Jenson's face was expressionless as he looked at Emily, who hid behind him and cried miserably.

“Only one question,” he said. “Did you really not recognize Mike that time?”

Emily paused for a split second. A flash of panic appeared in her eyes; however, she quickly regained her composure.

“It was too dark back then, so I really didn’t recognize him. Jenson, please believe me. Why would I do anything that might put Estella in danger? Can you help me, please? I’ll explain everything to you, and we can finally be together.”

Before she could finish, Jenson threw back his arm and slapped Emily forcefully with the back of his hand. He shouted furiously, “Emily Blanchard! You still won’t admit to your mistakes, even now, and you’re still trying to lie to me!”

Jenson’s blow was strong; Emily yelped in pain as she knocked her forehead on a cabinet. Blood oozed from the wound instantly.

Emily screamed in disbelief when she saw the bloodstains on her hands. “Jenson Moure, how dare you hit me?”

Jenson had a rigid look on his face. “You almost got Estie killed. I would have hit you even harder if I could!”

All along, Jenson had always been gentle and attentive to Emily. Yet, he’d hit her because of Estella this time. Emily was so infuriated that she lost her sense of judgment.

“So what if I did it on purpose? The two of us are married. I’m your legal spouse. So why didn’t you kick that woman out of the house? It was all that useless Mike’s fault for not getting rid of Estella that time!”

The image of Estella and the look of despair in her eyes when she’d been held hostage flashed through Jenson’s mind. His heart ached terribly.

Jenson’s expression hardened. He said to Rachel, “Take her with you. Her issues are none of my concern from now on.” His top priority was to find out Estella’s whereabouts. As for Emily, handing her over to Mike’s parents would be the best outcome.

Meanwhile, Rachel’s eyes lit up. She seized hold of Emily’s arm and started dragging her toward the door.

Emily’s face grew pale when she realized Jenson was serious about cutting ties with her.

“No! No! Jenson, help me! I’m your wife. You can’t do this to me! I was wrong. Help me!”

Yet, the only response she received was the door being slammed shut before her eyes.

After those people left, Jenson felt as though all of his strength had drained from his body. He fell to his knees.

“So, Emily has been acting all this time? Her parents forcing her to get married was a lie. She said someone was following and harassing her, but that was a lie too,” he thought.

Just then, he recalled the time when he’d thought Estella had pushed Emily, resulting in the latter getting injured. At the time, Estella had told him to check the surveillance footage from the security cameras.

He began wondering if Emily had lied about that incident too. For a moment, Jenson lost the courage to face the truth.

If Emily had pulled some sort of dirty trick, how should he face Estella now? How could he even bring himself to ask for her forgiveness?

Still, Jenson felt it wasn’t right that Estella had to suffer such injustice. Eventually, he checked the surveillance footage, even though his hands were shaking.

Although he had a feeling of what might have happened, he felt awful when he saw Emily showing off the hickeys on her body and trying to drive Estella away. His eyes burned.

Yet, what pained Jenson the most was the moment he’d chosen to take Emily’s side without even trying to investigate what had actually happened. If he could return to that day, Jenson would surely throw a punch at that foolish man. He hated himself for being so stupid. He hadn’t even been able to see…

It was because of his negligence that Emily had had the audacity to harm Estella. Gradually, he’d pushed Estella further and further away from himself. Jenson grabbed his hair and yanked at it as he broke down in tears.

“Estie, where are you? I’ve learned my lesson now. I’m willing to do anything to earn your forgiveness.”

Yet, the only noise heard was the sound of Estella dragging along her suitcase and shutting the door behind her as she left the house (seen in the surveillance footage). Suddenly, Jenson’s phone rang briefly. A message from his friend popped up on the screen: “They found out where Estella is.”

Chapter 12