Cassidy can only be skeptical as she processes what Olivia said about Adrian, thinking that he can't be possibly siding with her to the point of turning his back on his own family after all these times.

Sure, he had gotten a lot softer these days. He has been nothing but kind, gentle, and caring towards her - she will be lying if she says that it reminds her so much of their forgotten past. Of course, she is not so dense that she fails to notice such a thing. However, she also believes that it can only go that far, and she is no longer hoping for more.

​​

Cassidy is done with hoping too much, after all - she feels nothing but tired at this point.

Besides, she can't continue to stay by his side. Knowing that his family is the one that is behind the demise of her own, she can't help but want to escape this place at this very moment only if she can. Everything is so messed up that she can't bear it any longer. It is not just right anymore - they ought to go in their own ways.

"Nice one, Ofelia. You've got me thinking for a while there, huh..." Cassidy quipped with a scheming smile, eventually snapping out of her thoughts.

"Hopefully, you've got enough time to brace yourself for what I'm about to do to you."

Oliva shudders in utter fear, knowing quite well what is going to happen.

Irish is close to bursting out, and if it is not only for the fact that she will only be wasting her efforts to be as sincerely bare and genuinely apologetic as she can, she will definitely put an end to this madness. Yet at the same time, she knows for herself that both of them deserve this. This is nothing but the starting line of their ending point - a stop to their own insanity.

After everything that they have made Cassidy go through, a burn or two and even a thousand slaps are not going to cut it.

"Y-Yes... I-I'm r-ready..." Olivia stammered out and lowered her head, still kneeling on the floor right in front of Cassidy.

"Y-You can d-do it. I-I won't b-budge or a-anything."

As she said that, another batch of tears began to stream down the sides of her face. Perhaps, this is enough preparation for what Adrian is going to do - getting burned before an audience, that is. With this, she will get to know what it truly feels like to suffer the consequences of her actions.

At the very least, going by how much Olivia is willing to go this far, she becomes more sure that she does want to change and start anew - it is not only because she owes her sister-in-law many things or she is merely saving face.

"You know, Ofelia..." Cassidy started again, her expression softening for a bit.

"I'm not a villainess that will stoop to your levels, but at the same time, I'm not a saintess to forgive you right away."

"Huh?" Olivia blurted out and looked up again, taken aback to find her staring down at her with a lifeless, empty gaze.

"I can see how willing you are to get my forgiveness - I think that's enough for me. That is why I'm not going to do anything to you. It's not how I do things, to begin with."

While she can only gape at her in nonplus and disbelief, everyone else who is watching reacts stunned once again. They are all so certain that she is going to do it. Then again, she is one who keeps her words - she gets what she wants however she wants to. What's more, she appears dangerously provoked, vengeful and unforgiving. Even now, she seems to be like that.

But then, Cassidy only does nothing and smiles weakly, baffling Olivia and the rest of them.

"I may be a sucker for troubles, but karma is more of a bitch than me. Let her do her thing..." she remarked as she put her hand on top of her head, making her flinch a little in surprise.

"With that said, dearest sister-in-law, all I can do is hope that you suffer what you deserve. Give up your hopes of being forgiven and die with regrets."

Indeed, Cassidy is not going to stoop to their levels, believing that the best revenge is no revenge at all - she will just return the favor by watching at the front seat once karma hits these people.

---

"P-Please...! N-No more...! Please...!"

Inside a dim, abandoned warehouse, there ceaselessly resounds the piercing shriek of a man who is on the verge of death. Along with his cries for mercy are the sounds of splashing water, breathless gurgling, and laborious panting. As if those hellish noises are not spine-chilling enough, the sight itself can make anyone's blood run cold.

Kneeling in the middle of these tall, dark figures in suits is their captive - a blindfolded, handcuffed man with bloodstains all over his ripped clothing. Before him is a tank filled with water from which his head is being repetitively slammed into. This is torture in all its glory, taking responsibility for this person's wretched state and damned fate.

"Oh, come on... We're not going to kill you or anything. You won't be in this situation had you spilled the beans early on..." said the mastermind of this entire nightmarish torment.

"Or maybe, you still would. You had done more than enough to earn yourself the death penalty. Engaging in crimes like illegal transactions, human trafficking, and corruption in the form of ghost workers... Oh, how you deserve more than this."

Adrian sits idly on a chair in front of his captured prey, a deep scowl marring his frame.

Before turning devious individuals like him to the police, he has his most trusted men kidnap each one of them in order to gather more leads and pieces of evidence. Their hostage this time is the head manager of the company's social relations who turns out to be conducting illicit activities for years under the protection of the core of corruption - Grisham himself.

Of course, the way he does things now is different from back then. He is not that naive that he will repeat the same mistake.

Aside from abducting them and documenting their guilty confessions as well as their acknowledgment of their crimes, he makes sure that all the proofs will eventually lead to his grandfather. Even if he lost his memories again, he already had someone else who would take his place and pick up where he left off.

"I-I beg of you, whoever you are! P-Please, release me! I-I will do anything! Just tell me how much you want! Just what is it do you want?!" their captive proceeded to plead desperately.

"What I want? I think a lot more than this."

As Adrian said that, he stood up from his seat and stepped on his head before forcing him to drown in the water for more than a minute, carrying an apathetic and malevolent demeanor all the while.

He did not mention this on purpose because he might get seen through, but he knew that he was one of the people who planned the incessant pursuit of his wife. Just thinking about it makes him want to drown him for good at that very second.

Cold-blooded and merciless - it is all that Adrian is at that moment.

They were quite clean in staying anonymous - even more than before. Then again, there is no need to be too complicated about the procedures. They already had their initial research from years ago, and all they needed was to force their abductees to lead them to their fellow criminals and perpetrators.

"Since he is one of the board of directors, I believe that we are almost there, President..." Charles chimed in from behind Adrian while scanning the record of their next targets.

"Now, if only I had known that this was what you had been doing several years ago, I could have seen this through myself. If it was not for the recovery of your memories, this record would have continued to accumulate dust at the corner of my office."

"The less you know that time the better, Charles. You were still a student back then, and you could not possibly go against my grandfather all by yourself. I almost failed to protect all of you, so I was grateful enough that I was able to hide your identities and that you still kept that record with you."

"Of course, I would. This is too big to forget and move on from."

"Don't worry. This time, I'll finish everything for sure."

Ever since Adrian recovered his memories, he started going after the corrupts in his company, the perpetrators involved in the assassination, and the culprits behind the arson that burned down the orphanage where Cassidy came from.

Charles had learned about everything the day after Adrian remembered - way back when he was still in the hospital. He was the only one who knew, though. Not even Cassidy nor his other relatives knew about this. Then again, it is too much of a risk to have anyone else making a fuss over this, considering that Grisham is around up until now.

"I do think that Ma'am Cassidy should know about this, though," Charles said while Adrian only remained quiet for a moment and recalled how long he was bracing himself for that.

"Yeah, I know. I've already been thinking that I'll do it tonight."