Kim's face broke into an ecstatic grin. He looked as if Anne's pain and sufferings were the greatest
achievements of his life.
Anne's eyes were fixed on Colin's pale face. She saw Brandon walking to the man and pressing a knife
on his neck. Colin remained still without showing any reaction. Brandon sneered and grabbed Colin's
hand. Before Anne could react, he stabbed the man's hand with the knife. Colin cried in pain.
A pool of blood gushed out. The mere sight of it made Anne sick; she couldn't watch it anymore.
How could they torture Colin like this?
"How do you feel now? Does it hurt?" Kim asked, glaring at him. "This is just the beginning!"
Colin was the first one Kim targeted in order to revenge himself on Anne. If the man had tortured Colin
so much, what would he do to the rest?
Anne couldn't watch the people she loved and cared for suffer. Kim targeted all the closed ones in her
life. She couldn't stop blaming herself if everyone suffered because of her.
Salty tears trickled down her cheeks and fell into her mouth.
Unable to witness Kim's madness anymore, Anne turned back and smiled at him. "Kim, I am here! You
can do whatever you want. Kill me if you want, but stop hurting the people around me. Release Colin.
He is innocent. I'm the one who hurt and disobeyed you, so kill me instead!"
she roared in frustration.
However, her screams got muffled in loud music from the speakers downstairs. No one had a clue
about what was going on.
Kim looked at her expressionlessly. He enjoyed watching the desperation and sorrow in her eyes. The
man finally tasted the joy of revenge and wanted more. "Anne, you look so beautiful when you are
angry. It turns me on."
Kim got a strange sense of happiness watching her suffer. He wanted to drag Anne to hell and relish
every inch of her beauty when she screamed and cried.
'Anne, I have been in hell for a long time. It is time for you to accompany me!'
"What do you want me to do? Tell me! What the hell do you need from me?" Anne grabbed Kim's collar
and began shaking him violently. "What should I do so that you leave us alone?"
Kim knitted his brows and stared into her eyes. He didn't think that Anne would be stupid enough to
believe that he would let her go.
How would he be happy if he didn't get to torture her?
"It's too late. Everything is over. We have no chance to start over, Anne. So stop struggling!" Kim
hissed through his teeth. His bloodshot eyes and tense face frightened Anne. He grabbed her shoulder,
almost crushing her bones.
The sharp pain brought Anne back to her senses. But she had become numb. She stood motionless as
the man continued to stare at her.
"Anne, do you really want to protect the people around you?" Kim finally spoke after a long pause.
Anne's gaze flicked to the man. There was a spark of hope in her tired eyes. She nodded eagerly. "Yes.
I am ready to do anything if you let them go!"
Nothing mattered as long as the people around her were safe. She was ready to risk her own life to
protect her loved ones.
"What if I ask you to give up everything in A City and come with me somewhere far from this place and
its people?" Kim's voice was still as cold as before.
A frown lined Anne's forehead. She couldn't understand what he was trying to say.
"I want you to abandon your company, your children, your husband, Kevin, and just everything. Come
with me to a place where no one knows you so that we can start a new life. Cut all ties with them and
make sure they never find you!" Kim explained, staring into her eyes. "I won't lay a finger on anyone
that you love if you do this."
"No way!" Anne shook her head fiercely. "They are my life. They are the reason for my existence. I
can't leave them."
Kim's jaw tightened again. He took a deep breath and stared at her; anger was blazing in his eyes.
"So you don't care if I take my revenge on others?"
Anne bit her lip as a shiver ran down her spine.
"I know that Kevin is a powerful man in the city. But don't think that you can protect everyone at all
times. How long will you lock them in your house and protect them from me? They might have to step
out one day or the other. Will you hire bodyguards and ask them to follow your family everywhere?"
Kim scoffed. "Are you going to keep your children at your house and make sure they never go to school
or contact other people?"
Anne's face turned pale. She didn't think that he would make such an offer.
He wanted her to leave everything behind and go with him.
Leaving her family and children was no different from dying. She couldn't imagine a life without them.
"Why do you hate me so much, Kim?" Anne looked up at the sky as tears clouded her vision. "In the
beginning, you only wanted to use me to get money from the Fu Family so that you can solve your
financial problems. But why did you change your mind?"
Kim frowned but didn't say anything.
"If you need the money and property, why don't you just ask for it? Why are you treating me like this?"
Anne shook her head and continued. "I thought that you were dead. Do you have any idea how guilty I
felt after hearing the news? After all, we had lived together for two years!
But at this moment, I feel that God has made a mistake letting you live. You should have died a long
time ago! Why are you still alive? Why do you have to make me suffer? Kim, what on earth do I owe
you? Why the hell are you torturing me like this?"
Anne growled angrily. Her body was seething with rage.
Kim closed his eyes and took a deep breath. Anne was right; he had kidnapped her only for the money.
But he didn't know why he had changed his mind later.
"Do you think I want to torture you?" Kim lifted his head and stared into her eyes. "Do you know what I
have gone through? I have fallen in love with you, damn it! Loving you is torture. I have lost everything
because of you. My underworld empire was destroyed, and I almost died in prison. You turned me into
a maniac, making me desperate to take revenge.
