“Hey! Hey! Don’t die yet!” someone shouted, instantly making Nara let out a weak groan.
Her body was far too limp for her to move or even turn her head. Slowly, her eyes began to open, though her vision was still blurry.
“Who are you?” Nara asked weakly, her lips already pale.
The man didn’t answer. Instead, he immediately lifted Nara and moved her somewhere safer. He laid her inside an open car and handed her a bottle of water that had just been unsealed.
The man held the bottle for Nara, his palm coming into direct contact with the back of her cold hand. Their eyes met, his gaze locking with her tear-swollen red eyes as he tried to understand what she had been feeling.
“Why did you save me?” Nara suddenly asked, making the man’s brow furrow. “Why didn’t you just leave me there to die?” she continued, her tone growing more forceful.
The man gently rubbed his face before tossing Nara’s empty bottle into a trash can conveniently located nearby. He folded his arms across his chest, his eyes once again fixed on the woman in front of him.
“Are you crazy?” the man asked quietly, without the slightest emphasis. “Can every problem be solved by suicide?”
For a moment, Nara fell silent without responding. In her mind, vivid flashes of the terrible memories she had just endured continued to replay. Her tears broke loose again when she accidentally noticed the gleaming ring still on her left ring finger—the wedding ring from her marriage to Evan, which she hadn’t had the chance to remove.
“Suicide is the stupidest thing you can do! Do you want to suffer in this world and in the afterlife too?”
Once again, Nara fell silent, biting her lip hard. She was trying to hold back the sobs that were tormenting her even more. Unfortunately, that only caused the emotions inside her to burst apart even more violently. Nara’s sobs intensified until, all of a sudden, she felt a warm embrace comforting her.
“Shh, calm down. I think I can help you, Nara,” the man said, instantly soothing Nara’s sobs.
Nara was startled when the man said her name, and slowly, she gathered the courage to raise her eyes. Her face was now directly across from the face of a man she didn’t know at all, and her eyes remained wide open as she stared at him—the man who had appeared like a savior.
“I’m Dimas, and I already know about your problems. So how about the two of us work together to destroy Evan?”
It all began with that offer. Now Nara was staring blankly at the towering buildings surrounding her. She had no idea where the man named Dimas was taking her, so she was quite startled when his face suddenly appeared right in front of hers.
“Welcome to my apartment, Nara!” Dimas said after successfully removing the woman’s seat belt.
“For now, you can stay at my apartment,” Dimas continued with a faint smile that left Nara stunned again.
The man was quite handsome and attractive. But Nara’s biggest question now concerned his true intentions. Honestly, she was a little wary—especially since Dimas had offered her a place to stay as though it were nothing. Nara was afraid of being used again, just as she had been by Evan.
“There are several servants here who will help you, and over there is the room that will be yours,” Dimas continued, introducing the different parts of his apartment one by one.
Throughout the walk, Nara could only remain silent as she stared intently at her surroundings. The woman’s dark eyes grew wider and wider, as if she were in awe of all the luxury around her. Eventually, the apartment’s owner told her to wait for a moment on a large sofa.
“What is this letter?” Nara asked in surprise when a document was handed to her.
Dimas smiled briefly as he sat across from the woman. When Nara still didn’t take it, he finally placed the letter on the table.
“That’s our cooperation agreement to destroy Evan’s life. Read this document and sign it!”
For a moment, Nara stared blankly at the letter resting on top of a green folder. She immediately felt uneasy, worried that the agreement would make her life even more difficult. Hesitantly, she picked up the document and began reading it slowly.
“I have to obey all your orders?” Nara asked with furrowed brows when her eyes landed on one of the clauses that drew her attention the most.
Dimas nodded while taking a sip of the hot coffee in front of him. He looked completely relaxed, paying no attention to the doubt spreading across Nara’s face.
“Yes. That’s just a precaution in case you still love Evan,” Dimas finally replied, setting his coffee cup back on the table. “I don’t want to be taken advantage of or lied to,” he continued with slight emphasis.
The sharp look in Dimas’s eyes instantly made Nara lower her head in fear. She was beginning to doubt the man who had saved her, and in the end, she forced her mind to think quickly so she could make the right decision.
“I think that’s a fair condition considering everything I’ve given you. I’ll cover all your needs and help you deal with all your problems with Evan. In return, you only have to obey my orders. Isn’t that a fairly easy requirement?”
Nara felt increasingly trapped. She was truly in an incredibly difficult position. If she agreed to Dimas’s terms, it meant her entire life would remain in his hands. But if she rejected the offer, it seemed certain that her life would only become more miserable in the future.
“Enough. Just sign the agreement. I won’t ask you to do anything else.”
“Really? Nothing else?”
“Nothing. I just enjoy making your ex-husband suffer!”
That one answer immediately made Nara tense up again. There had been no emphasis in his voice at all, yet his words felt truly terrifying. In the end, Nara took the pen Dimas held out to her and signed the document.
“Good! You made the right decision, Nara!” Dimas praised her with a faint smile. “Now get some rest, because tomorrow we’ll give your ex-husband his first surprise!”