Ashes of Love: Remembering Her Smile

Ten years ago, I saved a drowning boy.

I conducted a rapid rescue on him. After waking up, he told me, "I have decided to marry you when I grow up!"

Thinking that he was joking, I didn't take his words seriously.

Ten years later, the boy grew up, becoming a crazy and domineering CEO, whose name was Brian Hawk.

At my wedding with my fiancé, he led a group of people and beat up my fiancé, forcibly taking me away.

"I told you I would marry you. Your husband can only be me."

He threatened me with my whole family's lives and forced me to marry him.

He imprisoned me in a private villa, allowing no man to be in touch with me.

To win me over, he tried every means, but I remained unmoved.

He became furious and found someone who was 90% like me to replace me.

Relying on his affection and favoritism, the substitute, Ariel Berg, did whatever she wanted and broke into the villa where I lived.

"Where did this cheap woman come from? How dare she pretend to be me and seduce my man? I will tear you apart today!"

She stripped me naked, cut off my tongue, and ordered the bodyguards to ravage and humiliate me.

Only after I was tortured to death did Brian arrive late.

Ariel dragged my body to the front of Brian, who was overbearing.

She proudly said, "Darling, this woman, who had done plastic surgery, wanted to hide here and seduce you. I killed her for you!"

Brian Hawk was infatuated and crazy.

According to him, right from the moment I saved him, he decided to marry no one else but me!

To win me over, he imprisoned me for three years and tried every means to please me every day. But I, who didn't love him at all, couldn't accept him!

Recently, he got a substitute who looked like me.

The two of them had been getting along affectionately for several months.

To provoke me, Brian often forwarded me videos showing how ambiguous they were on WhatsApp.

As I was sitting in the courtyard and enjoying their videos, there was a sudden burst of noise outside.

"Brian comes here every few days. Today, I want to see what kind of treasures are hidden in this villa!"

"But didn't Mr. Hawk say that this villa was his private restricted area, and no one was allowed to come here?"

"Yes, Ariel, I heard that someone took a glance inside the villa before. Mr. Hawk broke his hands and dug out his eyes. Isn't it inappropriate for us to sneak in without his permission?"

"What are you afraid of? Brian dotes on me to the bone. He won't blame me."

Listening to the noisy sound outside the courtyard, I frowned slightly and felt uneasy.

I knew better than anyone about how crazy Brian was.

He had strong possessiveness, treating me as his private possession and imprisoning me in this villa.

Someone once had sneaked into my villa out of curiosity and taken a glance at me.

Brian disabled his hands and feet, digging out his eyes. The next day, the man vanished into the void.

At first, he was only jealous of other men. Later, he realized that I, who had never been gentle to him, treated the housemaid gently.

He dismissed all the housemaids in a fit of anger.

He would rather personally deliver daily meals to me than let anyone else do it. Except him, no one else could look at me in my eyes for a moment.

"If those people outside the courtyard come in, they may be in big trouble."

I quickly got up and intended to remind them to leave here as soon as possible.

As soon as the door opened, someone who looked almost the same as me came into my view.

Before I could say something, she slapped me hard across my face.

"Where did this cheap woman come from? How dare she disguise herself as me and hide in Brian's villa. Do you want to compete with me for a man?"

She hit me with a sudden slap, making my face burn with pain.

"You cheap woman who did plastic surgery. Do you know where you are? How dare you barge in here without the owner's permission?"

"You deliberately made yourself look like Ariel to seduce Mr. Hawk. You let go of your dignity to climb up the ladder, right?"

At this moment, I finally realized that the person who had suddenly come in and attacked me was Ariel Berg, the substitute who Brian had found.

Because of Brian's pathological desire for control, I had always been indifferent towards him.

Even though I was forced to marry him, I treated him indifferently. I never let him touch me.

Perhaps out of resentment, or to make up for his regrets, he searched everywhere for someone who resembled me.

Ariel Berg was the substitute he had found, who resembled me the most.

At this moment, Ariel, looking furious, looked at me with overwhelming resentment.

"You slut. You know that Brian is hopelessly in love with me, so you try every means to make yourself look like me. You want to replace me as my double, don't you?"

Ariel was arrogant and flamboyant. "Since she doesn't know the truth, I don't intend to argue with her about why she slapped me."

Instead, I kindly advised her.

"You shouldn't be here. Before Brian arrives, leave here quickly. Otherwise, no one can help you."

However, Ariel didn't appreciate my kindness at all.

