Chapter 5
Trapped in the coffin, I lost all sense of day and night. Hunger gnawed at me until I actually started chewing on the wood.
I clawed at the lid in a frenzy, desperate to break free–until every single one of my fingernails was ripped off.
Filth was everywhere, my own waste mingling with the already thin, stale air, filling it with a suffocating stench.
I don’t know how many days passed before, at last, I died in agony.
But then, unbelievably, my soul drifted free, rising up from the earth toward the surface.
For a moment, I thought I was finally free. But instead, I was yanked–helplessly–straight to Zion’s side.
I watched coldly as Zion helped Gemma pick out her wedding dress.
“Zion, our wedding is in two days,” Gemma said, her voice sweet and wistful. “Honestly, I wish Remi could be there to witness it. What a shame.”
Zion pulled her close, frowning slightly. “By now, Remi should be waking up. I wonder if I left her enough supplies, or if she’s scared down there…”
At that, Gemma’s face changed, her smile faltering for a split second before she forced it back on.
“I never thought Derek would be so sharp. He started getting suspicious and insisted on opening the coffin for an au- topsy. Remi’s dead–shouldn’t he be happy about that?”
Zion snorted, his expression unreadable.
“She was just a toy, nothing more. Don’t worry–I won’t let anyone ruin our plans. Forget about opening the coffin early. What’s the harm in letting Remi stay in there a few extra days?”
The two of them were wrapped up in each other, lost in their own world.
Watching them, my heart twisted painfully. So this is what it looks like when someone truly loves another.
To them, I was nothing but a cheap plaything, something to be discarded and forgotten.
Gemma leaned into Zion’s arms, her face clouded with worry.
“What if Remi figures everything out and tells Dad?”
“She won’t. She’s not that smart.”
Zion’s voice was full of mockery and scorn.
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Chapter 5
288 Vouchers
“It’s been five years, and she still hasn’t realized I was the one who drugged her and Derek back then. She just kept swallowing her misery, enduring Derek’s abuse.
“Even her mother’s death was my doing. Yet she treated me–the one who killed her mom–as her whole world. Pa- thetic.”
The bloody truth was laid bare, and it felt like my heart was being torn apart.
So this was it.
I was such a fool. I thought I was just unlucky, but my whole life had been scripted as a tragic farce from the start.
And yet, I’d still dreamed of a future with this man.
I laughed–wild, broken laughter. My whole life, I’d been invisible, disposable.
Even my breakdown now went unseen.
Two days later, Gemma and Zion held their wedding.
Gemma wore a snow–white gown, the legendary Luminous Gem glittering at her throat.
Jealous eyes watched from every seat in the house.
When they exchanged rings, I heard Zion’s doting voice.
“I want everyone to know–even though you’re an illegitimate child, you’re worthy of the real Luminous Gem. Remi was only ever fit for a fake.”
I let out a bitter, self–mocking laugh.
That fake Gem, by now, must be crawling with maggots.
Just then, someone burst into the venue, stumbling and breathless, shouting, “Bad news, Mr. Valemont! Derek broke into the cemetery and dug up Ms. Remi!
“Ms. Remi–she… she’s already dead!”
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