Chapter 3%
Angus hurried to reassure Hallie. “I told you the child with her was just an accident. The only children I’ll ever have will be with you “I
I hear his hurried steps catching up to me. Angus stopped me from leaving. “Those last three wishes you mentioned–do they still count?”
I told him they did.
Of course, Angus didn’t believe I was truly repaying a debt. But he was confident that I would say anything just to keep clinging to him.
Watching him grow impatient, urging me to retrieve the ring from the lake, I suddenly recalled a moment in the past…”
Back then, when Angus’s family heirloom had slipped into the water, he had held me close after I returned from taking the golden bracelet. The man trembled with worry as he scolded me to not do something like that again.”
But now, he didn’t even think twice…
So, I stepped into the lake. The freezing water rushed up, filling my nose and lungs. Inside the house, laughter and music carried on, oblivious.
I dove deeper into the pool, pushing through the suffocating cold. Suddenly, sharp object at the bottom slicing into my feet. It didn’t take long before my fingers closed around the ring.
By the time I surfaced, my abdomen throbbed and blood trickled from the soles of my feet.”
All I saw in Angus’s eyes was disgust. “Can you stop with this pathetic act? It’s disgusting.“”
I placed the ring firmly in Hallie’s hand.
“This is your ninety–eighth wish,” I said to Angus before walking away.”
I forced myself to ignore the pain at my feet and went past the Davidson’s house–all aware that Angus stared at me with a stunned gaze.
A replacement was just a replacement. Once the real one returned, the replacement became nothing more than a stray dog, barely hanging on.[
Though my feet were injured, the cold that caught up my heart felt far worse. The coldness spread to my physical body, like an ice block that couldn’t thaw.
I spent the next three days in the hospital.
During that time, I heard that Angus never left Hallie’s side. He told people I was just a pathetic leech who wouldn’t let go.”
I felt awful–sick, restless, unable to sleep.
Then, a news notification caught my eye.
[Prince Angus’s woman exposed as an adult film actress.]
I clicked on its link.
The woman in the video was clearly visible. She was Hallie Palmer. Even the tiny mole on her neck was identical.
In the comments, some people insisted the video was Al–generated.
I knew Angus had hired people to spread that lie. But the public wasn’t convinced.
[No way this is Al. The tech isn’t advanced enough to make fingers look this natural.]} A message from Angus popped up on my phone.
[I’ll pay you. Take the blame–say the woman in the video is you.]}
I stared at the message for a long time, my heart feeling as if it had been kicked hard.”
Take the blame and claim that I was the one in the adult video? If I did that, I’d never be able to show my face in Astrait again.”
I swallowed the pain and typed back. [So… is this your ninety–ninth wish?]”
He agreed without hesitation–he just wanted me to clear Hallie’s name as soon as possible.
When Angus came to find me, the first thing he did was take me to a tattoo artist and have a small black mole inked onto my neck, in the exact same spot as Hallie’s.
“Hallie wants to go into the entertainment industry,” he said. “She can’t have a scandal like this ruining her future.”}
“Don’t worry. I’ll make sure this whole thing gets buried quickly.”
Hallie wanted to be a celebrity? That was the excuse he came up with?”
Angus went so much to held a press conferrence to completely erase the stain of Hallie’s scandal.”
I stood on stage, facing the cameras. “I’m sorry,” I said. “I’m the woman in the video. I deeply regret any trouble I’ve caused
Miss Hallie Palmer.”
Instantly, the crowd erupted in outrage. People hurled insults at me, calling me shameless, a whore, a liar.N
I had never felt such humiliation in my life. By the time I stepped down, my legs were so weak I nearly collapsed.N
But then, for the first time, Angus caught me. He draped his suit jacket over my shoulders.N
“You actually went through with it,” he murmured, almost in disbelief.N
So he knew, after all. He knew exactly how much this would destroy me.N
