Chapter 4

"What's the point of calling your town mayor?"

Chloe was practically falling over laughing inside the helicopter.

She pointed at the military smartwatch on my wrist.

"Which flea market did you buy that second-hand trash from?"

"Do you really think there's cell service out here in the mountains to call your little helpers?"

Marcus bellowed through the megaphone in agreement.

"Sera, even your bluffing is pathetic."

"Is that brother of yours still carrying bricks at some construction site?"

"If he actually shows up to save you today, I'll jump out of this helicopter myself!"

The helicopter's massive rotors whipped up violent gusts of wind.

The wind tangled my hair across my face.

My face was covered in cold sweat and tears of despair.

I stared cold-hard at the man in the designer suit hovering in the air.

That $10,000 custom suit he was wearing was bought with my own secret savings.

I remembered a rainy night three years ago.

Marcus had knelt outside my apartment door, completely stripped of his dignity.

Soaked to the bone, he clung to my legs and swore an oath.

"Sera, I might be poor right now, but I swear I will never let you suffer. Not even a little bit."

"If anyone dares to touch a single hair on your head, I'll fight them to the death!"

"I am going to make you the happiest woman in the world!"

Those were his exact words.

And for those cheap, worthless promises, I had blocked my entire family's contact numbers without hesitation.

I willingly lived in a damp, dark basement with him, eating the cheapest instant noodles.

I stayed up all night writing business proposals for him, bringing him clients and resources.

In just three years, I dragged him up from a low-level salesman to the CEO of his own company.

But everything changed six months ago when Chloe joined the company.

Chloe drove a luxury car to work.

She flaunted her new designer bags every single day.

She dropped constant hints to everyone that she was the daughter of a wealthy tycoon.

Marcus's eyes grew greedier every time he looked at her.

He started finding excuses to stay out all night.

He began complaining that I didn't know how to dress, mocking me for smelling like a "poor nobody."

I thought he was just letting his fast success get to his head.

I never imagined he had already hopped into bed with Chloe, let alone that they were plotting my death!

"Marcus! What did I ever do to deserve this?!"

I screamed into the sky with everything I had.

"I suffered with you! I built your company with you!"

"Why do you have to kill me in such a cruel way?!"

Hearing my accusation, Marcus's face turned incredibly dark.

He sneered in disgust from the helicopter.

"You helped me build the company?"

"You're a penniless girl who couldn't even afford college tuition! What could you possibly do to help me?"

"If Chloe's father hadn't promised to invest $50 million in my company, I would have been dragged down by you for the rest of my life!"

Chloe proudly stroked her slightly rounded belly.

She looked down at me with supreme contempt.

"Sera, you need to know your place."

"Marcus is a multi-millionaire CEO now. You don't belong in his world."

"Only the noble bloodline in my belly is fit to inherit the Vance family fortune."

I felt my stomach churn violently.

Blood was still dripping down my legs.

My inner thighs were completely numb.

The eight-month-old baby in my womb had gone completely still.

It was the little life I had cherished and looked forward to for eight long months.

Now, it was just a cold, lifeless soul.

Seeing that I had stopped struggling, the colleagues below climbed up even more aggressively.

Ross, the HR manager, pulled out a crumpled document.

Holding onto his safety rope with one hand, he slapped the document hard against my leg.

"Sera, stop being so stubborn."

"The boss just said that if you sign over all your founder shares in the company for free,"

"He'll show some mercy and let the rescue team pull you up."

I looked down at the stock transfer agreement covered in my own blood.

Finally, I understood Marcus's entire master plan.

Not only did he want to steal my $80 million insurance money.

He wanted to completely swallow the very company I had secretly built for him from the ground up!