Instead, she grabbed my hair angrily and said, "Brian is my man. I can wander around everywhere in his territory. You're planning to drive me away. After all, You're afraid that I, the rightful owner, will ruin your scheme and leave you with no chance to be a mistress, right?"

"Today, I will make you know the consequences of stealing my man!"

After saying that, Ariel kicked me to the ground.

I stumbled onto the rocks. My forehead instantly cracked open.

I touched the blood on my forehead and looked at the imposing Ariel.

I said indifferently, "Aren't you afraid that Brian will find out about your reckless behavior?"

Ariel sneered disdainfully.

"I am the destined love that Brian has been searching for for a long time. Even if I have a little scratch on my face, he will be so worried about me and make himself restless for a few days. Even if he knows about what I did, so what? Will he blame me because of you, an insignificant person?"

Several of Ariel's friends sneered and echoed.

"Exactly. Everyone knows that Mr. Hawk fell in love with Ariel at first sight. How can you, her imitator, who did plastic surgery, compare to her?"

"Ariel, with Mr. Hawk's distinguished identity, there must be many seductive women like this bitch trying to seduce him. Today, we happen to make her an example and scare them off. Then we can cut off the crooked thoughts of those seductive bitches!"

"Yes, we will let those despicable women, who want to climb the social ladder, know who the real Mrs. Hawk is!"

All of them each spoke sharp words and looked fierce. They were eager to tear me apart.

I looked serious and indifferently said, "You'd better ask Brian to find out who I am."

Ariel raised her chin and looked disdainful.

"Do you, a plastic surgery woman, who sneaked into the villa, deserve me to inquire about your identity?"

"I am Brian's favorite. The Berg family is the biggest partner of the Hawk family. Who the hell are you? Are you qualified to show off your status against mine?"

As she said, she looked fierce and ordered several of her best friends behind her.

"Strip this bitch naked. I want to see if she can make her body look exactly like mine."

Hearing this, her best friends immediately rushed over and violently tore off my clothes.

While I was desperately preventing them from stripping my clothes, I shouted, "Stop it. I am Brian's wife!"

...

Hearing what I said, they immediately stopped what they were doing.

Ariel stood aside, squinting at me.

"You said you were Brian's wife?"

I said seriously, "Yes, you are a substitute he found. If he knows that you hurt me like this, he will not let you go."

I thought that Ariel would thus retreat after I revealed the truth.

Unexpectedly, they burst into laughter almost at the same time.

"This bitch! Is she that eager to take my place?"

"Relying on the fact that she looks somewhat similar to Ariel, she dares to say that Ariel is her substitute?"

"Everyone knows that Mr. Hawk always takes Ariel with him wherever he goes. You, a sneaky plastic surgery woman, dare to call yourself Mr. Hawk's wife?"

On the other hand, Ariel smiled viciously.

"I thought you would be something. After all, you disguise yourself as me to seduce Brian. I didn't expect you to be a brainless idiot."

"I've been with Brian for so long. I didn't even know he had a wife. Are you that bold? How dare you tell such an outrageous lie?"

"If you were the real Mrs. Hawk, how could you live alone in this desolate villa without anyone knowing it?"

After saying that, Ariel snorted and ordered her several girlfriends.

"Continue to strip her clothes. Leave nothing behind!"

Upon hearing this, her best friends did not hesitate as they violently tore off my clothes.

None of them knew the reason why no one was around this villa.

"Brian bought all this large piece of land. No one can come here without his permission."

"Originally, bodyguards and maids were living here. Because of Brian's jealousy, he dismissed everyone."

"He doesn't announce my identity to the public so that others won't take an extra glance at me."

"Even if they are discussing things related to me, he will feel it's blasphemy against me."

I never expected that all Brian had done to me would become the reason why they had doubts about my identity.

Seeing my clothes being torn to pieces, I panicked and shouted.

"I am Brian's wife. If you don't believe me, call him!"

After hearing what I said, they became even more fierce. They didn't stop what they were doing.

While tearing off my clothes frantically, they slapped me in the face.

"You damn bitch. Do you dare to lie? Let's see how we will wake you up today!"

Soon, my face turned red and swollen.

I was disheveled. With my clothes barely covering me, a lot of skin on my body was exposed.

Seeing this, Ariel narrowed her eyes and said gently, "This bitch's hair is too annoying. It's hindering her from showing off her body."

...

As she said that, she revealed an evil smile and took out a lighter.

She set my hair on fire.

The fire quickly spread on my head. An intense burning sensation engulfed me.

For a moment, my cheeks, ears, and entire scalp felt a burst of strong burning pain.

