Amber‘ face was a ghastly white, her entire body wracked with violent tremors. She pointed at Evelyn, sobbing so
violently it seemed her heart would tear apart.
“Evelyn! Do you despise me so much?! If you couldn’t bear the thought of me, why pretend to accept me as a sister?!”
“I’ve endured every single harm you’ve done to me! But this time… this time you stoop so low as to frame me!”
“Are you trying to kill me?! Fine! If that’s what you want, then I’ll give you exactly that!”
With that, she tried to rush toward the balcony.
Dominic’s hands shot out, gripping her tightly. His face was deathly pale, yet his voice remained unnervingly calm.
striving to soothe her.
“Amber! Calm down! I know you’ve been wronged. I’ll give you an explanation!”
He abruptly lifted his gaze, eyes icy, sweeping across the remaining guests. He barked an order to his bodyguards.
“Clear the room! If a single word of tonight’s events leaks out, I will make certain the person responsible and their entire
family profoundly regrets it.”
The guests froze, fear paralyzing them, and quickly obeyed.
Finally, Dominic’s gaze fell on Evelyn, who had been standing silently the entire time. His eyes were like blades of frozen
venom.
“Evelyn, what will it take to break you of this?”
He stepped forward, his voice low and charged with fury.
“I have given my heart to two women, it’s true. But what I feel for you has not lessened in the slightest!”
“Everything could have gone smoothly, yet why do you keep pushing my limits, hurting Amber?!”
“I didn’t…” Evelyn’s protest was weak, falling on deaf ears.
“Enough!” Dominic cut her off, his patience gone. “It seems ordinary punishments no longer work for you.”
He pulled out his phone, voice cold and authoritative.
“Escort her to the base of St. Serenity Monastery Hill. She is to perform the walk of atonement, barefoot, up all the nine
hundred and ninety–nine steps.”
“At every landing, she will say aloud, ‘I am a sinner, worthy of death. Henceforth, I shall never wrong Amber again!”
Evelyn’s eyes snapped open. “Dominic! You can’t do this!”
“Can’t?” His gaze was cruel. “You can choose not to go. In that case, your parents will go in your place. The choice is yours.”
Chapter 7
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Parents… again!
The memories of their tragic deaths in her past life came flooding back. Every instinct to resist, every ounce of rebellion.
was instantly crushed.
Her face went ashen, as if her soul had been drained entirely. “…I’ll go.”
The steps up St. Serenity Monastery Hill were long and steep.
Dressed in simple clothing. Evelyn started at the base and climbed barefoot, the rough stone cutting into her skin.
Within moments, her skin were raw and bleeding.
With every step, she forced herself to cry out her confession, her voice breaking with shame and pain.
“I am a sinner. I deserve to die a thousand deaths. From now on, I will never harm Amber again!”
Her hoarse voice echoed through the empty mountain valley, mingled with the taste of blood and tears.
Each step dragged memories unbidden into her mind–his obsessive pursuit, the crazed declarations of love whispered in
her ear, the unrelenting demands he made of her, the times he had taken bullets for her, knelt to put shoes on her,
sung love songs for her at grand banquets…
The memory of that supreme love, now contorted into this ultimate humiliation, felt like a blade slowly flaying her
heart.
Why… why had it come to this? Why did his “forever” last only a few short years?
If he could not love her forever, why had he stolen her heart so violently in the first place?
From sunrise to sunset, Evelyn lost all sense of time, running, stumbling and pushing forward.
Her legs were trembling, her throat burned with every breath, and only the fierce will not to drag her parents into it
kept her moving.
When she finally reached the nine hundred ninety–ninth step of the hill, her body felt drained of blood and strength.
Darkness swallowed her whole.
When she woke again, she was back in the Vance Estate bedroom.
Dominic looked down at her from his usual height, voice indifferent.
“Because of your slander, Amber became agitated and was hospitalized. I’ve spent the past few days caring for her. Stay at
home quietly. Don’t make a scene. When she returns, apologize properly.”
He turned and left.
Evelyn lay on the bed like an empty shell, soul hollowed.
Shortly after he left, her phone vibrated.
Chapter 7
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A single message (Miss Shaw, all procedures for you and your family to cancel your household registration and change
your names have been completed]
Those few, stark words struck with the force of lightning, cleaving through the suffocating darkness that had enveloped
her.
All the humiliation, the pain, the suffering of the past days seemed to find release, yet at the same time transformed
into a profound, peaceful calm.
She sat up abruptly, her chest still aching, but her eyes shining with a startling clarity.
She quickly gathered her pre–packed luggage and called her parents.
“Dad, Mom, the paperwork’s done. Let’s go to the airport. We’re leaving now.”
She dragged her suitcase outside, pausing for one final look at the Vance estate–that gilded cage of love, hatred, and
obsession that had imprisoned her for years.
Then, without a backward glance, she walked away.
At the airport, bustling with travelers, she met her parents and smoothly completed the check–in process.
Seated in the cabin, strapped in, the flight attendants reminded passengers to turn off electronic devices.
Evelyn pulled out her phone, fingers tracing the screen where a few photos of her and Dominic remained.
Photos where his tenderness and devotion had once made her heart race, now they only seemed ironic.
Without hesitation, she selected all of them and deleted them.
Then, she tossed the phone into the nearby trash bin.
The engines roared as the plane taxied, then accelerated, lifting into the sky.
When the momentary weightlessness hit, Evelyn leaned back, closing her eyes, finally letting herself relax completely.
Dominic would return to an empty house.
And the woman known as Evelyn Shaw would be erased.
From this moment on, their paths would diverge forever, two strangers lost to each other in a wide world.
Sara Lili is a daring romance writer who turns icy landscapes into scenes of fiery passion. She loves crafting hot love stories while embracing the chill of Iceland’s breathtaking cold.
