⚠️ Content Warning
This Chapter contains explicit depictions of physical and emotional abuse, including scenes of violence and distress. Reader discretion is strongly advised. Individuals who may find such content triggering or inappropriate particularly younger audiences are encouraged to skip this Chapter.
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Ro’s vision darkened.
A rush of heat and fury surged through him, drowning out all his remaining reason.
He didn’t wait for them to close the distance, for their lips to et.
Fueled by the rage and anguish he had been suppressing for days, he stord with every step heavy with jealousy, betrayal, and pain.
His eyes burned, dark with the single desire to tear the two of them apart.
"R-Ro, stop!"
But he heard nothing. His fists swung again and again, slamming into Daniel, who didn’t even try to fight back.
Instead, Daniel smirked through every blow, as if mocking him and savoring the sight of his anger.
That smirk only drove him deeper into madness.
He wanted nothing more than to wipe the smug look off Daniel’s face forever.
But before he could throw another punch, arms wrapped tightly around him from behind, holding him back.
He froze.
For a mont, his mind went blank. He couldn’t process anything.
At so point, his punches stilled, but when he realized those sa arms restraining him were the very ones that had embraced Daniel monts ago, his rage only surged higher.
"R-Ro, please... please stop..." Her voice trembled against his back, broken between sobs. "Greece... he isn’t doing anything wrong... stop hurting him... please."
A sharp pang cut through his chest.
How could she be so unfair?
Monts ago, while he was suffocating under the weight of his staged engagent with Ingrid, the only thought running through his mind was her.
How to explain everything and make her understand that the engagent wasn’t real. He had wanted nothing more than to ease her pain.
But instead of finding her waiting for him to explain, he had found her in soone else’s arms.
She chose to hold Daniel in her arms—the embrace that should have been his.
The rift between them, which he had hoped to nd, had only grown wider.
He was ready to forgive her. He didn’t care if there had been soone else besides Daniel who held her and kissed her.
His love for her was greater than his pride and pain.
But in this mont, he realized he was the only one holding on to their relationship. Because while he still loved her with everything he had... she had already given her love to soone else.
He didn’t know what happened next. His vision blurred, swallowed whole by jealousy and rage.
"Ackkkkk!"
"Ackk... s-stop... please..."
"I’m gonna kill you, bitch! I’m gonna kill you!"
The arms that had once held him back were now clutching his trembling hand, pleading with him.
Pleading... a plea that shattered him.
"Ro. What are you doing?!"
His body went rigid. Slowly, his fist loosened as his eyes widened in disbelief.
He didn’t even know how his hands had ended up at Sylvia’s neck.
W-what... what had he done?
As the fragnts of his last sane mory snapped back into place, clarity struck him.
He shouldn’t be angry at Sylvia.
So w-why, why had his rage turned him into soone who could hurt the woman he loved?
His hands shook violently as he pulled them away from her neck. Then a hard punch landed on his face.
The impact snapped sothing inside him.
For a mont, the sound of the blow echoed in his ears. His world tilted.
The hit brought him back to himself, and with that return ca a cold, crushing realization of what he had just done.
"What the heck did you do to Sylvia, Ro?!"
Another heavy punch from Daniel landed on his face, sending him crashing to the ground.
Daniel imdiately rushed to Sylvia’s side, his expression shifting from fury to worry as he steadied her trembling figure.
Ro, still on the floor, could only watch them.
His chest tightened as he saw Daniel carefully support Sylvia in front of him. Then Daniel’s sharp glare cut straight into him.
"You know what, Ro?" Daniel spat. "If you’re going to keep being such an asshole, then you’d better just let Sylvia go! She ca here hoping to greet you on your birthday, and this? This is what you let her walk into!"
Daniel was about to lash out at him again, but Sylvia imdiately grabbed his arm.
"S-stop it, G-Greece... that’s enough. I just... I just want to leave. Please..."
Her plea made Daniel falter.
"O-okay... let’s leave together."
His world collapsed as his eyes locked on her. But Sylvia refused to et his gaze. He watched how violently her body trembled, as if she was afraid to even look at him.
Each shiver of hers was like a knife twisting inside his chest.
Then, she turned her back to him.
