"I won't take this. Get rid of it." Zane muttered, placing the drink back on the table.
Selina's brows narrowed in confusion. "I thought maybe—"
"Maybe what?" His tone was sharp enough to crumble her words. "That trying to care for me would change me? That I'll start caring? You're here for one reason. Don't mistake it for anything else."
She swallowed the sting and tried again, her voice trembling but gentle. "Zane…"
"Zane?" He repeated, sounding displeased. "How close are we to sparing formalities? Where are your manners, woman?"
"I'm your wife, Zane. Whether you want this to be real or not!" Selina's voice broke out with frustration.
Sometimes she wondered if it was because she was unattractive and had no identity to fit his world that made him this cruel towards her.
With a mocking snort, Zane cocked his head to one side. "My wife?" he repeated in a mocking tone. "What made you think you deserve such a position?"
Selina sat shattered, immovable, as if her tear-filled, blurred eyes locked onto his scornful, unwavering gaze that felt like a blade piercing into her heart, twisting ruthlessly.
"Ah." Zane feigned a recalling expression with a brow raised. "I don't remember if I'd have one. If so, I hope you're not disappointed in me for failing to acknowledge you."
His words echoed in her head as Selina bit the edge of her lips hard until she drew blood, suppressing her ache as usual while silence weighed heavier than sobs. Their hostile marriage only turned colder as days slipped into weeks until a full seven hundred and thirty-two days had passed into monotonous longing and unrequited love in her marriage.
She should have walked away rather than drowning in these feelings but was still helpless to leave, not because she was waiting for his affection—but because she had loved Zane for nine years and knew better that it was difficult to pull away easily.
'How could a man I've been fantasizing about my whole life say such cruel things to me?' Her chest heaved, choking on her contained emotions. It was unbearable being crushed by the one who was supposed to love and cherish her in return.
Taking a shaky breath to calm her nerves, she finally asked the questions weighing on her mind, which gnawed on her every day.
"Are you actually being cold towards me because of our contract marriage? Or maybe there is a reason behind this cruelty? Did I wrong you unknowingly?"
"It seems you're already exhausted when it's just a shred of the beginning of this damn marriage. I believe I should end this quickly. And you'll find your answer."
Selina's breath hitched. End things? Does he mean divorce?
Selina watched as Zane reached for his iPad on the couch. He unlocked his phone, dialed a number, and the video call suddenly connected.
"Boss, I've been waiting for your order to finish this job," came Zane's assistant's urgent voice from the other side.
Zane glanced at the perplexed Selina. "I want to see Hudson's face," he demanded, causing a flicker of curiosity across Selina's face.
She didn't know why he wanted to see her father. Could it be that he had discovered her secret? That he had been deceived? Her eyes widened in panic, hoping it wasn't the case.
But Selina couldn't ignore the situation when he stretched the iPad towards her.
She stood up from her seat, heading to him as she accepted the device. Her attention was now fixated on what was displaying on the screen from the other end.
"Cough! Cough!" The hoarse voice echoed through the line for the umpteenth time while Selina observed her father's surroundings.
It looked like he was being held in a storage room.
His voice grew more raw, brittle, and weary. He looked battered—slumped in a wooden chair, his body tied, his face bruised. That was her father. A wave of fear crept into her body as though she were stepping into her worst nightmare.
No. This couldn't be real. Her father shouldn't be there.
Maybe she was still asleep, still lost in a nightmare.
Her hands flew to her eyes, rubbing hard as though she could wake herself. But then his cry tore through the air, sharp and pained—the kind of sound that carried suffering far too long.
"Father!" Selina cried.
The weak figure, Hudson, finally looked at the camera when he heard his daughter's voice.
"Selina, dear," he whispered. "Good. You're safe and unscratched."
"Father, how did you end up like this? Who did this to you?" she asked, concern and confusion threading through her voice. Her trembling hands hovered across the screen as if to touch him.
Before Hudson could say a word, a sudden, hard punch landed mercilessly across his cheek from the man beside him.
"Stop this! Let him go!" she demanded, her voice trembling. "He's bleeding already—he might pass out!"
Zane's murmur echoed across the room. "He doesn't deserve an easy way either…"
That frosty tone was unwavering yet edged with something dangerous, sending a chill rushing down her spine.
