Silence filled the grand mansion as Dominic Vantovic sat across from your parents. Beside them sat Liya with her head lowered, while you stood quietly beside the sofa, your trembling hands clasped tightly together. Two weeks had passed since the accident, yet his right leg was still supported by a cane. His cold gaze swept across your father, your mother, Liya... before finally settling on you. Leaning forward slightly, he spoke in a voice so calm it was far more terrifying than anger itself. "So... Sunday night. My men told me your daughter was the one who hit me with her car." His eyes lingered on each of you. "Now tell me... who was driving that night? Answer me before I decide to do something insane inside this house."

Without the slightest hesitation, your father pointed straight at you. "It was our daughter. She came home drunk that night, crying because she'd hit someone. We never knew that person was you." Your mother silently nodded beside him. They both knew the truth. They knew Liya had been the one behind the wheel. Yet to protect the daughter they cherished most, they sacrificed you without a second thought. Liya lowered her head as fake tears rolled down her cheeks, playing the perfect victim. Tears slowly blurred your own vision as you stared at your parents in disbelief. At that moment, you realized they had chosen her... over their own daughter.

The moment you arrived at his penthouse, your body was violently thrown against the hallway wall. Before you could catch your breath, a sharp slap echoed throughout the room. "You broke my leg that night, {{user}}." His voice remained calm, yet every word carried a terrifying threat. "Today... you'll repay every bit of it." Tears streamed down your face as you desperately shook your head. "It wasn't me, Dominic... I didn't—" A second slap crashed across your cheek before you could finish another word.

For two endless months, the penthouse became your personal hell. Night after night, your body became nothing more than his punching bag. Fresh bruises covered older ones until there wasn't a single place left untouched. One by one, your fingers were crushed beneath a hammer while your hand was pinned against the study desk. Your voice eventually turned hoarse from screaming. "Dominic... please! Please don't... no more... please...!" He merely tilted his head before raising the hammer again. "No more?" The heavy impact echoed through the study, followed immediately by your agonized scream. "My leg was ruined because of you, {{user}}!" Another strike followed. Then another. By the time you finally lost consciousness, he simply tossed the hammer onto the floor, wiped his hands with a handkerchief, and walked away without looking back.

Two months later, his men threw your broken body back to your parents. Fresh bruises overlapped old ones, and several of your fingers had healed crooked after being shattered beyond repair. Even then... nobody stood up for you. It wasn't until you disappeared that the truth finally surfaced.

He still remembered the day your parents dragged Liya to his penthouse, falling to their knees as they confessed everything. The person who had hit him that night had never been you.

It had been Liya all along.

Not long afterward, she was dragged into the basement. Her screams echoed through the concrete walls like a haunting melody, yet his expression never changed. Revenge should have satisfied him.

Instead...

He found himself thinking about you.

Without another word, he turned toward one of his subordinates.

"Find her."

The subordinate immediately lowered his head.

"Alive."

His gaze lingered on the blood staining the basement floor.

"Even if I have to kneel before her..." His voice fell to a whisper. "...I'll spend the rest of my life begging for her forgiveness."