Chapter 40 Letting Go Completely
Watching Arabella drink that glass like she was heading to her execution, Anthony felt an inexplicable irritation surge through his chest, as if something important was quietly slipping away from him.
He gave himself a mocking mental laugh—he was overthinking this. It was just Arabella, after all. What could possibly be important about her? Besides, the drink wasn't that big a deal. Rachel had just added a little "truth serum" ahead of time.
He only wanted to get to the bottom of those two videos, worried Arabella wouldn't tell the truth, so he'd allowed Rachel to spike the drink. He hadn't actually planned to do anything to her.
Arabella drained the glass in a few gulps.
She turned the empty glass upside down on the table, gave it a gentle shake, and looked at Anthony with a trembling voice. "There. Are you satisfied now? My dad... will my dad be safe now?"
Anthony pulled out a cigarette, placed it between his fingers, lit it, and took a slow drag before speaking. "Those two videos you played in court—how did you get them?"
Arabella answered honestly, "I don't know."
Anthony let out a cold laugh, took a sharp drag of his cigarette, and blew the smoke directly into her face. Watching her cough and struggle in the haze, his eyes turned ice-cold, devoid of any trace of his former tenderness.
His voice came out low and cutting. "Arabella, don't play games with me at this point. Tell me where those videos came from, and I'll let you both go. Otherwise, forget about your dad—even you won't get any mercy from me."
Arabella shook her head. "I really don't know how those videos came to be."
She knew perfectly well that Blake had personally handed her that evidence. Blake had helped her during her darkest hour—she couldn't betray him just to save her father.
So she could only stick to "I don't know."
Anthony's gaze locked onto her face like a blade. "Arabella, I'm giving you one last chance."
Arabella's spine went rigid as steel. Anthony never made empty threats. When he said "last chance," he truly meant it was the final one.
If her answer still couldn't satisfy him, then her father's situation would probably be beyond salvation.
Her fingers clenched tight, her heart torn between two impossible choices—Blake, who had shown her kindness, and her elderly, disabled father...
While she was still hesitating, Cassidy suddenly spoke up. "Arabella, you should understand that those two videos are enough to destroy Tony's future. You two loved each other once—don't make things harder for him now. Just tell him where the videos came from!"
Cassidy's tone carried the cold weight of judgment, her eyes looking at Arabella like she was viewing a heinous criminal.
Arabella's lips moved slightly as she stared at Anthony, her voice almost pleading. "Anthony, I really don't know about the videos. I'm just an ordinary person—how could I possibly get my hands on something like that? Please let my dad go... Except for the video situation, I'll agree to anything else I can do."
She paused, then added, "I can tell you this much—someone sent the videos to my lawyer anonymously. We don't know who it was either. Anyone capable of doing something like this obviously wouldn't want to reveal their identity."
Anthony's expression flickered slightly, his frown deepening. "Someone gave them to you anonymously? Who the hell is trying to screw me over?"
Rachel held a glass of red wine, lounging lazily against the sofa as she said coldly, "Anthony, you actually believe what she's saying? Arabella isn't some simple person. I'd bet she has other evidence tucked away, just waiting for your next mistake to deliver the killing blow. If you go soft now, you're just giving her an opening!"
Arabella said urgently, "Anthony, I don't! I really don't have any evidence... and you promised me that if I drank that glass, you'd let my father go. You didn't mention any other conditions before I drank..."
Just minutes after downing the drink, she could feel her body growing hot, realizing the drug was beginning to take effect.
She estimated she had less than five minutes left.
So she desperately needed confirmation of her father's safety.
Anthony studied her appearance, feeling somewhat uncertain—Arabella had drunk truth serum, so she shouldn't be able to lie. Could the videos really have nothing to do with her?
But having those compromising materials in someone else's hands left him unable to rest easy.
He flicked his cigarette ash and said slowly, "Here's the deal—find whoever gave you those videos and tell me who it is. Then I'll spare you."
Arabella's eyes instantly reddened. At this moment, her disappointment in Anthony reached its peak.
So he'd never intended to keep his word from the beginning. The promise that "drinking the wine would save her father" had just been a lie to trick her.
Her body grew hotter and hotter, her legs beginning to weaken. She didn't dare stay in this room any longer—with men and women mixed together here, who knew what might happen next.
Since Anthony had been playing her all along, she didn't need to stay either.
Arabella looked at Anthony, her gaze somewhat hazy from the drug's effects. That sadness and despair, when it fell on Anthony's eyes, seemed more like a painful longing.
He frowned irritably and instinctively snapped, "Arabella, don't look at me like that. I stopped loving you long ago. It's disgusting!"
Arabella acted as if she hadn't heard his cutting words. Her voice came out low and slow, enunciating each word clearly. "Anthony, starting today, I don't owe you anything anymore."
She laughed softly, lowered her head, and tears slid down her cheeks. "Three years ago, you appeared during my most desperate moment. I saw you as a ray of hope. For these three years, I've been good to you. I thought when you fell for someone else, I gave you your freedom, and we could still be friends. But today I finally realized—I don't know you at all."
"You... stopped being the person I fell in love with three years ago a long time ago."
"About my dad's situation, so be it. The Watson family has power and influence—I can't afford to provoke you, but I can stay away... From now on, whether my dad and I live or die, that's our fate."
"Anthony, goodbye."
Before her body completely lost control, she stumbled out of the private room.
This felt like a long-overdue farewell—the goodbye that should have happened on their divorce day. But back then, Anthony and Cassidy had pressed her at every turn. She couldn't let go, so naturally she couldn't leave with peace of mind.
Today, Anthony's words had blown a massive crater in her heart, completely destroying the warmth she'd once treasured.
For the first time, she felt with crystal clarity that this Anthony was no longer the person she'd loved.
Starting today, she would never harbor another illusion about Anthony.
Arabella wiped the tears from the corner of her eyes and left in silence.
Back in the private room, Anthony's brow remained deeply furrowed. He'd maintained that expression ever since Arabella left, not moving for a long time.
Even when the cigarette ash burned down to his fingers, he showed no reaction at all.