Chapter 9 "Katherine, they were just joking with you." Theodore reached out, trying to wipe the dirt from her face, but she avoided him. Katherine's smile was full of sarcasm: "A joke? Was it a joke to shove my head into a cake with lit candles? Or to drench me in ketchup?" Her expression was icy to the extreme, making Theodore inexplicably anxious, as if something very important was about to leave him. He suppressed his discomfort, but his usually calm voice still trembled a little. "Katherine, as long as you don't get angry, don't call the police, I can give you anything you want as compensation." Katherine looked at him quietly, and after a long pause, finally said, "I want the watch I gave you before." Theodore instinctively grabbed his left wrist, feeling an inexplicable urge to refuse. But at that moment, the group behind them cried out in alarm: "Something's wrong, Isabelle has fainted!" Theodore couldn't care about anything else. He quickly took off the watch and placed it in Katherine's palm, then turned and left. Katherine looked at the perfectly preserved watch in her hand and finally smiled. This was the wedding gift she had wanted to give Maverick, but unfortunately, he had an accident before she could give it to him. Later, Katherine gave the watch to Theodore, as a way to fulfill her wish. Now that it had returned to its original owner, there was nothing left with Theodore that had anything to do with her. In the following days, Katherine completed all the procedures she needed. From then on, she was no longer Katherine, daughter of the Acrea family, nor Theodore's fiancée. She was just her- self. With one day left on the countdown, Katherine bought several connecting flight tickets. Just after she finished buying them, she saw Theodore approaching with a fierce expression. He grabbed Katherine, squeezing her wrist so hard it felt like he would crush her bones: "Belle just played a joke on you, and you leaked her whereabouts, letting Morgan Bagnall kidnap her?" "You know Morgan is my enemy, so why would you send Belle to her death?!" 0.0 % 09:43 Katherine broke free from his grip in pain, "Theodore, are you crazy? How could I possibly kill someone over some- thing like this?" "Ha, save that for him!" Theodore shoved her into the car and drove toward the outskirts. He drove faster and faster, running several red lights. Katherine had only one thought in her mind-Theodore has gone mad! She tried her best to calm down and contacted the fake death team she had hired. Just as she sent her location, Theodore yanked her out and threw her to the ground. Her phone rolled a few times, the screen shattering, and Katherine's heart sank. When she looked up, she was facing a bottomless cliff. Her heart tightened, and she began to tremble uncontrollably. "I've brought the person." Theodore's voice was frighteningly cold. Opposite them, Morgan, the illegitimate son of the Bagnall family, was holding the tightly bound Isabelle, his smile full of mockery. "For the sake of your beloved, Mr. Bagnall, you don't even care about your fiancée, who you're supposed to marry to- morrow." In that instant, Katherine understood everything and looked at Theodore in disbelief. "Theodore, you're going to trade me to get Isabelle back? You know Morgan hates me, how could you..." "Katherine," Theodore's expression was colder than ever, "if you hadn't leaked Belle's whereabouts, she wouldn't have gotten into trouble. You need to atone for your sins." He pushed Katherine over without mercy, then gently caught Isabelle, whom Morgan had pushed toward him, and un- tied her. Isabelle threw her arms around his neck, crying her heart out: "Theo, I thought I'd never see you again." Theodore draped his coat over her and gently wiped away her tears: "I'm sorry, I was late." He picked Isabelle up in his arms and strode away. Morgan kicked Katherine hard. "Katherine, when you schemed and had the Acrea family help Theodore destroy all my businesses, did you ever think this day would come?" Morgan laughed loudly: "To 'repay' you, I've prepared a special gift for you.' 11 With that, he shoved Katherine to the ground. More than twenty burly men standing guard around them stepped forward with clubs and began to beat her merciless- 40.1 % 09:43 "Ah-!" Katherine clearly heard the sound of her shin bone breaking. Theodore paused at the sound, about to turn back, but Isabelle in his arms gasped, "Theo, my wrist hurts so much!" He forgot everything else, settled Isabelle, and drove away. Katherine looked despairingly at the disappearing car and closed her tear-filled eyes. Immediately after, club after club landed on her body. The pain blurred her consciousness, and blood kept pouring from her mouth. Morgan's malicious voice sounded in her ear: "When you're done, take some photos and send them to Theodore as a wedding gift." Hearing this, Katherine opened her eyes in despair. Taking advantage of the thugs' carelessness, she gritted her teeth and used all her strength to rush to the edge of the cliff, staring fiercely at the terrified Morgan. "Morgan, even if I die, I won't let you get your way!" With that, she leaned back and fell off the cliff into the river below.