Too Late for a Last Goodbye

After I was rescued from five years in captivity, my husband, Luke Hauser, told me in an offhand tone, "I'm the one who arranged your kidnapping. When they dragged you into that van, I was standing right there in the alley." I froze. Then my brother, Peter Costner, the richest man in Hendonport, spoke up. "I paid for it. "We only meant to punish you for three years and then bring you home. But Jake was afraid you hadn't learned your lesson and would go on bullying Piper. "He insisted we leave you in that mountain village for another two years." Jake Bingham was an orphan I'd brought home when we were kids. After I was taken, men forced themselves on me night after night. My belly swelled and shrank six times. I wanted to die, but death wouldn't come. I tried to run, but they crippled my legs, and I ended up on cheap prosthetics. I had fought with everything I had just to see these three men again. I never imagined they were the ones behind it all. The blood in my veins ran so cold that I shook. My voice came out hoarse. "Why would you destroy me?" Peter and Jake hesitated, but Luke spoke first. "You took advantage of how much we spoiled you to bully Piper. We just wanted you to learn some sense. "Piper is pregnant with my child. If you can't accept that, you're free to divorce me." The taste of blood rose in my throat, and a System notification I hadn't heard in years chimed in my head. [Host, do you wish to abandon the redemption of the three villains and leave this world?] Chapter 1 The System's sudden return after all these years left me dazed for a moment. I looked at Luke Hauser's expressionless face, then at Peter Costner and Jake Bingham beside him, who were telling the servants to prepare a meal for Piper Costner. A sharp pain stabbed through my heart. Back then, they'd told me they had been in a car accident on their way to celebrate my birthday. I was so worried I nearly lost my mind, and without a second thought, I took a shortcut to get to them. But I was snatched halfway there, and from that day on, my life became a living hell. Now they had finally rescued me, only to tell me that it had all been to settle a score on Piper's behalf. 'Leave,' I answered the System silently. [Confirmed! Countdown: 8 hours. Due to the sudden nature of this event, the host must ensure all three villains are present at the moment of departure.] Seeing me laugh and cry at the same time, Luke reached up and wiped the tears from the corners of my eyes. His voice was as gentle as it had always been. "If you don't want a divorce, we don't have to get one. "It's just that Piper has been pampered by all of us these past few years. You can't hit her again. "You can't have children anymore, so Piper says she's willing to put the baby down as yours." I had once carried Luke's child. But when I was seven months along, Piper pushed me down the stairs, and I lost the baby. When I came to, I went after Piper like a madwoman to make her pay. I'd only managed to slap her once when Luke stopped me. He locked me up at home. The moment my six weeks of postpartum recovery were over, I was abducted and taken to a small mountain village. My throat felt stuffed with cotton, and it hurt just to speak. "Because I slapped Piper once, you punished me like this?" "Yes," Luke said, not bothering to hide it. "You were too useless to keep your own baby, and then you blamed Piper for it. You have shamed the Hauser name. As long as you behave from now on, I promise I won't send you away again." My face was wet and cold. Unwilling to let it go, I asked, "You'd already lied to me, so why tell me the truth now?" Peter sighed, and Jake looked completely unbothered. "You and Piper are half-sisters, after all. You need to remember this lesson so that from now on, you'll protect her the way we do." Protect her? I couldn't hold back anymore. I grabbed the tea set off the table and smashed it on the floor. Then I pushed up my sleeves to bare the horrifying scars on my arms and broke down. "The people you paid tortured me day and night. Even my legs..." "Enough!" Luke cut me off sharply, the disgust in his eyes impossible to hide. "You even painted on the scars so realistically. Looks like you still haven't learned your lesson." Peter and Jake looked at me with disappointment too. Luke roughly yanked me by the arm and threw me into a storage room. "If you still haven't learned to back down by the time Piper gets back, I'll take you back to the mountains myself." With that threat, he slammed the door shut. His words sent me straight into a trauma response. I felt like at any second, someone would throw a chain around me and chase me down to beat me. My voice rasped as I pounded frantically on the door. "I'll agree to the divorce! I don't want to go back to the mountains!" Chapter 2 I didn't know how long I screamed. Only when the old wounds on my palms split open and bled did the door finally open. When Peter saw my disheveled hair and red, swollen eyes, the worry on his face instantly turned to disgust. "You've been making a scene since the moment you got back. Can't you give it a rest?" He shoved me impatiently. I weighed less than eighty-eight pounds, and I crashed to the floor. Peter froze for a second, then sneered. "Playing the victim again? You want me to let you out of here?" I'd already seen how heartless he could be, but my heart still trembled. The brother I used to know would never have spoken to me so sarcastically. I had transmigrated into this world before I was even born. After our mother died giving birth to me, he was the one who raised me all on his own. He would have given me the best of everything in the world if he could. When the System told me my mission was to redeem three villains, I attached myself to Luke Hauser and showered him with kindness, and I brought the homeless Jake Bingham