Chapter 5
Quill’s pupils contracted sharply when he saw Nora’s unwavering finger pointing at him, and he froze as if struck by lightning.
“I didn’t…”
Before he could finish, Nora’s wailing cries for her “Daddy” drowned out his voice. Corey then rushed forward, scooping her into his arms.
“Quill, no matter how much you hate me, you could have directed it at me! Why’d you harm Nora? She’s only five years old. How could you be so heartless?”
Corey’s accusations, coupled with Nora’s convincing performance, painted a damning picture. If Quill hadn’t been the one accused, even he might have believed their version of events.
But all he felt was a deep, chilling despair in that moment. His lips pressed into a thin line as he stared intensely at Nora.
“Tell the truth. Who really threw you from the second floor?”
“Enough, Quill!”
Aspen stood abruptly as her eyes blazed with fury.
“I married you because you seemed honest and obedient, but I never imagined you could be so malicious as to harm a five-year-old child!
“If you refuse to admit your wrongdoing, fine. Someone, lock him up in the isolation room. He’ll stay there until he confesses!”
Aspen was fully convinced by Corey and Nora’s claims, and she rendered her judgment without hesitation. Her gaze toward Quill brimmed with contempt, and she didn’t care to hear another word from him. She ordered the bodyguards to take him back to the villa and lock him in the isolation room.
“Aspen, it wasn’t me!
“I have claustrophobia. You can’t lock me in there!
“Help! Someone, please let me out!”
In the pitch-black isolation room, devoid of even a sliver of light, Quill’s face turned pale as he pounded relentlessly on the locked door.
His voice was hoarse and raw from shouting for hours by morning. Even so, no one came to his aid.
His cries for help gradually weakened, and his pounding on the door grew feeble. The oppressive air in the room made it difficult for him to breathe, suffocating his thoughts and eroding his remaining awareness.
Eventually, his consciousness began to fade into darkness.
A hazy memory of his wife and child surfaced in his mind before his last shred of consciousness faded.
They were still waiting for him in another world and were waiting to reunite with him.
They were different from Aspen and Nora—they were his true loved ones and his real family.
He remembered how he was afraid of the dark, and how his wife would gently soothe him to sleep every night. His sweet, tiny daughter would lie beside him while her chubby little hands patted his back as she reassured him, “Daddy, don’t be scared!”
Back then, he was genuinely happy. But a sudden car accident had shattered everything. His wife and child were left in a vegetative state, and he was trapped in this world.
He couldn’t give up.
He must not give up.
He was so close—just a little more, and he could leave this place and reunite with them.
Quill was finally released the next day, and his face was pale and drained.
Aspen stood before him. She was silent for a moment before speaking. “I reviewed the surveillance footage. It wasn’t your fault, but Corey didn’t do it on purpose either.”
Quill found it laughable when he heard her casually dismiss everything with such indifference. When she thought he had hurt Nora, she had locked him in the isolation room without a second thought.
But now that it was Corey, all she could say was that it wasn’t intentional?
He couldn’t help it—he simply laughed out loud. Aspen frowned at his reaction, and her tone was tinged with impatience.
“What are you laughing at? Nora didn’t mean to falsely accuse you. Now she’s asking for the food you make. Prepare it and bring it to her.”
She spoke as if it were the most natural thing in the world. It was as though no matter what injustice he suffered, he should still be grateful to serve them whenever they needed him.
Quill wanted to refuse, but the system’s constraints forced him to suppress all his emotions. Pressing his lips together, he reluctantly agreed.
“Fine. Only five days left.”
Aspen’s frown deepened as she heard his muttered remark. “What’s with all this talk about seven days, five days—what are you going on about?”
“Nothing,” he replied without a hint of nervousness as he brushed her question aside. Fortunately, she seemed to ask only out of passing curiosity and didn’t dwell on it.