I don't even know who I am anymore. Everything is because I have fallen in love with you!"
"Love?" Anne shook her head and scoffed. This was the biggest joke of the century. Tears continued to
stream down her face.
"You love me?" She waved her hands in exasperation. "Do you even know what love is? A man like
you can never fall in love with anyone. Don't say that you are in love with me!"
Kim clenched his fists and glared at Anne. He finally took a deep breath to suppress his desire to kill
her.
The two had contrasting personalities. There was no point explaining himself now. She would never
understand him.
Kim didn't know why he fell in love with Anne in the first place. But he knew that his life would have no
meaning without her.
If he had known that he would fall in love with Anne, he would have killed her a long time ago.
He couldn't change the past. Kim had no choice but to torture Anne for the pain she caused him.
"Anne, I don't want to talk to you anymore. You better think about what I said. I don't have the energy to
explain myself." Kim turned on his heels to leave. However, he stopped as his phone vibrated. He
looked at the screen and turned around again.
Anne took a step back. The menacing look on his face frightened her. The man looked like he wanted
to kill her right away.
"Looks like Kevin is taking swift actions. He has gathered police force to kill me!" An evil smile crept
onto his lips. "Anne, you are a smart woman. Who do you think will die first? Me or Colin?"
He cackled like a maniac and left.
Anne clenched her fists to compose herself as his laughter continued to echo in her ears.
She had promised Kevin and her children that she would never leave them.
Anne never broke her promises.
"Kim, I won't promise you anything," she shouted. "I won't give you what you need. Don't expect me to
do as you say and stop chasing after me!" Anne shouted. There was no logic behind her words.
Perhaps the words were not only an answer to Kim but a reminder to herself as well. She would never
leave Kevin or the kids.
Kim continued to walk, not bothering to answer her. His mouth twisted in a contemptuous sneer.
The man would have believed Anne's words if he didn't know her well.
But Kim had been with her for two years. He knew her weakness.
'Anne, you are coming to hell soon. I am waiting for you!'
The moment Kim disappeared, Kevin rushed to the rooftop. His heart broke at the sight of Anne's
swollen face. He knew that she had been crying. "Anne, don't cry! I will make that bastard pay the price
for hurting you," he promised, cupping her cheeks.
Kevin swept Anne into a tight embrace and vowed to protect her at all costs.
Anne's racing heart finally slowed down as she felt safe. The smell of Kevin's cologne and the warmth
of his hug comforted her. She couldn't and would never leave him. Anne clung to him for dear life and
bit her lip until they turned red. She would never think of abandoning her family.
Kevin gently stroked her back, reminding her that he would always be there to protect her.
"Anne, what did he tell you?" Kevin asked softly.
He had been on the far end of the terrace. Therefore, he couldn't hear their conversation. Judging
Anne's expression, Kevin sensed that Kim had threatened her. But it was only a guess. He couldn't tell
what they were talking about.
"He showed me the video where they cut off Colin's finger. You should have seen Colin. They have
beaten him to death. They have been torturing the poor man every day." However, Anne chose to hide
what Kim had asked her to do.
Kevin's face darkened.
He knew that Kim had done everything on purpose to make Anne feel guilty.
"Anne, Peter called me now and said that he has some news. We can find out where Colin is. Don't
worry!"
"Really?" Anne let go of Kevin and looked at him with expectant eyes.
"I never lie to you." He nodded, smiling tenderly.
Tears welled up in her eyes again. She threw herself into Kevin's arms and began crying hysterically.
"Kevin, I'm scared!" she whimpered.
Kevin frowned and held her tightly. His blood began to boil as his hatred for Kim intensified. He was
determined to punish the man for hurting his wife.
Anne closed her eyes. If possible, she wanted to remain in his embrace forever. She prayed for them
never to stay apart.
However, fear wracked her nerves. She felt that Kim would shatter her dreams. Colin was the man's
first victim. What would he do next?
Kim was a psychopath. He would go to any extent to have what he wanted.
Anne didn't know if she had the strength to endure everything. She couldn't let the man abduct and
torture her loved ones. She would never let others suffer because of her.
Anne didn't know what to do.
The banquet was about to end. Kevin cleaned the mess for Anne, held her hand, and walked
downstairs.
Anne looked beautiful even though her face was puffy and swollen after crying.
Her infectious beauty caught everyone's attention. People couldn't take their eyes off her.
If she were not Kevin's wife, men would have thrown themselves at her feet.
Selma saw the couple and realized that something was wrong. "What happened? Have you been
crying?"
Anne averted her gaze as she knew that her swollen eyes wouldn't go unnoticed. She smiled
awkwardly and said, "Peter called and informed that he has found about Colin's whereabouts. I got
excited and couldn't stop crying."
Selma's eyes widened in shock. "Peter is brilliant! He found out about Colin within few days. I will treat
him for dinner after he brings him home."
Selma seldom invited people for dinner. She only called the people she loved and respected.
Anne nodded and looked up at Kevin. She caught him looking at her with suspicious eyes.
The man's gaze seemed to penetrate her soul as if he could read the depths of her mind. Therefore,
Anne looked away.
She hadn't made her mind whether to accept Kim's conditions or not. Anne had to hide her thoughts
until she was sure about her next move.
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