home. Peter never scolded me for any of it. He even told the two of them that they had to spoil me like a little princess. All of Hendonport knew that you could offend the three of them, but you could never offend Christina Costner. In my original world, I'd been an orphan. No one had ever spoiled me. So once I'd completed the mission and made sure they would never turn evil, I stayed in this world. That was until Peter brought home our father's illegitimate daughter, Piper Costner. He hugged me and swore, "Christina, Dad's gone, and Piper is our half-sister. We can't just abandon her. "I promise you, I'll only make sure she doesn't starve. I won't be good to her." I didn't like it, but I didn't object. What I never expected was that Piper wouldn't be satisfied with that. I became the thorn in her side. Once, as Peter was coming downstairs, she spilled hot soup on herself, then knelt in front of him and begged for help. "Help me! Christina wants to ruin my face!" When Luke was unconscious with a high fever, I stayed by his side all night. The moment he opened his eyes, Piper pushed me aside and threw herself on him, sobbing, "Luke, you're finally awake! I stayed up with you all night." When I helped Jake's company through a crisis, Piper waited until he walked by, slapped her own face, and choked out, "Don't worry, Christina. I won't tell Jake that I'm the one who put up the money to save him. You can have all the credit." Over and over, she framed me and stole the credit for what I'd done, and the three of them grew more and more disappointed in me. Meanwhile, the way they looked at Piper grew more and more indulgent. Even on the day Luke married me, resentment was written all over his face. I couldn't stand how they'd changed. I cried and fought with them, and all I got was a cold reply from Luke. "Christina, if you can't take it, we can get a divorce." At the time, I'd just found out I was two months pregnant. I didn't want my child to grow up without a father, so I gave in. Then I lost the baby. All my pent-up resentment exploded. I slapped her just once, and it cost me five years of torture worse than death. The ghostly image of the countdown flashing before my eyes pulled me back to the present. Six hours left. I staggered to my feet and met Peter's mocking gaze. My voice was numb. "I'm not playing the victim. Since none of you like me anyway, sign the divorce papers and a document cutting me out of this family!" Before I left this world, I wanted nothing more to do with them. I didn't want to fight anymore either. There was no point. The moment I finished speaking, there was a loud bang. Luke stood in the doorway with a dark expression, and Piper stood beside him, her eyes rimmed with red. Chapter 3 "Christina, do you hate me for carrying Luke's baby?" Piper asked. "Is that why you've turned on our brother too?" She hurried over and grabbed my arm, sobbing, "What happened between Luke and me was an accident. Once the baby is born, you can raise it. Please don't be angry anymore, and please don't cut ties with Peter, okay?" Her voice was soft, but a vicious glint flickered in her eyes. When her fingers found the scars on my arm, she dug her sharp nails into them. The pain nearly made me black out, and I couldn't help pushing her away. She shrieked and toppled backward into Luke's arms, looking innocent and pitiful. "Why did you push me?" The next second, a vicious slap landed across my face. Half my face went numb, and the taste of iron flooded my mouth. Peter looked at me, pained, and lashed out, "You know Piper's pregnant, and you still pushed her? You're even more vicious than you were five years ago." Luke watched me coldly, without a trace of warmth in his eyes. "Didn't you want divorce papers? Fine. You'll get them. "But first, you're going to attend Piper's celebration banquet and admit in front of everyone that she's a more talented designer than you." Agonizing pain shot through the places where my legs had been amputated. I wanted to refuse on reflex, but before I could open my mouth, Jake came over with two maids. "What are you waiting for? Take Christina upstairs and get her changed." I couldn't fight them, so I let the maids haul me upstairs to wash and get ready. They were lazy. They shoved me into the bathroom and slammed the door. I stared at my gaunt reflection in the mirror, and my heart ached. Back when I'd lost a single pound on a diet, the three of them would fret and rush to feed me something nourishing. Now I'd wasted away to skin and bones, and they hadn't even noticed. They only had eyes for Piper. A maid came in, saw the scars covering my body, and looked at me with contempt. Then she picked out an ill-fitting long-sleeved gown and pulled it onto me. I dragged my prosthetics down the stairs. Piper, dressed in a gorgeous gown, was holding Luke's arm and smiling sweetly. Peter and Jake watched the two of them, looking pleased. When everyone's eyes landed on me, gasps rippled through the room. "Isn't that the famous designer Christina Costner? How did she end up so skeletal?" "There are bruises under her neck." "Don't tell me she's been sleeping around and caught some kind of nasty disease?" At that, the guests backed away in disgust, afraid they might catch something. I endured the pain in my body and made my way down the stairs one step at a time. The three men stood there in tailored suits, looking at me with open impatience. When I reached the bottom, Piper stepped up and took my hand. "Thank you for coming to my celebration banquet." I didn't want to deal with her. Just as I went to push her away, she yanked the neckline of my gown down hard. The tangle of crisscrossing scars was suddenly on display for everyone to see. On instinct, I tore my hand free to cover my chest, but she threw herself dramatically backward into the champagne tower behind her. "Piper!" All