’Let’s just end it here. Never seeing each other again is probably the best outcome for us.’

’Besides, I have him now. I can’t be unfaithful to him.’

Annabelle Linton opened her eyes and sneered, looking at him with a detached air. "Can’t live without me? You seem to be doing just fine now."

"Fine? My heart has been hollowed out, and I’m just a wounded wreck, barely clinging to life. You call this fine?"

"Then isn’t that all the more reason for you to give up?"

Annabelle Linton pushed him away and said coldly, "Leona Grant, Annabelle Linton is dead. The Annabelle of the past is dead. Just pretend she never existed. I’m already someone else’s fiancée. There’s no point in saying anything else."

’The old Annabelle Linton really is dead. You’re the one who killed her.’

’The Annabelle of today can live for anyone or anything, but she certainly doesn’t live for you anymore.’

’Someone else’s fiancée...’

Leona Grant seemed to understand something.

He looked at her, a bitter grin spreading across his face. His deep-set eyes, washed clean by tears, were exceptionally clear, yet now they were veiled in a dark shadow.

He stared at her, his face ashen, and asked, "So you’re still going to leave? You’re still going to marry him, is that right?"

Seeing the life suddenly drain from his expression, Annabelle Linton felt a strange flicker of unease.

But she didn’t let it show. She averted her gaze and said faintly, "I’ve already answered that."

"Answer me again."

Leona Grant watched her, his expression turning cold. He seemed to revert to the aloof, arrogant Leona Grant of old, the one who carried an air of absolute authority. His eyes were hollow as he curved his lips into a mirthless smile. "Answer me one last time. This is the last time I will ask this question."

Annabelle Linton looked up at him. Leona Grant smiled again. "I promise."

Annabelle Linton found his smile increasingly unsettling. She tried to sidestep the question. "It’s good that you can see reason. You should go now."

He was insistent. "Your answer."

Seeing his stubborn insistence on an answer, the strange feeling in Annabelle Linton’s heart intensified.

From the look on his face, he wasn’t going to leave without an answer. Annabelle Linton regarded him with a calm expression, and he stared right back.

They held each other’s gaze for a moment before Annabelle Linton nodded. "That’s right. We’re getting married, and we’ll be living abroad."

"Hah."

Leona Grant let out another soft, bitter laugh, but no one could have known the depths of the despair flooding his heart.

’He thought he could hear the sound of his own heart shattering. But this was for the best, wasn’t it?’

’At least, now he knew exactly what he had to do.’

Leona Grant turned and walked toward the coffee table.

Annabelle Linton’s eyes widened as she seemed to realize something, and she started toward him.

But before she could reach him, he had already picked up the fruit knife from the coffee table.

Her composure completely shattered. She stared at him in shock. "What are you doing?"

Leona Grant said nothing, closing the distance between them step by step.

Annabelle Linton couldn’t help but back away.

’What is he doing with a knife?’

’Is he going to kill me?’

’She had died once already. If he were going to kill her, she could almost remain calm. But her sixth sense was screaming that wasn’t what he intended...’

Leona Grant kept advancing until Annabelle Linton was backed into a corner with nowhere to run. She tried to sidestep him, but he blocked her path.

He stood before her, grabbed her hand, and pried her palm open. Then, he pressed the handle of the fruit knife into it.

’Just as I thought!’

Annabelle Linton’s hand went limp and she tried to drop the knife, but Leona Grant gave her no chance. His large hand clamped down over hers, forcing her to keep her grip.

Then, he aimed the tip of the knife squarely at his own heart and began to press it inward, little by little.