Chapter 6
As the words fell, the surrounding guests finally snapped out of their shock, whispers rising like a tidal wave.
“I told you–how could Miss Campbell suddenly stop loving Timothy?”
“Exactly. She attempted suicide over a hundred times just to catch his attention before.”
“Tsk tsk… pitiful and pathetic…”
Shirley clenched her fingers, nails digging deep into her palms, yet she felt no pain.
She parted her lips, ready to declare once more—
This wasn’t some game of hard–to–get. She truly, genuinely no longer loved him!
But before a sound could escape, her father cut in sharply.
“Our apologies, everyone. We failed to teach our daughter, allowing her to disgrace our family with theft!”
With a cold wave of his hand, he ordered the bodyguards.
“Escort her to the hotel’s cold storage. Let her spend the night there to clear her head!”
Shirley’s pupils contracted violently as her head jerked up.
“I said I didn’t steal-”
Yet no one listened.
Shirley was pinned by two bodyguards who roughly clamped down on her wrists.
She fought desperately, only to feel a sharp pain explode at the back of her neck.
Struck by a metal baton, she staggered backward, her vision blurring into darkness.
In that final second before unconsciousness, her eyes locked with Timothy’s.
He stood there, watching her with icy detachment–not even a flicker of concern crossed his face.
Later, Shirley woke to bone–chilling cold.
Frost crusted her eyelashes; each breath hung as white vapor. Her limbs had stiffened, her blood feeling like frozen sludge.
The freezer was set to -30°C. Clad only in a thin slip, her exposed skin had turned mottled purple.
“Can’t die…”
8.0%
00:16
Chapter 6
288 Vouchers
She dragged herself forward, muscles screaming.
“I won’t die…”
Her immigration paperwork was almost finalized. She still needed to escape this place.
Soon, she could start a new life.
Using every ounce of strength, she crawled inch by inch toward the freezer door.
Her fingers turned purple with cold, yet she kept pounding desperately against the heavy metal.
“Help… me…”
“Is anyone… out there…?”
Her voice came out hoarse and broken, but no response came from beyond the door.
Until-
“Stop knocking.”
A sweet, laughing voice drifted through the door.
Shirley froze.
It was Patricia.
“Everyone’s busy celebrating my birthday party right now. Who has time for you?”
She giggled, undisguised triumph lacing her tone.
“Oh, here’s something funny-”
“Today’s your birthday too, isn’t it?”
“Too bad nobody remembered.”
Shirley bit down hard on her lip, the metallic tang of blood flooding her mouth.
“I was the center of attention in the lavish banquet hall, while you’re freezing half to death out here…” Patricia chuck-
led.
“Shirley, what if you’re the real heiress? What if I’m just an orphan adopted from the welfare home?”
“You still ended up beneath my feet.”
Just then, Patricia’s phone rang abruptly.
She deliberately hit speakerphone, forcing Shirley to hear the voice clearly-
“Patricia, where did you go?”
420%
00:16
Chapter 6
It was Timothy.
His low, gentle voice carried a tenderness she’d never heard him use before.
288 Vouchers
Shirley slowly closed her eyes. For some reason, she suddenly remembered those long days and nights she’d poured into her diary.
On the yellowed pages, ink blurred by tears, every stroke etched her own despair.
She wrote about how Timothy had booked the entire revolving restaurant for Patricia’s birthday, just so she could watch the snow;
She wrote about how he stayed by Patricia’s bedside all night when she had a fever, even missing his company’s IPO bell–ringing ceremony;
She wrote about the gentle warmth in his eyes when he looked at Patricia, like spring snow melting-
but when his gaze turned to her, only biting frost remained.
For countless days and nights, she’d been a pitiful voyeur, hiding in the shadows watching them fall in love.
Thankfully, she no longer loved him now.
This realization made Shirley curl her lips as she sank into darkness.
00:16
