Chapter 6

• CASSIEL'S POV
• Kira was back, Arella's girlfriend, or even Arella's fiancée come back! I know her! I can always see her photos in Arella’s room for the last two yers.
• My thoughts wandering two years ago. Arella was forced to leave her true love, Kira, to take over the mafia family.
• That's when he married me, not out of love, but because he had no choice. In these two years, his heart was never mine. Even when he was inside me, he would whisper Kira's name, a name that wasn't mine, a love that wasn't ours.
• My heart clenched as the realisation hit me. Arella kicked me away not just because the death of grandpa—but Kira was back!
• For a moment, I hoped I could slip by without being noticed, but it was too late. Our eyes met, and I saw her smile fade, replaced by something else.
• Kira approached me, her voice smooth, almost too kind. "Cassiel, it's been two years. How are you?"
• I forced a smile, even though my mind was racing. I quickly looked away, unable to bear the sympathy I saw in Kira's eyes.
• "Kira, I—" I started, but she cut me off sharply.
• "You trapped Arella for the whole two years, and you guys are divorced, why did you show up at the hospital with him again?"
• I was about to say something, but Kira's mobile in her purse started ringing. She reached into her purse to retrieve her mobile when in the process something else slipped out.
• My breath caught in my throat as I recognized a delicate pearl necklace on the ground, my heart lurching in my chest. It was my mother's necklace, the one I had thought lost forever!
• For a moment, we both froze, our eyes locked on the necklace that lay between us.
• Kira's expression changed, a flicker of something I couldn't quite place crossing her face, but it was gone as quickly as it appear.
• My heart sank as the realization hit me: Arella thought Kira was the one who saved him, the one who held his heart all this time. He had been loving a memory, but it wasn't hers. It was mine.
• Before I could react, Kira quickly snatched the necklace from the floor, her eyes meeting mine with a sharp glare, but there was something else there too, panic.
• "How did you get that necklace?" My voice trembling.
• She met my gaze, her expression hardening. "Does it matter?" she shot back, her tone laced with defiance. "He believes it, and that's all that counts."
• Anger surged within me. "You're lying to him, letting him love you for something you never did. How can you live with that?"
• Her lips curled into a bitter smile. "Sometimes, the truth doesn't matter. What matters is who he chooses to believe."
• I turned and stumbled walked away, my heart pounding, I want to return to hospital.
• But Kira blocked my path, "want to go back to the hospital and expose me?" Her eyes flickering with a dangerous light.
• With a force that surprised me, she suddenly shoved me back. Pain shot through my shoulder as I felt the familiar, searing burn.
• I glanced down and saw the blood starting to seep through the bandage, staining the fabric with a deep crimson. The bullet wound torn open again, and I could feel the warm blood trickling down my arm.
• She moved toward me again, her expression wild, and before I could react, she grabbed my hand and pulled it toward her, slamming it against her own chest.
• The car coming from the opposite direction hit her and I gasped, placing my hands on my mouth, her body collapsing to the ground in a twisted heap.
• For a moment, I just stood there, stunned. It took me a second to realise what had just happened—that Kira had deliberately injured herself, using me as the weapon.
• Panic surged through me as she lay there, her face contorted in pain and full of blood, but there was something else in her eyes too—triumph.
• "Kira..."
• I knelt beside her, trying to understand the madness unfolding before me. "Why would you—"
• The injuries were severe, the blood coming from her forehead and hand, it looked as though I was the one who had caused it all.
• She had set me up!
• ***
• "Miss Cassiel Miller, you're….." The judge paused, causing everyone to pause their breath as well. Miss Cassiel Miller instead of Mrs. Cassiel Arella Monroe.
• "You're found guilty as charged, for the attempted murder of Mrs. Kira Monroe. Do you plead guilty?"
• I glanced over at Kira, her triumphant and victorious smile was contagious.
• I couldn't help but feel the weight of the situation pressing down on me, suffocating me.
• The air was thick with tension but all of it faded into the background when my eyes found him---Arella Monroe, sitting beside Kira.
• His presence there felt like a dagger to my heart, each glance he gave Kira twisting the blade deeper.
• All the determination I'd held onto, the resolve to prove my innocence, wavered under the crushing reality that Arella had already made up his mind. He believed her. He believed that I had tried to kill her.
• Frustration and despair twisted together in my chest, choking me, drowning me in a sea of helplessness.
• Kira's gaze locked with mine, and in her eyes, I saw the triumph she had craved. I could almost see the smirk hidden beneath her mask of innocence, the satisfaction in knowing she had finally broken me.
• As for Arella... he didn't even look at me. Not once. And that was what hurt the
• most—knowing that, in his eyes, I was no longer the woman he had married, but a monster who had tried to take away the person he thought he loved.
• In that moment, I realized it didn't matter what I said. He had already chosen to believe her over me. What was the point of fighting when the one person I cared about had already judged me guilty? So, when the judge asked for my plea, I took a deep breath and said the words that sealed my fate.
• "I plead guilty."