8-Month-Pregnant, Strapped to a Drop Tower by Him

Chapter 6

James' father, in the end, couldn't withstand the public outrage and the company's collapse. He jumped from the same place where his mother had ended her life.

After that, the James I had known, the boy who once shone with warmth, was gone.

It was then that I finally found the courage to confess my long-buried feelings for him.

But James gave me no response.

Still, I chose to stay by his side.

I even knelt before my parents, begging them to help him.

I was their only daughter, and faced with my tearful pleas, they finally relented.

James was so young then, yet his shoulders carried the weight of rebuilding an empire. Under his leadership, Miller Corp slowly recovered.

Two years after we graduated college, my parents left for a trip and never came back. A car accident took them both.

Before they died, they arranged a wedding for me and James.

And they handed Miller Corp over to him.

Their only request was that he treat me, and the child in my belly, well.

For years, James, who had always been distant, slowly began to let me in.

As for the night I risked my life to save him, I never mentioned it. I didn't want to reopen wounds that had barely healed.

I thought love could melt the ice.

And for a while, it felt like everything was finally falling into place.

Until Sophia came back.

I guess James really did love her with everything he had.

Even though she abandoned him at his lowest point, the moment she needed him, he was right there, protecting her, caring for her, like nothing had changed.

Unlike me…

I had given him everything. Stood by his side when no one else would. And in the end, the happiness I thought I had… was nothing more than an illusion.

But it doesn't matter now.

I'm already dead.

At least I don't have to lie to myself anymore.

Let's just call these years with him what they really were, stolen time.

,

The manager's words left James in silence.

Even as Sophia turned pale at the sight of my corpse, he didn't react.

For the first time since that night, James ignored her.

A flicker of resentment flashed across her face before she suddenly collapsed into his arms.

"James," she whispered, voice trembling, "you don't actually believe this is Emily, do you? You know better than anyone, she survived after you threw her into the mountains for seven days. How could she possibly die from a drop tower ride?"

Sophia's words seemed to jolt James back to life.

His expression darkened.

He waved his hand, and his bodyguards immediately grabbed the manager, shoving him to the ground.

"You're right. A snake like Emily doesn't die that easily."

"She probably thought she could fake her death and I'd let her go."

At James' signal, his men began to beat the manager mercilessly.

But no matter how much they hit him, the manager only groaned in pain, gritting his teeth as he insisted that the corpse on the ground was really me.

I watched the scene unfold, a pang of guilt settling in my chest.

I'm sorry. I never meant for you to get caught up in this.

Then my gaze shifted to James.

What are you going crazy for, James?

I'm right here.

The beating continued until the manager was barely clinging to life. When even that couldn't force a confession out of him, James finally ordered them to stop.

He turned to his men.

"Take the body to the hospital."

"When the test results prove this fake corpse isn't Emily, I'll deal with you myself."

The manager, barely able to move, reached into his pocket with shaking fingers and pulled out a USB drive.

"Sir," he rasped, blood dripping from his lips, "just watch this. You'll understand everything. I swear, I haven't lied to you."

,

"I" was sent to the hospital.

James, meanwhile, took Sophia home.

As if nothing had happened.

That night, they made love on my marriage bed.

But James, who had always treated Sophia like the most delicate thing in the world, was different tonight.

He was rough, almost desperate, taking out all his frustration on her body.

Not even her tears could soften him.

"Everything is Emily's fault," he muttered against her skin. "You're the only one that matters."

"If it weren't for you, I would've died when I was eighteen."

His voice dropped to a low growl.

"The words you said to me that night… I'll remember them for the rest of my life."

He looked at her, eyes dark with longing.

"Say them to me again."

Sophia stiffened.

Her gaze darted away, panic flickering in her expression. "James… It's been so long. Who would still remember something like that?"

James didn't seem to hear her hesitation. He kissed her fiercely.

"But I remember."

"You said, 'As long as we're alive, things will get better and better, and I'll always be by your side.'"

With a strangled sob, Sophia turned her face away, her body trembling.

And I, watching it all unfold, felt my world tilt.

The truth hit me like a slap to the face.

So that's what it was.

That's why James loved her so much.

All these years…

I was never the one who saved him.