"Apologize for what?" I couldn't stop myself. "What exactly did I do wrong?"
Hubert's eyes went wide. "You hired a driver to run Clarissa down, and you're going to stand there and play dumb? The driver already gave you up. What's left to argue?"
Attempted murder. That was a charge I could never accept. A stain like that would destroy any future I had left.
Before I could open my mouth, Clarissa let out a pitiful whimper. "Mr. Stephens, please don't put yourself through this. After all, no one ever admits to the crimes they've committed."
"Stubborn, are we?" Hubert's lips curled. "I have plenty of ways to deal with stubborn."
He ordered the bodyguards to haul me to the police station, and right in front of me, he told them to give me "special treatment."
That night, I was shoved into a cramped, pitch-black room. Several heavyset women filed in after me.
They didn't say a word. Fists knotted in my hair, nails raked across my skin, hands tore my clothes to shreds. The moment I tried to fight back, a storm of blows rained down.
After three hours of beating, I heard a voice ask: "Are you ready to confess?"
"I didn't do any of—"
My voice came out thin, barely there.
The charges were fabricated. Every last one. But Hubert never bothered to investigate. He took Clarissa's word as gospel, no questions asked. He really did love her that much.
A bitter laugh echoed somewhere inside my chest.
What followed was six hours of beatings. By the end, my vision went black and I lost consciousness entirely.
When I opened my eyes again, I was in a hospital bed.
Hubert sat beside me, his gaze flat and cold. "Stop going after Clarissa. Unless you want more of the same."
I said nothing.
During the two years he'd schemed to strip me of everything in the divorce, I'd swallowed every kind of suffering there was. This time, I was going to carve out a future of my own.
Hubert looked at my bruised, swollen face. Something unreadable flickered in his eyes. Then a phone rang, and his attention snapped away.
I glanced over without turning my head. The caller was Clarissa.
The moment he picked up, his brow softened. His voice turned gentle.
All things that used to be mine.
Back then, he'd been the notorious troublemaker at Crestfall High, and I was just a girl who'd gotten lost and stumbled onto him beating someone up.