He couldn’t move. He couldn’t speak. All he could do was watch them walk away.
Daniel kept a firm hold on her, guiding her toward his car.
He wanted to call her na. He wanted to beg her to stop, to listen. But fear gripped his throat, fear that even the sound of her na on his lips might hurt her again.
His fists clenched, trembling uncontrollably, before he lowered his head.
What the hell had he done? Why?
His hands still shook from the violence he had committed. All he had wanted was to explain, to tell her his side, to make her understand. But even he no longer recognized himself.
He had been consud, swallowed whole by jealousy and rage, until he beca the very monster he feared she would see in him.
"What a scene."
The cold voice snapped him out of his spiral. He looked up only to see Ingrid standing there, a fleeting smirk tugging at her lips before it imdiately vanished.
"Your girlfriend is shaless," she sneered. "You shouldn’t feel guilty about what you did. She deserved it. You saw it yourself. Her arms around him, mocking you to your face. So it’s only right that sh—ackk!"
Her words cut off as he imdiately surged to his feet, rage flooding his veins once more. His hand clamped hard around her throat, his vision darkening again.
"Don’t you dare say anything about Sylvia." he said coldly.
Unlike earlier, when his loss of control nearly consud him, this ti his grip was restrained.
He forced himself not to give in completely to his anger before finally releasing her, almost sending her stumbling backward.
Ingrid coughed violently, clutching at her throat, her eyes wide with shock. Yet there was no fear, only a twisted spark of satisfaction, as if this was exactly what she had wanted all along.
The faint curve of her lips, half a smirk, half a sneer told him everything.
She had pushed him into this.
Provoked him.
She wanted Sylvia gone. She wanted this Ro, the broken, violent, unrecognizable version of himself who was drowning in guilt and anger.
And he had given it to her.
He turned away, unable to stand the sight of Ingrid staring at him without even a shred of remorse. His chest heaved in ragged breaths that burned his lungs.
He didn’t know what to do at that mont.
Should he follow Sylvia to make sure she got back to her condo safely, or should he let his anger cool down first, afraid he might hurt her again? Right now, he didn’t know what the next step should be.
"Oh, Ro... there you are. And with Ingrid too."
The sudden voice behind him made him stiffen. He turned, only to see his mom standing there.
Concern flickered in her eyes as she looked between him and Ingrid.
"The guests are looking for you."
The last thing he wanted right now was to face anyone, least of all the people who thought this night was supposed to be a celebration, when in truth, he felt the complete opposite.
Ingrid, however, straightened almost instantly, her expression smoothing into sothing sweet and innocent, as if the last few minutes had never happened. She even forced a small smile, clutching his arm.
"Yes, Auntie," she replied before he could say a word. "Ro and I just needed a mont to breathe. But we’ll follow you soon."
"What Auntie are you saying, Ingrid? You should call Mom. You and Ro got engaged today, so it’s only right for you to call that."
"Oh, really? Can I?" Ingrid asked, her voice laced with excitent, as if she were truly blushing.
"Yes. You’re part of the Hariston family from now on, so don’t be ashad to call Mom."
His mom said it warmly. Despite that joyous facade, he knew his mom was only pretending to be all nice in front of Ingrid. She wanted him to play along as well. However, he would rather chase after Sylvia than stand here pretending with Ingrid.
"Then from today onwards, I’ll call you my mom." Ingrid said before leaning in to kiss her cheek, as if nothing had happened monts ago.
He could still see the faint red marks on Ingrid’s throat where his hand had been, and the glint of triumph in her eyes that she didn’t even bother to hide.
"Ro, son," his mother said softly. "Your father wants to talk to you. The other guests and so of our investors and stockholders are also waiting to see you."
"I’ll follow later, Mom. Don’t worry."
"Alright," she said with a gentle nod. "But co back soon, alright? Everyone’s waiting for you."
The mont she left, the false sweetness slipped from Ingrid’s face. Her smirk returned as she leaned closer, whispering so only he could hear.
"See, Ro? Even your mom wants as her daughter-in-law."
"Tch. Don’t twist my mother’s kindness into sothing it’s not. You’re not family, and you never will be."
His eyes burned with restrained fury before he pulled away and strode off to follow his mom.
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