You Scorned My Love, So Why Are You Kneeling When I Asked for a Divorce?

...

The suburbs.

Inside a pitch-black, abandoned building.

On the sixth floor, a faint light flickered in the dark like a will-o’-wisp.

"Yvonne Thorne, what the hell do you want?!"

Holly Sinclair was being held hostage, a cold, sharp blade pressed against her neck.

Her breathing was unsteady with fear, her voice so hoarse it was nearly broken.

"I want to live!"

Yvonne was behind her, her voice seething with resentment through gritted teeth.

"If you want to live, why are you kidnapping me?" Holly was both terrified and baffled.

The last time she’d seen Yvonne was when she and Vivian Linton had teamed up to injure her hand.

Later, she heard Yvonne had been sentenced to three years for assault with intent to injure.

’Shouldn’t she be in prison?’

’She escaped from prison?!’

The thought sent a chill down Holly’s spine.

If Yvonne blamed her and was seeking revenge, Holly feared she was doomed.

A trace of despair welled up in Holly’s heart, and she couldn’t help but tremble slightly.

But then, unexpectedly—

"Holly, don’t be afraid. I don’t want to hurt you, really."

Yvonne’s attitude suddenly changed. Her vicious tone vanished in an instant, replaced by a pleading, almost fawning one. "I’ll—I’ll let you go now, but don’t scream, and don’t run. Okay?"

Holly froze for a moment, unable to figure out what Yvonne was up to.

"...Okay." But she still agreed cautiously.

She had just secretly scanned her surroundings.

This was an abandoned building, with no one living for miles around. Even if she screamed for help, no one would come to her rescue.

Besides, Yvonne had a knife, and she was someone with nothing to lose...

She couldn’t take the risk!

Seeing Holly agree, Yvonne shoved her forward and then blocked the only exit with the knife.

Holly stumbled two steps forward from the push.

When she turned back, she let out a bloodcurdling scream—

"AH!"

For a moment, she thought she’d seen a ghost.

Yvonne’s face was a crisscrossing mess of scars, her original features completely unrecognizable.

It was grotesque and terrifying.

She...

’How did she end up looking like this?’

Holly didn’t feel pity, just shock and confusion.

"Holly, I was wrong before. I was wrong, I shouldn’t have targeted you. Please, ask Tristan Sterling to spare me, okay?"

Gone was Yvonne’s previous arrogance. She begged humbly, tears and snot streaming down her face.

She was scared!

Beaten into submission!

They say prison is the darkest of places.

But she never expected it to be more terrifying than Hell.

Every day, she’d wake up to a beating. There wasn’t a single patch of unscathed skin on her body.

She was pinned to the ground by several people as they viciously carved up her face with a sharpened toothbrush handle...

In just a month or two, she had been tortured to the point where life was worse than death.

She knew she was receiving "special treatment."

If she stayed in prison any longer, she would surely be tortured to death.

She didn’t want to die!

So she feigned illness and found an opportunity to escape from the hospital.

Holly frowned.

’Ask Tristan Sterling to spare her?’

’What had Tristan done?’

Before Holly could speak, Yvonne, clutching at straws, dropped to her knees right in front of her.

"Holly, I don’t want to die, I really don’t! I’ve already been punished! Please, help me beg Mr. Sterling for mercy, I’m begging you... SOB SOB SOB..."

Yvonne wailed, a picture of utter misery.

Her desire to live had long since trumped her dignity.

As long as she could live, she would do anything!

If Holly could offer her a way out, she’d be willing to lick her feet, let alone kneel.

"You’ve got the wrong person. Tristan Sterling won’t listen to me."

Although she was terrified Yvonne would snap, Holly couldn’t help but tell the truth.

’Tristan doesn’t love me. Why would he possibly listen to me?’

She would have better luck begging Vivian Linton.

"Then—then give me some money. I’ll flee the country... I just want to live. I—I really don’t want to die... don’t want to die..."

Yvonne settled for the next best thing. Her expression was neurotic; it seemed the abuse had left her mentally unstable.

Holly hesitated, wondering if she should tell Yvonne that she was broke herself...

"Holly, if you give me money, I’ll help you explain to Tristan Sterling that you weren’t the one who drugged him two years ago."

Afraid Holly would refuse, Yvonne scrambled to her feet and anxiously played her bargaining chip.

Because of that incident, Holly’s reputation had been ruined, and she had been scorned by everyone for the past two years.

Tristan Sterling, in particular, was utterly disgusted with her.

So, she was sure Holly would be desperate to know the truth.

The moment Yvonne finished speaking—

"What did you say?"

"What did you say?!"

A familiar male voice rang out in unison with Holly’s.

It was Tristan Sterling and Vivian Linton, who had rushed to the scene.

Back at the bar entrance, he had answered a call from Holly’s phone, only to be met with Yvonne’s nearly hysterical shouting.

Luckily, Holly had shamelessly insisted on linking their phones through various apps he never got around to deleting, allowing him to track her location now.

Hearing Tristan’s voice, Yvonne reacted instantly, lunging for Holly.

The sharp knife was once again pressed against her neck.

"Stay back! Don’t come any closer! If you take another step, I’ll kill her!"

Yvonne roared, glaring warily at Tristan, her whole body trembling with intense nervousness.

The icy blade against her skin was bone-chilling.

Holly was so scared she didn’t dare to breathe.

She didn’t want to get her throat slit.

"I’m not moving. Don’t do anything rash!"

Tristan immediately stopped in his tracks, raising his hands in a gesture of surrender.

In his tense voice, there was a trace of panic that even he himself didn’t notice.

Holly’s face was as white as a sheet, but she forced herself to remain calm, softening her tone to soothe Yvonne. "Yvonne, what did you just say? You know what happened two years ago?"

She tried to turn her head to look at Yvonne.

But the careless movement caused the blade to slice a thin line into her skin.

"Don’t move!"

Yvonne roared, thinking she was trying to resist.

"Don’t move!" Tristan’s eyes widened in panic, terrified she would provoke Yvonne.

Meanwhile, seeing the worry for Holly in Tristan’s eyes, Vivian Linton was consumed by a wild jealousy.

Tristan also desperately wanted to know what had really happened that night two years ago.

Holly had always denied drugging him.

And yet, she was the one who had handed him the drink.

She was the one who had spent the night with him.

And she was the one who had opened the door for the media the next morning.

"How do you know it wasn’t Holly who drugged me two years ago?"

Tristan’s sharp gaze fixed on Yvonne’s face, his low voice full of pressure.

"Mr. Sterling, I know I was wrong. If I tell you, can you let me live? Please, I don’t want to die..." Yvonne pleaded tearfully.

"As long as every word you say is true, I can spare your life," Tristan said.

Mr. Sterling’s word was his bond.

She didn’t have to die!

Her life was finally safe!

Yvonne’s grotesque face twitched with excitement, her eyes gleaming with the will to live.

"That night, I saw the drink Holly gave you get switched," Yvonne said.

"By who?"