Chapter 4

The next morning, I packed my things to check out of the hospital.

As I was carrying my luggage downstairs, Ryder suddenly rushed up to me.

His eyes were bloodshot. He grabbed my wrist, his grip so tight it felt like he was going to crush my bones.

"Where's Sarah? What have you done with Sara Lee?!"

I was furious and in pain, struggling to pull away. "How would I know where she is? Let go of me!"

Ryder scoffed in rage. "You don't know? Who else would target her but you?!"

He abruptly pulled out his phone and played a blurry surveillance video.

In the footage, Sara was stabbed in the abdomen and collapsed in a small alley, blood pooling beneath her.

Ryder watched the video, his eyes brimming with anguish, his voice taking on a pleading tone. "Sarah, I'm begging you, let her go. I shouldn't have betrayed you, but please, once I get her out, I'll make her transfer and leave the military, I'll never contact her again. Just tell me the address, if we wait any longer, she'll be in danger!"

The last time he had begged me like this was when I was clinging to life after falling off the cliff.

Then, he held me, crying, begging the doctors to save me.

Lost in thought, I shook my head expressionlessly. "It wasn't me. I really don't know where she is."

Ryder's face grew cold, inch by inch. "You're really not going to tell me?"

He suddenly sneered, dragging me by the wrist towards his military SUV parked on the roadside.

I desperately struggled, trying to open the car door, but he just pressed the central lock.

The next second, he pulled out a military knife and slashed my arm hard.

"Ah!"

Excruciating pain ripped through me, and blood instantly soaked my sleeve.

Ryder's eyes were bloodshot, his voice as cold as ice. "Tell me the address!"

I was trembling all over. "I told you… I don't know…"

Our eyes met, and the ruthlessness in his gaze was like a poisoned dagger, stabbing my heart again and again.

Before I could react, the military knife slashed my arm a second time, then a third…

"Speak! The address!" he roared, demanding an answer with every cut.

Blood streamed down my arm, dripping onto the car seat, blooming into shocking red stains.

I curled up in pain, my tear-blurred eyes fixed on his cold profile. "I really don't know… Ryder, how could you do this to me…"

Time ticked by, and with each passing second, Sara's danger increased.

Ryder completely lost control. He clamped his hands around my throat, the hatred in his eyes terrifying. "Are you only satisfied if she dies? Where is she?! Where have you hidden her?! Speak, Sarah!"

My vision swam with black spots, my breathing grew increasingly difficult. In my blurring consciousness, I could only weep silently: "I regret it so much… how could I have ever loved you…"

Just when I thought I was about to suffocate, Ryder's military communicator suddenly rang.

He abruptly let go of me, frantically answering. "Major General Vance! Lieutenant Lee has been found!"

Ryder's eyes instantly lit up. "I'm on my way!"

He hung up and then brutally kicked me out of the car.

Ryder looked at me through the car window, his eyes cold. "You better pray Sara is okay, or I won't let you off the hook!"

When I woke up again, I was in a VIP private room at the military hospital.

Due to severe blood loss, doctors had worked for a full day and night to pull me back from the brink of death.

My arm was thickly bandaged, and over a dozen scars of varying depths were faintly visible through the gauze, each one a testament to Ryder's brutality.

Just outside the door, I overheard nurses discussing Ryder's overwhelming devotion to Sara.

To save her, he had summoned all the hospital's specialists for her treatment.

While she was in surgery, he disregarded regulations, personally going to St. Jude's Chapel to pray for her safety.

While she was unconscious, he stayed by her bedside night after night without blinking, watching over her.

I listened in silence, my heart completely calm, no longer stirred.

I completed the discharge procedures and requested a full injury report from the hospital.

Just as I reached the hospital entrance, my lawyer's call came through. "Ms. Stone, the divorce has been finalized. According to the agreement, Commander Vance's military housing, personal honorarium, and other assets will all be transferred to your name within a week."

I looked up at the high-hanging sun in the sky.

I offered a faint, fleeting smile, then calmly said, "Please send Ryder's divorce certificate to him, cash on delivery."

After the lawyer acknowledged, my gaze fell on my bandaged arm, and my voice chilled slightly. "Also, file a lawsuit against Ryder for aggravated assault, with no possibility of settlement."

The moment I stepped onto the plane, I expressionlessly removed my phone's SIM card, broke it, and tossed it into the trash can.

Ryder, eight years of marriage, our feelings completely severed.