The pain was unbearable. I instinctively tried to pat out the fire with my hands, but they firmly held me down.

In the blink of an eye, my hair was all burned.

My scalp was covered in burn marks.

At my look, Ariel laughed with satisfaction.

"It's funny. With your bald and ugly face, how are you going to seduce men in the future?"

Her several close friends laughed and applauded.

I stared at them, trembling all over.

Then I shouted, "You will regret this!"

Brian threatened me with the lives of my entire family. I had been imprisoned for many years.

I stayed at the empty villa in a daze day after day.

It made me even more frustrated.

Now, I had to endure Ariel's torment.

The anger in my heart instantly turned into intense hatred.

Ariel walked up to me and stepped heavily on my face with her foot.

"How dare you challenge me? Since what you say will always displease me, you shouldn't speak anymore."

"Cut off this bitch's tongue!"

With her command, one of Ariel's bodyguards behind her walked towards me with a dagger in his hands.

Seeing this, one of Ariel's best friends, who was timid, said fumblingly, "Ariel, this is Mr. Hawk's territory after all. Is it appropriate for us to make such a big scene?"

...

Ariel said without hesitation, "What's wrong? Brian is my man. His house is my house. I'm just educating a shameless bitch in my home. Who dares to say anything to me?"

...

"Besides, Brian loves me so much. Even if I kill this bitch, he won't frown at me."

Her other girlfriends echoed.

"That's right. Ariel is Mr. Hawk's most beloved woman. There's nothing she can't do."

"When the time comes, Mr. Hawk will only feel sorry for Ariel for exhausting herself from dealing with the bitch."

Hearing their words, the timid girl no longer had any concerns. She watched the show with peace of mind.

I lay on the ground, watching the dagger in the bodyguard's hands. He was getting closer and closer to me.

I was extremely frightened, shouting in panic, "I am indeed Brian's wife! If you do this, Brian will never let you go!"

...

However, my threats had no effect.

The bodyguard came to me and extended a dagger towards me.

I wanted to escape, but several of Ariel's best friends firmly held me down.

I wanted to hide, but the dagger, shining with cold light, had deeply cut into my mouth.

The bodyguard lifted his hand and stabbed at me with the dagger.

In a daze, I saw a large amount of blood and my severed tongue falling from my mouth.

...

The pain was extreme.

I felt like all the nerves in my body were severed. I was about to faint.

I was like a pile of mud, lying in a pool of blood. I couldn't move, and my breath was weak.

Ariel stood with her arms crossed, looking down at me. She said, "Even though you had plastic surgery to make yourself look like me, with your appearance, Brian would never take you seriously. He loves me as a person. Got it?"

"Not everyone can live such a good life as me. Brian won't fall in love with any woman."

"Since you, a bitch, are so desperate for a man, I'll reward you with a few men."

After saying that, she looked at the several bodyguards behind her.

She said indifferently, "I'll give this bitch to you to play with. Whoever works the hardest on her, I'll reward them with 2 million dollars!"

At Ariel's words, the bodyguards' eyes instantly lit up.

They rubbed their hands eagerly and fiercely, planning to pounce on me.

I collapsed on the ground without any strength to resist.

I wanted to shout, but I had no tongue. My mouth was full of blood. I couldn't make a sound.

I could only let them ravage me.

Brian imprisoned me here obsessively.

But he had never hurt me or touched me.

Even if I didn't want to get close to him, he never forced himself on me.

He said he would wait for the day when I was willing to give myself to him.

He said I was destined to be his in this lifetime.

But now, I was overwhelmed by a group of bodyguards. I was helpless.

Helplessness and despair engulfed me.

I couldn't speak, crying uncontrollably.

"Brian, is this the result you want?"

A few of Ariel's best friends watched the show and praised Ariel. They said, "Ariel is destined to be Mrs. Hawk. She is good at teaching others a lesson."

"Yes. See? This despicable woman was stubborn at first, but now she is made to cry. It's funny. She probably won't dare to seduce men anymore in the future."

"Congratulations to Ariel for successfully getting rid of a despicable bitch. Let's see who dares to compete with you for the position of Mrs. Hawk in the future!"

Ariel smiled victoriously and proudly as they praised her.

The excited bodyguards suddenly looked strange.

The next moment, a bodyguard stood up and pointed at me.

He reported, saying, "Miss Berg, this woman is dead!"

Hearing this, Ariel frowned and looked disgusted.

"How unlucky! Bury her somewhere quickly in case she will stink Brian's eyes!"

As soon as she finished speaking, Brian walked into the courtyard.

"What are you doing?"