Chapter 4

I thought that absurd coronation banquet was the last farce I had to endure.

But I clearly underestimated their malice towards me.

Late the night after the dinner ended.

With a loud bang, the bedroom door was violently kicked open.

The glaring incandescent light suddenly turned on, violently pulling me out of my light sleep.

Before I could even sit up, a thick stack of documents was slammed into my face, the sharp edges of the papers leaving a bloody mark on my cheekbone.

"Damian! You despicable thief!"

Sebastian stood by the bed. The face that had been feigning weakness while clutching his head at the banquet last night was now slightly distorted by extreme ecstasy and feigned anger.

Richard, the father, and Eleanor, the mother, followed closely behind. Several burly male servants blocked the doorway.

"What's going on?" I coldly brushed aside the papers scattered on the bed sheet.

"You still dare to play dumb?" Eleanor screamed as she lunged at me, her nails almost digging into my eyes. "How did Sebastian's business plan end up in your desk drawer? Not only did you peek at it, but you also leaked it to your competitors! You ungrateful wretch!"

I glanced at the so-called document.

So that's why he was in such a hurry to leave the banquet hall last night? To secretly slip this "evidence" into that room that even a dog wouldn't want to enter.

Richard was trembling with rage. He pulled out his phone and said, "This is a disgrace to our family! I'm calling the police right now to have you arrested, you corporate spy!"

"Father, no!" Sebastian grabbed Richard's hand.

He feigned a pained expression: "Family scandals should not be aired in public. I was just appointed vice president, and this scandal breaking out now would be a devastating blow to the group's stock price. We'll handle it ourselves."

"Then what do you suggest? Just let him go like this?" Eleanor gritted her teeth.

“Let him reflect on his actions in the underground wine cellar.” Sebastian looked down at me, a cruel smile playing on his lips. “Once he’s thought things through, he can publicly apologize to the group’s board of directors tomorrow.”

Without Richard giving any order, two male servants immediately stepped forward and tightly bound my arms behind my back.

I didn't even have time to put on my shoes before they dragged me out of the room.

Barefoot, I rubbed the cold marble floor and descended the narrow, damp stone steps.

The underground wine cellar is perpetually dark, and in order to preserve fine wines, the temperature is always maintained at an extremely low level, near zero degrees Celsius, and there are no ventilation openings.

"Go inside!" The head male servant shoved him forcefully.

I fell heavily onto the dusty stone floor.

With a loud bang, the heavy iron gate slammed shut behind me, the sound of the lock clicking shut echoing in the darkness like a death sentence.

The bone-chilling cold instantly felt like countless steel needles, relentlessly piercing my bone marrow through my pores.

I curled up beside the huge oak barrel, pulling my thin pajamas tighter around myself, but it was no use.

There was no anger, no fear. The extreme cold, on the contrary, made my mind clearer than ever before.

Sebastian had no intention of making me admit my mistakes; he wanted me to freeze to death silently in this completely sealed ice cellar.

My breath gradually turned into a faint white mist, and the sensation in my limbs was slowly swallowed up by the darkness.

Just as consciousness was on the verge of dissipation, a piercing metallic tearing sound suddenly shattered the deathly silence.

The iron gate was forcibly pried open with hydraulic shears!

The blinding beam of the flashlight swept around before finally settling on me.

“Mr. Damian!” Marcus’s voice was filled with rare shock and anger.

Two fully armed security personnel rushed in immediately, wrapped me tightly in a military-grade thermal blanket, and lifted me up.

“It’s Emily,” Marcus said quickly in a low voice as he pulled me outside. “The nanny secretly messaged me. She said she didn’t want to get up tomorrow morning to clean up a corpse.”

I tugged at my frozen lips, but couldn't even manage a mocking smile.

The warmth of the thick blanket seeped into my skin as I was shoved directly into the bulletproof SUV that Marcus had parked at the back door.

With the engine roaring, the vehicle, like a black panther, tore through the night and headed straight for the airport.

The carriage was heated to its maximum. Marcus pulled a stack of documents and a pen from his briefcase and handed them to my trembling hands.

"Mrs. Victoria's divorce agreement needs your final paper signature. Also, your passport and this."

That's a legal declaration severing kinship ties.

I gripped the pen tightly and signed "Damian Foster" heavily on the paper.

“Send the statement to Richard and Eleanor’s private email addresses.” I tossed the file back to him, my voice hoarse from the cold. “Immediately.”

“Sent.” Marcus typed on the keyboard. “Legally speaking, you are now completely free.”

The terminal building was brightly lit and stark white.

I stood next to the trash can and pried the SIM card out of my phone.

With a sharp snap, the metal chip broke in two, and I threw it, along with the old phone filled with humiliating memories, into the dark trash can without any mercy.

When I got to the ticket counter, I took out all the cash I had on my person.

"The fastest flight out of here." I looked at the flight information flashing on the screen, my tone as calm as still water.

"No matter where you go?" The ground crew member paused for a moment.

"As long as we can take off immediately."

Five minutes later, holding my boarding pass, I walked toward the security checkpoint.

The destination on the boarding pass was printed with a string of black letters: Barcelona.

Goodbye, Foster.

Goodbye, Victoria.