Chapter 8 Back then , I had asked him , " Elton , are you playing me ? " Elton pushed the woman off his lap and staggered toward me , reeking of alcohol . " That's right . I am playing you . So what ? " But seeing how miserable your life's been since you left me , I suddenly feel a little soft - hearted . Why don't you really marry me ? " But I don't love you anymore . So you'll have to be obedient and well - behaved . I have many women . If you keep getting jealous and crying over that , I'll get really annoyed . " Hearing Elton say that he didn't love me anymore made me burst into tears . I inhaled deeply and prepared to reveal the truth to him at last . " I came here today to tell you that I don't want to marry you . The reason I broke up with you back then was because of my " mom- " Before I could finish speaking , Elton interrupted me harshly , " Don't mention your mother to me ! I treated her with if she were my own . But she really was your mother . respect , as " She was just as greedy as you ! You're both the same , tossing me aside for money ! I was only slightly injured back then and needed some money for treatment , but both of you abandoned me without a second thought ! " He stopped reminiscing . His hand suddenly clamped around my chin , painfully tight . " Hedy , I said I was going to marry you . That wasn't a negotiation . You should be grateful and just accept it . Otherwise , believe me - I have plenty of ways to make you mine by force . " He didn't want to hear my explanation . He said he wanted me to suffer , just like he did back then . That was the only way it would be fair . I looked at Elton , feeling as though he were a complete stranger . All the kindness Mom and I had shown him had been buried beneath his hatred . Maybe I was wrong to listen to Mom that year . Maybe I never should've used her treatment money to pay for Elton's leg surgery . I shouldn't have broken up with him then , either . I should have told him the truth and watched as he tried to save me and Mom , only to be defeated by life . I used to be foolish for always prioritizing Elton over myself . Regardless , I was all alone , and I didn't believe that he had any real way to force me into marrying him . But then he threatened me with the only friend I had left in the world . " If my investigation is correct , your dear friend Daisy used to work as a stripper at an underground bar , didn't she ? What do you think would happen if I passed that little detail along to her current boss or her fiance ? Think she'd be able to keep her marriage ? Her job ? " I slapped him across the face furiously . " You bastard ! "