She raised her eyes and glanced at the man who was sitting next to Henry and frowned.
Of course, she knew Ronald; he was Jamie's cousin and was entangled in a lot of underground mess. Seeing her sitting next to Henry made alarm bells ring inside her head and suddenly Mia stepped back, wanting to bolt out of the room.
As if noticing her actions, Ron smirked and then exclaimed in an obnoxious manner, "Miss Mia, don't be in a hurry to leave yet. You don't want your dear father to be in any more deep trouble than he already is, do you, Miss Mia?"
Hearing his response, Mia felt something twist inside her. When she married Henry, Benjamin had told her that having weaknesses made them vulnerable; she didn't understand what he meant back then but now she does.
She knew this entire situation was a trap. With how sly Ronald was, she was sure that Henry wouldn't catch anything and she, despite knowing that her personal safety was in danger, couldn't back off.
Because her father's life was in the hands of these men.
Henry was a fool in love through and through; as much as she loved this about him in the past, she hated it just as much now. And she hated herself for ignoring his flaws that were so blatantly visible.
"Why did you call me?" She ignored Ronald. No, she was not arrogant or prideful. It was all because she knew the intentions of this man towards her; he had once tried to harass her when she was not even an adult but because Jamie was dating Henry back then, she helped him escape.
She even called his actions childish banter while belittling her and offering backhanded jabs.
Ever since then, Mia had been careful around Ronald and Henry, who knew her resistance had never let this man appear in front of her.
But now that this man was sitting right in front of her, Mia realised once again that Henry was no longer the Henry she had once loved. Maybe their love was shallow, to begin with; if not, how could he not feel the slightest bit of pain by dragging her here and making her stand in front of Ronald like a criminal?
Henry frowned when he heard the edge in her voice. He parted his lips to speak but was interrupted by Ronald.
"What's the rush, Miss Mia?" Ronald tittered and so did the rest of his friends, who were eyeing Mia as if she were some tempting delight that they were going to enjoy in a while. "Sit down and have some drinks; your father —as filthy as he is, has done some really harsh damage—"
"My father isn't filthy and you know it," Mia clenched her fists and interrupted angrily. "Who here is filthy? We have a very good idea that just because they couldn't get what they wanted, they pulled a despicable move to destroy my father's hard-earned reputation."
She sneered coldly, "What can we expect from someone like them?"
Though she never took anyone's name, everyone knew whom she was talking about.
"MIA!"
"What?" Mia turned to look at Henry with a cold look in her eyes, which unsettled him. "Did I say anything wrong? Did I take anyone's name?"
"You—"
"Alright, alright," though pissed with Mia's words, Ronald still waved his hand generously. "Come sit down, Miss Mia. There is no need for you to be so offensive, right? We are asking you to drink a few glasses of wine as an apology. As long as you drink the wine and apologize to my cousin, we will let this matter go."
"How can I trust you?" Mia asked. Even though she knew there was something wrong, did she have the strength or the means to save her father? She knew she didn't.
So she could only risk her safety.
Henry clenched his fingers and snapped, "Do you have so little trust in me? Do you think that I will not hold on to my side of the wager?"
"Would you, if you were in my shoes?" Mia questioned. "You took the vows, married me, and then divorced me in a matter of six months. I do not dare to trust your words, Mister Holman."
"Then you can record our promise," Ronald shrugged offhandedly. Of course, he had no plans to let Mia escape; this woman had once slapped him in the face. Once she was drugged enough, he was going to not only shoot her unacceptable videos but also delete the recordings.
With two handles on her, he would see how Mia would resist him.
Mia hummed in response and then recorded Henry's promise before securely locking and saving the recording in her phone.
"Now that we are done with the formalities," Ronald clapped his hands and then poured a glass of wine. He looked at Mia with a sly glint in his eyes and stated, "Go ahead."
Mia bent down and picked up the glass of wine. She straightened up but before drinking it, she glanced at Henry and stated, "When I was ten, I saved you when you were about to be hit by a car; it caused me to stay in the hospital for more than ten months."
She finished drinking the wine before picking up the second one. As she drank, she continued, "When you were fifteen, you ended up getting in trouble with some bullies at the school. It was me who helped you get away."
"Ever since the two of us gained consciousness, we have been together. Even though I never wanted to marry you, it was you who barged into my life and started chasing after me. I don't know whether it was because you could not forget Jamie or something else but it has always been you and not me who disrupted your life."
"However, I might be at fault too, because even though I knew it all, I still let you win me over. Maybe I should have known that we would end in this way because you never moved on from Jamie."
She was the foolish one here because if she had not trusted his lies, then Henry wouldn't have the power to hurt her. It was she who allowed him to hurt her.
She let this man think that he could do just about anything and she wouldn't dare to fight against him.
Henry was stunned when he heard her words; a part of him wanted to say that she was lying but the look in her eyes told him that she wasn't.
"When you proposed to me, it was you who said that you cannot live without me and you will give me happiness."
She placed down the tenth glass and swayed on the spot before spitting out, "It seems like you fulfilled none of those promises, Henry Holman."
She then picked up the last glass of wine and stated, "With this, I hope you will let my father go and not bother us anymore. I, Mia Wills, don't owe you anything anymore!" She exclaimed, feeling a heat in her body stir in the most drastic manner.