He Broke Me First, Now I'm the Rising Queen

Wendy playfully nudged his shoulder with a feigned annoyance. Jonathan chuckled, then as if a thought struck him, he suddenly asked me, "Daphne, what were you doing suddenly barging into my study?"

"Getting my safe deposit box that I left here."

I lifted the small box in my hand. It held my and Jonathan's marriage certificate and our household registration book.

But he had clearly forgotten about it, his brow furrowed as he pressed.

"What did you put in there? You've been acting strangely lately. Did you buy something behind my back?"

Jonathan walked over and snatched the safe deposit box from me.

Faced with the combination lock, he was clueless. He narrowed his eyes at me, his gaze threatening.

I said softly, "Our wedding anniversary."

That date had just passed not long ago, but the man before me kept trying different combinations and still couldn't open it.

Finally, he was utterly fed up. Then, he threw it back at me and snapped.

"I don't care what you bought. Throw it out. Daphne, you don't deserve to spend my money."

I didn't say a word, clutching the safe deposit box as I returned to the guest room.

Jonathan seemed to want to say more, but Wendy suddenly claimed she felt unwell. He quickly carried her back to the main bedroom.

After settling Wendy down, he came downstairs and, unusually, instructed the housekeeper, "Make a few dishes tonight that are good for blood. The ones Madam likes."

Back in the guest room, when I stepped inside, I saw my suitcase had been smashed and the things inside were either broken or missing.

I was thankful I had my ID card on me and some other documents had survived only because I had forgotten to pack them.

I opened the safe deposit box and carefully placed everything inside into my inner pockets.

Just as I was about to leave, Wendy leaned against the doorframe, blocking my way.

"Wow, Daphne. I didn't think you were this good at pretending."

Her red lips were slightly curled. Her voice dripped with sarcasm.

"You can still pretend to be so calm, even though I have ridden on your head and bullied you."

I clenched my fists, my nails digging into my palms.

Then Wendy suddenly acted like she remembered something and dramatically covered her mouth.

"Oh, right. Do you know why Jonathan didn't drive you to the hospital last month when your old man was on his deathbed?"

She waved her phone at me. The screen showed a picture of her and Jonathan, cuddled together on a trip abroad.

"It was because I had a beauty treatment appointment that day and Jonathan said my face was more important than that old man's life."

I slapped the phone out of her hand. She screamed and shoved me hard. I stumbled back into a bookshelf. A delicate antique vase crashed to the floor and shattered.

Right at that moment, the ground began to tremble violently.

"An … an earthquake!"

Wendy's face turned deathly pale. She turned to run but was blocked by a fallen bookcase.

Thick smoke started rising at the end of the hallway and a short circuit sparked a fire.

My body was still weak from just being discharged from the hospital and quickly gave way. I collapsed onto the broken glass scattered on the floor.

"Daphne!"

I heard Jonathan's voice coming from afar, followed by the housekeeper's dissuasion, "Mr. Zander! It's too dangerous!"

"Get out of the way!"

The sound of footsteps grew closer. Jonathan rushed into the smoke-filled room.

The first thing he saw was Wendy huddled in a corner, sobbing.

"Jonathan! I'm so scared." Wendy reached out her arms.

Jonathan picked her up without hesitation. When he turned around, he finally saw me lying on the ground.

Our eyes met. His lips moved, but in the end, he said nothing. He carried Wendy as they disappeared into the smoke.

The earthquake quickly subsided, but it took the firefighters an hour to extinguish the fire.

Jonathan asked repeatedly, but no one said they had seen me.

Neither in life nor in death was my body found.

At the airport, after I mailed out everything I needed to, I clutched my chest and prepared to board my flight.

My phone rang again. It was Jonathan.

I calmly pulled out the SIM card and tossed it into the trash.

Jonathan, from this day forward, you and I have absolutely nothing to do with each other.