Chapter 3Six Years of Feigned Devotion

I checked into the most expensive presidential suite in the city, using the credit card Alaric had given me. The comments were still streaming:

【Presidential suite??? She really knows how to live it up.】

【Using the secondary lead's money for a hotel, that's smart.】

【She only has ten days left, why not splurge?】

I tossed my suitcase in the entryway and sank into a bathtub filled with rose petals. The countdown ticked in my mind:

8 days 14 hours 32 minutes.

I had eight and a half days left. My phone was eerily quiet. Alaric hadn't called again. That wasn't like him.

Late at night, I lay in the three-meter-wide bed. Sparse comments drifted by:

【Is she really sleeping? So calm.】

【What's the secondary lead doing? Looks like he's tracking her phone.】

【Honestly, this feeling of being watched is suffocating.】

Just as I was drifting to sleep, I heard a violent kick to the door. I shot upright. The comments instantly exploded:

【OMG what was that sound?!】

【Someone's breaking in!!!】

【Is it the secondary lead???】

【Help, I'm so nervous.】

Before I could react, the door was violently kicked open. Alaric stood in the doorway, his eyes bloodshot, as if he'd reached his absolute limit of fury.

"Rowan Archer." His voice was hoarse as he strode in, step by step. I instinctively clutched the collar of my robe. He stopped in front of me, his shadow completely engulfing me: "Where is Elara?"

I froze. "What?"

"Don't pretend." He suddenly grabbed my wrist, his grip so powerful my bones ached. "Where did you take Elara? Tell me!"

"I don't know what you're talking about—" I tried to pull free, but his grip tightened. The comments scrolled wildly:

【What's going on? The heroine was kidnapped?】

【The villainess kidnapped her? No way, she's been at the hotel.】

【The timeline doesn't add up, how would she have time to arrange a kidnapping?】

【Has the secondary lead gone crazy?】

"Alaric Newlywed, let go of me!" I gasped in pain. "I haven't even seen Elara Thorne! I've been here for the past two days—"

"Rowan Archer, I underestimated you."

"Playing so heartbroken, only to turn around and kidnap Elara? You truly are malicious."

"I didn't." I gritted my teeth.

He shoved me roughly onto the bed, leaning over me, his hands braced on either side of my head: "I'll give you one last chance. Where is Elara? What did you do to her?" His breath puffed against my face, carrying a near-mad ferocity. In six years, I had never seen Alaric like this.

The comments began to diverge:

【The secondary lead is terrifying…】

【But if the villainess really did kidnap the heroine, then she deserves it, right?】

【Look closely! How would the villainess have time to commit the crime?】

【Could it be a misunderstanding?】

"I told you, I don't know."

"Alaric Newlywed, look at me. Have I ever lied to you in these six years?"

His pupils contracted. A flicker of doubt.

"Elara's phone signal vanished at the coffee shop you visited," he looked up at me, his eyes like poisoned knives.

My entire body went cold. A trap. Someone had set a trap.

"It wasn't me, I didn't…" My voice began to tremble.

"Enough!" He suddenly stood up, pulling out a folding knife. Alaric held my hand, the blade pressed against my wrist.

"Rowan Archer." His voice was terrifyingly low. "I know you hate Elara, hate her for taking me. Though I was never truly yours. But you cannot touch her."

"I'm asking you one last time! Where is Elara?!"

The blade dug into the flesh of my wrist, and bright red blood instantly welled up. The excruciating pain shot through my limbs. My vision blurred, and I almost blacked out. The comments were frantic:

【The secondary lead has gone completely mad.】

【I'm starting to pity the villainess… she really looks like she doesn't know.】

【Villainess, say something! Even if it's a lie!】

I opened my mouth, a broken gasp escaping my throat: "I… didn't…"