three men rushed to her in a panic. Piper sobbed and clutched Luke's lapels. "Luke, it hurts so much. My stomach... Christina, do you really hate my baby that much?" Peter held Piper, while Luke stormed over and grabbed me by the throat. "Christina, you'd bully Piper in front of all these people? Clearly, you still haven't learned your lesson. Keep this up and I'll send you back to the mountains tomorrow." The fury in his eyes looked like it could swallow me alive. At the word "mountains," I started shaking on instinct. That fear was carved into my bones. But when I saw that the ghostly countdown showed two hours left, the fear vanished. "Do whatever you want." I closed my eyes. His grip on my throat tightened, and then he flung me away. "Since you refuse to learn, you can go kneel outside the front gate." The moment I hit the ground, the old injuries all over my body throbbed as if struck by a sledgehammer. The prosthetics on my legs nearly came loose with a strange cracking sound. Peter and Jake sensed something was wrong, and Luke's gaze dropped to my legs too. Chapter 4 Just as Luke started toward me, Piper burst into tears and cried out, "Luke, my stomach hurts so much! Am I losing the baby?" Her cries sent the three men in front of me into a panic. Luke swept her up into his arms, his voice frantic. "No, you're not. Hold on, Piper. I'm taking you to the hospital right now." As he passed me, I coughed up a mouthful of blood. Jake tensed. He was about to bend down to check on me when Peter grabbed his arm. Peter glared at me in irritation. "Christina, you never change. You hurt Piper, and now you're putting on an act." Jake's face darkened. "And here I was actually worried about you. You're such a drama queen." Luke shot me a look of disgust and coldly ordered the bodyguards, "Send Christina to the hospital." Less than half an hour after Piper was taken into the exam room, the doctor hurried out. "The patient's body was never well suited to pregnancy, and the fall has made her anemia much worse. She needs a blood transfusion right away to keep the fetus nourished." Peter yanked me up, his eyes sharp. "Piper finally got pregnant after all this time. Are you really so twisted that just because you can't have a baby, you won't let Piper have one either?" The injuries on my legs flared up again. I couldn't stop shaking, and I had no strength left to answer him. Luke held Peter back, but his words were as cold as frost in the dead of winter. "Have her give Piper blood first. Once Piper's safe, we'll settle the score with her." He signaled the bodyguards to take me to the blood draw station. When his eyes landed on my face, he snorted. "Don't look so wronged. If you hadn't been heartless enough to push her, Piper wouldn't have gotten hurt. You deserve all of this. "And Piper even felt sorry for you because you can't have kids. She was going to give you the baby." He kept saying "baby" over and over, and my mind began to drift. The moment I saw the needle for the blood draw, I completely lost it. Every time a needle had appeared, I'd lost a child, and then I'd lost my legs. The terror etched into my very blood closed in around me. I clutched my head and, dragging prosthetics that were about to fall off, limped and stumbled toward the door. "My baby... Don't touch my baby..." But no matter how I screamed, it was useless. Peter and Jake pinned me down by force. At last, Peter looked at me with a hint of tenderness. "Christina, just bear with it a little longer. You and Luke haven't divorced yet, so Piper's baby is your baby too." The phlebotomist glanced at my arm and looked hesitantly at Luke. "This woman looks malnourished. Are you sure you want me to draw her blood?" Luke paused and instinctively looked at me. The doctor beside him spoke urgently. "The patient has a rare blood type. If we don't draw from her, we'll have to appeal for donors, and I'm afraid..." All three men's expressions changed drastically. Luke's voice was firm. "Those marks on her arm were all drawn on. Ignore them." For once, Jake looked like he couldn't bear it. "Christina, nothing can happen to Piper." Peter looked at me earnestly. "If Piper pulls through, I'll forgive you for everything you've done wrong." Ten minutes left on the countdown. I looked at the three people who had once promised to treat me well for the rest of my life and asked the question I'd been holding inside. "You've tortured me until I'm barely human. Are you satisfied?" Peter and Jake both froze. Luke gripped my shoulders hard, his voice full of hatred. "You're the one who nearly made Piper lose her baby. How dare you blame us?" Looking at his face, which had become a stranger's, I curled my lips into a mocking smile. "I was wrong. I should have stayed away from all of you from the very beginning." No one answered. Once they'd finished drawing my blood, they rushed off to Piper's hospital room. I dragged my wobbling legs after them. The three of them hovered around Piper, full of concern. When Luke saw me, he said condescendingly, "Come here and apologize to Piper, and we'll forgive you." I walked over to the window, shoved it open with all my strength, and slowly climbed up. He frowned deeply. "Christina, what kind of scene are you making now? Don't think faking a suicide will make us go soft." Jake looked tense, as though he wanted to say something but held back. Peter sounded displeased. "Get down from there. I already had the housekeeper make your favorite dishes." Ten seconds left on the countdown. I sat on the windowsill, looked at them, and spoke slowly, one word at a time. "An apology isn't enough. I'll give you a satisfying answer with my life." Right before the countdown hit zero, I jumped. The three men who watched it happen all went deathly pale. The next second, Luke's eyes turned bloodshot, and he let out a hoarse roar as he raced outside.