Chapter 15

When my father learned the Winters family had arrived and repeatedly slandered me, he was furious. He no longer showed them any mercy and began actively working against them.

At first, after returning home, Azazel and his parents continued making threats, saying they wouldn’t forgive me for terminating the pregnancy unless I conceived another Winters child. Otherwise, they would never allow me to visit Azazel’s grave.

But within a month, under my father’s focused opposition, the Winters family went bankrupt. They lost everything, even their sole remaining mansion. They ended up homeless.

As for Rebecca—she had married Alaric originally because he was the Winters family heir. Later, she realized Azazel was impersonating Alaric but didn’t care; whoever inherited the family fortune would be her husband. Now that the Winters were broke, she certainly wouldn’t accompany them in poverty. Before long, she attached herself to a wealthy businessman as his mistress, abandoning the Winters entirely.

Azazel was enraged. He called Rebecca a whore and tried to hit her, only to be severely beaten by the businessman’s bodyguards. Richard and Christine blamed him, saying if he hadn’t insisted on impersonating Alaric, they wouldn’t be in this situation—he had destroyed the entire family.

Azazel seized on this like a drowning man grasping at straws. He earnestly told his parents that I loved him so much that if I knew he was still alive, I wouldn’t remarry or abandon the Winters family—there was still hope!

He rushed to my door in excitement, shouting that he was actually Azazel, not Alaric. He claimed the person who died was his brother, that he’d had amnesia and believed he was Alaric, but now remembered everything. He declared his love for me and begged to see me. He said we could have another child—he had forgiven me for terminating the pregnancy.

By then, I had collected all the evidence of how Azazel had arranged my kidnapping and assault. The police arrived at my door and arrested him. As they dragged him away, he struggled furiously: “Let me go! Do you know who my wife is? Sylvia Parker! If you arrest me, she won’t let you get away with it!”

Only then did I calmly step outside and whisper in his ear: “Azazel, I’ve known it was you all along. You look like a clown right now. By the way, it’s time you paid for what you had those kidnappers do to me.”

Azazel’s eyes widened in shock as realization dawned. “You…you knew everything.” He finally understood why I had acted so strangely. He stopped struggling and collapsed to the ground, ashen-faced. But soon he crawled back up, clutching my legs, begging forgiveness, claiming everything he did was out of love for me.

I laughed coldly, had him pulled away, and returned to my home.