Chapter 3

Manager Ross rolled his eyes dramatically.

"Just shut up already. Chloe already warned us about you."

"She said you hired a prop master to make a fake blood pack just to ruin our team-building trip."

"We're not falling for your tricks!"

One by one, they climbed right past me, stepping ruthlessly on the iron rungs right next to my fingers.

Leo even went out of his way to kick my ankle with his heavy hiking boot.

My foot slipped. My entire body weight slammed instantly onto that single, flimsy safety rope.

Rrrriiiip.

A terrifying tearing sound echoed from the harness around my waist.

The cheap safety rope had ripped one-third of the way through!

My body plummeted violently, leaving me dangling in the empty air against the sheer cliff face.

Directly beneath me was a bottomless abyss filled with sharp, jagged rocks.

"Ah!" I shrieked in absolute terror.

The blood from my thighs flowed faster now, dripping directly onto Leo's face below.

Leo wiped his face in disgust, cursing under his breath.

"Gross! This fake blood smells so real. You really spent a fortune on this, didn't you?"

He didn't lift a finger to help me. Instead, he climbed up even faster to get away.

Up on the helicopter, Chloe clapped her hands in excitement.

"Wow! Bungee jumping! Marcus, look! Sera is about to do a rope-free bungee jump!"

Marcus sneered and picked up the megaphone again.

"Sera, if you jump down now, I'll be nice enough to buy you a high-end grave."

"But if you keep wasting everyone's time like this, I'll dump your ashes straight into the sewer."

The pain in my abdomen was so intense that I was on the verge of losing consciousness.

I could feel it clearly—the baby I had tried so hard to protect for eight months was dying inside me.

Using the last bit of my strength, I raised my left hand and pressed a hidden red button on the side of my smartwatch.

It was a military-grade emergency channel my brother had personally set up for me three years ago.

"Tristan..." I whispered weakly into the watch.

"Lock down the airspace. Immediately."

"I'm dying. Make all of them pay with their lives."

Chloe saw my movement through her binoculars and laughed so hard she cried.

"Marcus, look at her! She's talking to a stupid watch! Has she gone completely insane from fear?"

Marcus's face was filled with mockery.

"She's always been crazy. Her whole family is just a bunch of penniless nobodies from some backwater town."

"Who is she even calling for help? The mayor of her little village?"

Hysterical laughter erupted from the helicopter cabin.

The walkie-talkies of the colleagues on the cliff broadcasted Marcus's mockery in real-time.

Everyone on the cliff was laughing at me.

"She thought she hit the jackpot by marrying the boss, acting so high and mighty in the office."

"Now karma's finally catching up to her. She deserves it!"

I bit my lower lip hard, completely ignoring their venomous insults.

Only I knew the truth about my family.

My grandfather was a highly respected four-star General.

My father was a Wall Street billionaire tycoon.

And my brother was the Commander of the Joint Special Operations Command.

Three years ago, for the sake of what I thought was true love, I hid my identity and married Marcus.

I didn't hesitate to cut ties with my family, enduring endless hardships during these three years.

Now, I finally saw this devil's den for what it truly was!