Evelyn Ross stood in the grand banquet hall of the luxury cruise ship, her gaze fixed fiercely on the newlyweds onstage.
Under the brilliant crystal chandeliers, all the focus of the banquet converged on them. The bride, with a beautiful face, looked holy and elegant in her white wedding dress, standing side by side with the handsome and noble man, a perfect match that drew constant admiration from the guests.
This scene stabbed deeply at Evelyn's heart. She suppressed the tears in her eyes, wore a red dress, and stepped gracefully out of the dark corner, walking straight towards the man who should have married her—Liam Hayes.
They had been together for five years but had never gone public. As the CEO of Hayes Group, Liam always said he didn't want the media to pay attention to his private life, and Evelyn understood his difficulties and never complained. However, just three days ago, Liam suddenly broke up with her, saying he loved her cousin Clara Sinclair, and their wedding would be held three days later!
Only then did Evelyn realize that not going public with their relationship was because he had never intended to marry her from the beginning.
She had not wanted to attend this wedding, but her unwillingness and resentment had driven her here. She had to see this scene with her own eyes and ask him what their five years together had meant!
When Evelyn came before the bride and groom, Liam frowned instantly: "Why are you here?"
"Of course, to congratulate you both," she said with a faint smile, barely concealing the pain in her eyes. "And to return something to you."
As she spoke, she took off the sapphire necklace around her neck—the same necklace Liam had put on her five years ago, calling it the "Mermaid's Tear," a symbol of undying love and his promise to her. Now, it seemed like a ridiculous joke.
Liam did not reach out to take it. Evelyn gave a bitter smile, released her fingers, and let the necklace fall to the floor. The teardrop-shaped sapphire bounced twice on the smooth floor and rolled into a dirty corner, just like how she had been discarded by Liam.
Some guests began to whisper, as if watching the drama among the three of them. Her cousin Clara took a step forward, took Evelyn's hand, and forced a stiff smile.
"Sis, thank you for coming to my wedding with Liam," she said, her voice trembling slightly, with panic in her eyes.
Evelyn felt a tightness in her chest, and the words she had wanted to confront Liam with stuck in her throat. In fact, Clara had never known about her relationship with Liam, and now that she had suddenly come to return the necklace, her cousin must have guessed something.
"Your seat is over there, sis. Go take your seat first," Clara said.
Looking in the direction her cousin pointed, there sat Clara's parents, Evelyn's uncle and aunt.
Memories flooded back: When Evelyn was ten, her parents had died in an accident, and her uncle and aunt had taken her in and treated her better than their own daughter. At fifteen, Evelyn had nearly been hit by a car, and Clara had risked her life to save her, only to be injured and fall into a coma for more than two months...
Evelyn's nose turned sour and she lowered her head. She shouldn't have come today, her presence had ruined everyone's mood. Liam was hateful indeed, but she shouldn't have implicated the innocent Clara.
Evelyn nodded and said to her cousin, "Then... I wish you both happiness."
After speaking, she turned and walked off the stage, but she did not stop at the seat reserved for her by Clara. Instead, she walked straight out of the banquet hall. For Clara's happiness, she could endure in silence, but she was not strong enough to witness him marrying another woman.
Evelyn walked in a trance along the cruise ship's sightseeing corridor. Behind her, there was a faint rustling of footsteps. She frowned and turned around, only to have a wet towel suddenly pressed over her mouth. A strange smell entered her nostrils, and Evelyn suddenly felt dizzy before losing consciousness...
When she woke up again, Evelyn found herself lying in a pitch-black room. She stood up with a groggy mind and had just reached the door when someone put their arms around her waist.
"Who are you! What do you want..."
Before she could finish, a broad hand covered her mouth, and then a man's low, hoarse voice came: "Don't make a sound. Go to the bed."
Evelyn looked at the dark shadow in front of her in horror. She had just woken up from the coma, her legs were weak, and she had no idea what was going on, so she could only press tightly against the wall, not daring to move.
The man seemed to have no patience to wait for her. He picked her up and threw her heavily onto the bed.
"Ah!" Evelyn screamed, and then the man's cold lips kissed hers.
The oxygen in her mouth was ruthlessly deprived, and Evelyn's heart began to sink.
She no longer needed to ask what he wanted to do.
She tried desperately to push the man's chest with both hands, but he easily grabbed her two restless wrists with one hand and pinned them firmly above her head.
To stop the man's violence, she bit his lip hard, and a taste of blood suddenly filled her mouth.
The man hissed, stopping the frantic kiss for a moment.
At the same time, there was the sound of rapid footsteps outside, and it sounded like more than one person.
Knowing someone was coming, Evelyn immediately shouted, "Help..."
However, before she could finish, the man covered her mouth again and leaned close to her ear, saying in a deep voice: "Don't make a sound."
In the dark, Evelyn couldn't see his face, but as the footsteps approached, she could clearly feel the man's body tense up.
Taking the opportunity, she pulled out one hand and suddenly scratched the man's back.
Her sharp nails slid across his shoulder, and the man let out a muffled groan of pain.
Evelyn suddenly felt something sticky on her fingers, and a stronger smell of blood hit her.
He was injured!
He was injured, but he still wanted to do this to her!
Though cursing him in her heart as an animal, Evelyn said with a strong will to live, "You're bleeding. You have to hurry ......"
The man kissed her lips again, and his other broad hand ran along her waist to the zipper of her dress. However, he obviously had no patience to unzip her clothes.
With a “la hiss” came the sound of fabric tearing.
The footsteps outside had reached the doorway and paused, seemingly eavesdropping on the commotion inside.
Two seconds later, the sound of the doorknob being pressed came.
The man's breath hitched. He leaned close to Evelyn's ear and said with some apology, "It might hurt. Bear with it."
...
Evelyn had thought the people outside would come in when they heard the noise, but unexpectedly, the sound of the doorknob being pressed suddenly stopped.
Someone outside chuckled lewdly and said, "He's hurt. He can't do this. Let's look elsewhere."
As the footsteps faded away, the man slowed down a bit but did not stop.
He looked with passion at the woman beneath him, the faint moonlight hazily illuminating her face and making her look breathtakingly beautiful.
Although he felt apologetic, he only wanted to continue sinking in.
“I will be responsible for you”, he said in a hoarse voice.
For Evelyn, none of this mattered anymore.
She didn't need any responsibility because her body was already "dirty."
Her first time had been given to that strange man, and everything could never go back to the way it was.
The music came faintly from the ballroom, and in the darkened room all that could be heard were the gasps of men and Evelyn's low sobs.
When the crazy night ended, the sky was already growing light, but the room was still dim.
Evelyn never got a clear look at the man's appearance.
She didn't know when he had left because she had passed out twice during the night.
Gray-blue light filtered through the thick curtains, and Evelyn sat up with aching muscles. Her eyes fell on a slightly shiny metal object, and she reached out to pick it up.
It was a man's necklace, a small cubic metal pendant with no patterns or inscriptions, and she didn't know what material it was. It looked ordinary.
Evelyn guessed the man had accidentally left it behind. After a moment of consideration, she picked up the necklace and put it around her neck.
Although she didn't want to touch anything related to that man, this was after all evidence of what had happened last night.
After that, she got out of bed and picked up the torn dress from the floor.
The zipper was broken, so she could only hold the neckline tightly to cover her body before walking out the door.
She had to find her cousin Clara.
Before she had been knocked unconscious by the thug, she had seen the man's face in a reflective mirror in the corridor.
It was Clara's personal bodyguard.