Selina snapped her attention to Zane, who lounged expressionless like still water in chaos—as if the violence wasn't enough to entertain him.
Trying to make sense of the moment, she demanded, "Why are you sitting there, letting me watch this happen to my father? Why can't you stop it? Is he kidnapped or what? How much did they want?!"
"Zane, this is between us. Don't drag my daughter into it. I've given you what you asked for. Why let her witness this? Wasn't that enough? I'll give you more if you need it, please… don't hurt her." His voice rasped, thick with weakness and guilt, snapping in before Zane could respond.
Selina felt the tension ripple across Zane's face, as if her father's plea only fueled the fire he struggled to contain for over a decade. He heard it clearly—the video was on the loudspeaker.
Zane slowly opened his amber eyes, burning with a controlled yet terrifying intensity. "Hudson, you handle crises like the businessman you are—charity, compensation, appeasement. But you know it's meaningless. None of that can settle what you owe me." His voice was bitter, sharp, and unyielding, cutting through the room like a blade.
"I'm sorry for everything." Hudson lowered his head in shame, apologizing once more. "I don't care what happens to me. But don't let her suffer for these grudges. Take my life if you must."
"No!" Selina's expression twisted in rage as she reprimanded him. "What nonsense are you saying, Father? I'm not letting that happen. I won't allow it!"
Hudson smiled weakly at Selina from the other side. "I only wanted the best for you. But I trapped you instead. I'm sorry… I shouldn't have done it." Tears streamed freely down his battered face.
"What… What do you mean? What's going on?" Selina asked, her voice tight with dread.
A brief silence fell until Hudson forced a weak confession,
"Selina, he won't let me go because I killed his family."
Those words sounded like a thunderclap. Selina's jaw dropped in bewilderment as her breath hitched.
She shook her head in denial. "No way! You can't have done that. Tell me you didn't! You can't harm anyone—for any reason!" she retorted, her voice cracking. She tapped at the screen desperately, wishing to disappear into that place.
Selina stared at her father, waiting for him to deny it. To prove his innocence—that this was all a terrible misunderstanding. But when she saw the deep-seated guilt in his eyes, her desperate hope crumbled to dust.
Her father was a murderer—responsible for someone's tragedy. Not just someone, but someone she had loved.
The truth struck her hard—the reasons for his coldness, indifference, and distance in their marriage.
"Why, Father?! Why did you do it?" Selina asked, screaming like a woman driven mad, her hands shaking as she struggled to hold onto the device.
"Why are you panicking? Don't cry, dear… just be a good wife. Maybe he won't hate you. He's not bad… I made him this way. Don't resent him."
Selina sobbed, her throat tightening.
"Do it, Damien," Zane commanded as his patience wore thin.
Selina watched closely as Damien pulled a brazen object from the back of his pants.
Her heart sank when she saw it—an object aimed at her father.
"NO!!" Selina growled, crouching beside Zane as she grabbed his hand desperately in a plea. "Don't do this, please! I'm sorry he caused you pain; I truly am. But this… this isn't justice. Let him stand trial. You don't have to do this, please…"
Zane's expression remained unfazed at such raw remorse—not even the bitter tears that flowed could touch the dead part of him, because regret would not bring his family back nor erase the weight of his guilt and grief.
"You think this is about fairness?" Zane dragged his hand from hers while she flinched at the impact. "This is about revenge."
Selina shook her head stubbornly. "I know. Take me instead—do whatever you want with me, but please… spare him,"
"Go ahead," he commanded.
"Roger that." Damien's voice echoed.
"Don't do it!" she screamed at the top of her lungs as the sound cracked loudly through the air.
But Selina's body jolted as the iPad slipped from her hands. Hudson's cry of agony thundered through the line before the voice went silent.
The line went dead.
"That's my answer to your question," Zane uttered without a hint of remorse or regret.
The weight of the bitter truth she had been seeking crushed her as she stumbled a step backward. How could fate toy with her this way? The cruelest part was that she had prayed daily, desperately, to be by his side—like a devotion—even if he hardly noticed her then.
Yet this was what the universe granted her wish in a twisted way: that her secret crush hated her to the core and deliberately treated her badly because of this. How did all this happen? For what reason? She thought, closing her eyes as tears stung at the corners, streaming uncontrollably.
"Please spare him just this once," she whispered.