Chapter 1 Even If It’s Hatred
Maggie Adam was dead. She was killed in a premeditated explosion. What she hadn’t anticipated was that her husband Nathael Harris, whom she had despised for many years, would ultimately sacrifice his life to save her. Her soul hovered in mid-air, staring blankly at the man covered in blood with one of his arms severely injured. Nathael supported himself with one hand, his eyes bloodshot, crawling determinedly towards her shattered body.
“Maggie!” he exclaimed with a hoarse and desperate voice.
“Nathael…” Maggie’s voice was barely audible. His subordinates rushed in like madmen. Witnessing Nathael in this state, they couldn’t help but shed tears.
“Sir, Madam … has already passed away.”
Nathael was urgently taken to the hospital for treatment, and his condition was declared critical multiple times. Maggie stood in a daze by the operating table, observing the corner of her clothes tightly clutched in the man’s hand. A surge of emotion overwhelmed her. She couldn’t comprehend why this man, whom she had deceived, ruined, used, and betrayed countless times, would ultimately be willing to sacrifice his life to save her. She felt relieved that she had managed to push him away at the last moment. The surgery lasted for over twenty hours, and finally, Nathael’s life was saved. However, he had his left arm amputated.
A month later, Nathael was discharged from the hospital. Maggie stared blankly at the man in front of her, dressed in a suit but with an empty left sleeve. It pained her heart. For many years, she had despised Nathael. She was adopted by the Camerons when she was young and later fell in love with Joseph, the eldest son of the Camerons. As childhood sweethearts, their relationship naturally progressed to discussing marriage.
But during that time, she was accidentally violated by Nathael!
To seek revenge and repay the kindness of the Camerons, she repeatedly manipulated and framed Nathael, ruining many of his projects and tarnishing his reputation. Perhaps it was karma. He had someone blind her and disfigure her face. In the end, he even humiliated her by marrying her. On their wedding night, she laughed and uttered the most malicious curse.
“Nathael, one day I will drag you down to hell with me!” Unexpectedly, her words had become a prophecy. Maggie had long realized that she had hated the wrong person but was afraid to confront the truth, so she kept avoiding it.
Either way, Nathael would tolerate her stubbornness. It wasn’t until Joseph strapped explosives to her that she finally stopped deceiving herself. Yes, she had hated the wrong person! She had trusted the Camerons and misunderstood Nathael, becoming an accomplice to the villain, not only indirectly causing the death of her own family but also repeatedly hurting Nathael, who had always stood by her side. Regrettably, she no longer had the opportunity to apologize to him in person.
“Bring them to me.”
“Yes.”
The man’s icy tone snapped Maggie back to reality. Shortly after, a disheveled pair was thrown in, tightly bound. Maggie was stunned for a few seconds before she realized that the disheveled woman in front of her, resembling a madwoman, was Sierra, the beloved daughter of the Camerons.
The man beside her, who had been tortured to the point of incontinence, was the once-promising Joseph. The two of them knelt on the ground, banging their heads and begging for mercy incoherently.
“Nathael, spare us. We won’t fight anymore. We won’t fight for anything!”
“We were wrong. We know we were wrong. Please. Please spare us! Let us go.”
“Spare?” Nathael sneered, the dagger pressed against Sierra’s face, his beautiful phoenix eyes filled with a touch of madness. “If I spare you, who will spare her?”
Perhaps sensing what was to come, Sierra struggled frantically, her voice tinged with tears, “No. No!”
“Mr. Harris, I am fully aware of my mistake. I deeply regret what I did. I shouldn’t have scarred Maggie’s face! I shouldn’t have blinded her!”
“I just loved you too much! I loved you so! Why would you rather marry a blind woman with a ruined face than me?!”
Nathael laughed coldly, not waiting for her to finish speaking. He raised his knife and slashed. A flash of cold light streaked by.
The next moment, a bloody ear fell to the ground. “Ah!” A scream rang out. Sierra’s face was covered in blood. Due to the extreme pain, her face twisted, and sweat poured down. Maggie watched this scene, feeling as if she had been struck by lightning. She never thought that the person who had harmed her back then was Sierra, whom she had always treated as a sister. She had always thought that the culprit was Nathael!
Maggie laughed at herself, feeling like a complete fool! Every time she thought of how she had treated Nathael in the past, she felt suffocated, as if she couldn’t breathe.
“Love me?” Nathael looked at the woman’s tear-streaked face with a sinister smile.
He gripped her chin with his large hand and uttered, “Let me see how much you love me.”
With that, he lifted a dagger and slowly and deeply slashed it across Sierra’s face. Each cut was deep enough to reach the bone. Screams filled the air. After more than a dozen cuts, Nathael ruthlessly gouged out her eyes. Sierra collapsed on the ground, her face covered in blood, barely alive. Joseph huddled in a corner, too scared to make a sound.
Nathael pulled his thin lips into a smile, walked over to him, and swiftly severed one of his arms, tossing it far away.
He looked like a demon straight from hell. “This is what you owe me. But what you owe her, you can never repay!”
Upon hearing this, Maggie’s eyes were empty. Indeed, how could he ever repay?
The vows of love, the heartfelt devotion, and her dear life. How could Joseph ever repay?
“Nathael! Kill me if you have the guts!” Joseph writhed in pain on the ground. Perhaps it was the extreme pain that drove him to madness, but he laughed hysterically.
“Nathael, does it matter how much you have done for her? What does it matter if you can’t tell her the truth? She would still willingly give everything to me at the snap of my fingers! Maggie is loyal to me. What are you in her eyes? Oh, right. In her eyes, you will always be her sworn enemy! Hahaha!”
His words struck a chord in the deepest, most vulnerable part of Nathael’s heart.
The smile on Nathael’s face slowly faded, his eyes turning cold. He stubbornly replied, “Even if it’s hatred, I still hold a place in her heart.”
Tears welled up in Maggie’s eyes. Nathael, you fool. Fool! Not wanting to waste any more words, Nathael gave a cold glance at the man on the ground.
“You’re the sort of thing that should be fed to dogs.” While Nathael spoke, the courtyard resonated with the fierce barking of dogs. The bloodthirsty Tibetan Mastiffs. Their eyes, glowing with hunger, surged towards the door. Maggie’s heart tightened. She didn’t want him to have blood on his hands. But she didn’t know that the moment he saw her die, he had given up his own life too.
“No … ” Joseph’s pupils narrowed, and he was about to beg for mercy.
But it was too late. The hungry gleam in the Tibetan Mastiffs’ eyes locked onto the scent of blood, and they lunged at him wildly.
