Michael was stunned. "Stephie..."


    I looked at Michael and ripped the letter into pieces. "None of this matters now. Stephanie is dead."


    Stephanie was dead, and the past no longer held any significance. What I knew for certain was that


    the pain in my heart was unbearable when I intentionally left just now, seeing Steven in such agony.


    It felt as though my heart was on the verge of shattering into pieces.


    "I want to get out of the car," I requested Michael to stop the car.


    However, he had no intention of stopping.


    "Stop the car!" Overwhelmed by my emotions, I desperately struggled to unlock the car door.


    Michael gestured to the driver to keep going and raised his hand to keep me in my seat. "Stephanie!


    Are you going to continue being crazy with him? I know you hate me and I know you want to punish


    me. Isn''t that enough?"


    His face clearly disyed a mix of distress and fury.


    I struggled to distance myself from him, but he released me with eyes burning with emotion. He


    then discarded his suit, rolled up his sleeves, and revealed the scars on his wrists...


    There were far more than I had seen before. They were crisscrossing horizontally and vertically, a


    clear indication of self-inflicted pain and self-destructive behavior.


    "I''m punishing myself as well... I don''t know how to make you believe me," Michael said, his voice


    hoarse and filled with sobs.


    "You... you tell me what you want me to do, Stephie. Just say it, and I''ll make it right. I''m willing to


    do whatever it takes to earn your forgiveness. Just give me the chance." Michael hugged me tightly,


    unable to contain his emotion.


    His voice was hoarse and choked. "Even if you ask me to die, I can do it now."


    "Michael... Stephanie is dead. What''s the point of doing this now? Why didn''t you cherish her when


    she was alive?" I asked in a strained voice.


    "God has granted me another chance. I recognize you, Stephie." his voice trembled as he asked for


    my forgiveness.


    "Please... please..." He tightly embraced me, desperately pleading for my forgiveness.


    "How can you forgive me?" he seemed to beg.


    "Then... go to hell." My voice was raspy, deep, brimming with hatred.


    Original content from N?velDrama.Org.


    He would have been better off dead. Why did he mistreat me from the beginning? Why?


    Michael''s firm embrace around me suddenly halted, his arms gradually releasing their grip. Leaning


    back, he slumped in his seat and uttered in a hushed voice, "Stop the car."


    Michael asked the driver to stop the car. I didn''t even nce at Michael as I yearned to exit the


    vehicle.


    "Even if he has been lying to you, using you, and hurting you... Even if what he does to you is much


    worse than what I''ve done, you still have to choose him, right?" Michael asked in a low voice. At


    that moment, he felt so wronged that he seemed on the verge of copsing.


    He worked relentlessly to find evidence that I did not love Steven. He also made great efforts to find


    proof that Steven had hurt me. He thought that by revealing the truth to me, I would leave Steven


    and decide to be with him again.


    "If he has truly been lying to me, using me, and hurting me, I will leave him... I''ll never want any of


    the trash who hurts me," I whispered as I opened the car door to step out.


    In my hand, I held the letter I wrote to Steven, which I then tore into pieces. As I passed by the trash


    can, I decisively threw the torn letter inside.


    Steven initially denied it and imed it was not him. However, when he asked me if I believed him, I


    did.


    But what made me furious was that he protected the culprit. He protected people who really hurt


    me. He also took all the me upon himself for this.


    Taking a deep breath, I raced towards Steven''s house. I simply couldn''t bear to let him go...


    But I was still overwhelmed by fear and panic. If he was the one who harmed and killed me... What


    should I do?


    After running for over ten minutes, I finally reached home. Only Leo was tending to the garden,


    which looked empty and somewhat deste.


    The wind got stronger, and it seemed like rain wasing. I hurried into the living room but couldn''t


    find Steven. He was nowhere to be found in the bedroom, bathroom, or guest room.