Elena’s whole body slammed hard onto the cupboard before she collapsed onto the floor.

She had not fully recovered yet, and now she had fallen again. Her body ached all over. But she ignored the pain and moved toward the broken pendant.

Tears streamed down her cheeks as she picked up the pieces in her hands.

Noah saw nothing of it. His whole attention was on Tessa.

"It hurts," Tessa said weakly. She looked at him with tears in her eyes. "I only wanted to talk to her. But she got angry when she saw the pendant around my neck. She demanded that I give it back. I was ready to return it. But she suddenly pushed me."

Noah turned his furious gaze to Elena. "Why did you push her? If you have issues with me, come to me. Why do you keep targeting her?"

Elena glared back at him. "Did I target her?" She raised her voice. "Can’t you see? She broke my pendant."

He felt conflicted for a moment. But he forced down the trace of guilt and snapped, "I gave that pendant to her."

Anger exploded inside Elena. "Who do you think you are to give my things to her?"

At that, Noah froze, the words failing him. He knew what it meant to her. Yet he had given it to Tessa. And now it was broken.

He could see Elena breaking down. But he still chose to protect Tessa.

"It was just an old pendant. You can’t hurt people over something like that."

"She hurt me too," Elena yelled in a frenzy, nearly losing control. "Ask her what she did to me."

Tessa panicked instantly. She pretended to be in pain, clutching her chest.

"Noah, I think I am having a heart attack."

Those words were enough to drive him into panic.

"I’ll take you to the hospital first. Then I’ll deal with her."

He scooped her up in his arms. Before leaving, he glanced at Elena, who was still kneeling on the floor, desperately collecting the broken pieces of the pendant.

"You are a complete disaster, Elena. Whenever you are around Tessa, you always hurt her. I need to teach you a good lesson. Stay locked here until you realize what you have done."

With that, he strode out of the room.

"Wait..." Elena scrambled to her feet. But before she could reach the door, it was slammed shut with a loud bang. She twisted the doorknob again and again.

It wouldn’t open.

"Noah, open the door," she shouted. "You can’t lock me up."

"I can," came Noah’s cold voice from the other side of the closed door. "You pushed Tessa. She just got out of the hospital. And because of some old, worthless pendant, you hurt her again."

"No... It’s her..."

"Oh, please, Elena. Stop lying for God’s sake. Stay here and reflect on your mistakes."

Hearing his footsteps fade away, Elena’s breathing turned uneven. She pounded her fists against the door desperately.

"Open it, please. Noah..."

But Noah didn’t pause.

Linda rushed over nervously. "Sir, why did you lock Madam in the room?"

She looked up at the closed door upstairs.

He slowed his steps. "Don’t open it until I return."

"But, sir..."

"If you open that door, you are fired."

Linda fell silent.

"Keep an eye on her."

He strode out.

Tessa dropped her head on his shoulder, smiling vilely. ’Elena, you can never beat me.’

Inside the room...

Elena kept banging on the door. "Linda, please let me out. I need to take Aunt to the hospital. Please..."

There was no reply.

"Open it," she cried out again, this time desperately. "My aunt is not well. She needs treatment immediately."

"Sorry, Madam. I-I can’t... Please forgive me."

Hope surged in Elena as she heard Linda’s voice. "Linda. Please. You know my aunt’s condition. I need to take her to the hospital."

Linda hesitated. "Sorry... I can’t lose this job, Madam," she said painfully. "Sir said he would fire me if I opened the door. I’m really sorry. I can’t help you."

Elena closed her eyes helplessly. She couldn’t blame the poor woman.

Linda had no one to rely on. If Noah kicked her out, she would end up on the road.

"Noah, you will regret this," she muttered.

She stopped begging her to open the door. But she wouldn’t stay trapped here.

Taking a deep breath, she grabbed her phone and called Elias.

"Hello."

"Uh... I ran into a problem," she said awkwardly.

"I told you not to go there alone," Elias said with a half-teasing, half-irritating voice. "But you insisted. What did that scum do to you this time?"

"I’m locked up here. Can you... send someone to... um... take my aunt to the hospital for a checkup?" 𝒇𝓻𝓮𝓮𝙬𝙚𝒃𝒏𝓸𝙫𝒆𝙡.𝓬𝓸𝒎

"Elena." His tone softened further. "We are going to register our marriage tomorrow. Don’t be so formal with me."

Elena pursed her lips.

Ever since losing her father, the Sinclair family had been the only people she could rely on. She had never had anyone close enough to depend on freely.

Her relationship with Elias had not officially started yet. But he had already saved her twice, helped with her aunt’s treatment, and protected her again and again.

For the first time, she found herself wondering if she could truly trust someone again.

"Don’t worry," Elias spoke. "I’ll have someone to take care of your aunt. And for you, my soon-to-be wife, I am coming."

"No... You must be busy. You don’t have to come here. I’ll figure out how to get out of here on my own..."

She suddenly realized the other side of the phone was deadly silent. "Hello? El-Elias? Are you there?"

No reply.

She lowered her phone. It was only at that point she realized the line was dead.

"Uh... He hung up already."

She stood there in a stunned silence for a moment. ’He is coming for me.’

The realization made her heart flutter. A small smile crept up her lips without her knowledge. But the moment her gaze fell on the broken pieces of the pendant, the smile on her face disappeared.

Sadness filled her eyes once more. "Dad, I am sorry," she whispered. "I can’t protect it."

She slowly sank to the floor, tears stinging her eyes.

"Elena?"

She didn’t know how long she had been sitting there crying numbly before Elias’s voice suddenly rang out downstairs.

Her body stiffened.

"Elena. Where are you?"

"Sir. You can’t barge into someone’s house." Linda tried to stop him.

"Move aside," Elias commanded coldly. "I am here to take Elena away."