thrown by Lucas into the darkest corner.

Since yesterday, I had not had a single drop of water.

My empty stomach hurt so badly that cold sweat kept breaking out. I could only dig my nails hard into the flesh of my thigh, using pain to stay conscious.

I was waiting for midnight.

That was the time Sebastian and I had agreed on.

At this very moment, in the blind spot of the sea where the cruise ship’s cameras could not capture anything, jumping into the water was my only way to survive. It was also my only chance to escape Lucas.

At last, the hands of the wall clock overlapped.

I braced myself against the wall and stood.

I moved extremely slowly, without alerting anyone.

Amid the noisy clinking of glasses and chatter, I pushed open the cabin door alone and walked onto the deck.

The deck was pitch-black. The sea wind cut like knives, making me cough violently. The taste of blood spread through my mouth. I steadied myself against the railing. Below the railing was the open sea of international waters, black waves surging into the sky.

I unbuttoned my coat, took off the white coat, folded it neatly, and placed it on the deck.

I would take off this coat and leave behind this wedding ring.

I wanted to leave the version of me tortured beyond recognition on this ship forever.

In Lucas’s eyes, this would be a final, absolute suicide. But in my heart, this was the beginning of a new life.

I climbed over the iron railing and stood on the suspended edge of the deck.

“Sienna Shaw! What are you doing standing there?!”

Behind me, Lucas’s distorted roar suddenly rang out.

I turned my head. Lucas was rushing toward me like a madman, both hands reaching for me.

His eyes were bloodshot, and his voice trembled violently in the sea wind. “Get down from there! Who told you to stand there?!”

I looked at him and suddenly smiled.

For the first time in three years, a clear and gentle smile appeared on my face.

I pulled the earplugs from my ears and casually threw them into the pitch-black sea. Then, in a hoarse voice, I enunciated each word.

“Lucas Lawson, we’re even now.”

The instant Lucas’s fingers were about to grab the hem of my clothes, my body fell backward and plunged straight into the night.

“Sienna—!”