Chapter 493: You Are Safe

The expected pain never came. Michael stepped forward and gripped the blade with his bare hand.

The knife pierced through his palm, blood dripping onto Alice's shoulder.

She opened her eyes, but could barely make out Michael's figure.

"Let go!" Michael's voice was ice-cold.

Alice let out a bitter laugh, then pressed the blade harder.

Michael seemed oblivious to the pain, gripping the knife with deadly determination.

"Michael, as long as I'm breathing, I'll stop at nothing to see you dead! Your entire family will pay for what you did to mine!"

The words tore from her throat in a raw scream.

There had been a moment—just one—where she'd almost given up on revenge. She'd wanted nothing more than a quiet life with her mother.

Why did Michael have to push her to this?

Michael wrenched the knife from her grip, pulling it from his palm without flinching. "In that case, you can go die instead."

Michael's gun aimed at Alice's chest. He pulled the trigger without hesitation.

Everyone present stared in disbelief.

Alice's eyes went wide. Before she could even register the pain, she fell backward, hitting the ground hard.

Blood instantly poured from her chest, making the red roses even more vivid, turning her white wedding dress crimson.

The gunshot had been fired at close range—blood rushed from her heart in torrents, filling the air with a metallic stench.

Michael shook out his hand. Someone immediately stepped forward with tissues.

He handed over the gun and casually wiped the blood from his fingers. "Ungrateful little thing."

"Being my wife quietly—what was so wrong with that? Since you refused, go join your family."

His voice was utterly emotionless. Alice reached out, trying to grasp something, anything, before her hand fell limp.

Of course. Michael really was a master actor. He'd been performing this whole time.

Now he finally didn't have to pretend anymore.

"Damn it!" Eric instinctively stepped forward, but seeing Alice's body, he froze in place.

Serafina considered for a moment, then got out of her car.

Looking at the blood staining Alice's wedding dress, she took a disgusted step back.

Harlan emerged from the last car, walking over quickly. When he looked at Michael, a trace of doubt still lingered in his eyes.

Alice closed her eyes, feeling her life slip away bit by bit.

She knew this time she really was going to die.

She'd imagined her wedding day so many times, but never thought it would fall on both her birthday and her death day.

How fitting.

Glenn arrived just in time to witness the scene.

He abandoned his car and ran over. "Michael, what's the situation? You—!"

He looked at Michael, then at Alice, finally turning away, unable to watch.

Clifton clenched his fists. "Michael."

He didn't know what to say.

No one present had expected Michael to actually shoot and kill Alice.

Michael stared down at Alice coldly. "She made me promise her two things before. One was saving her mother. The other, she just told me—she didn't want to live anymore. I was just granting her wish, considering she followed me for so many years."

His words were ice-cold, completely devoid of warmth.

In this moment, Michael had transformed back into the Johnson family heir, the CEO of Johnson Group.

"Glenn." He looked toward Glenn, who had his back turned.

Glenn turned around, tears seeming to glisten in his eyes. "Michael."

"Dispose of the body."

Hearing Michael's emotionless command, Glenn almost doubted his own ears. "You—what did you say?"

"Dump it in the ocean. The police will definitely come. Unless you want to leave evidence?"

Michael's words shocked everyone present again, but no one stepped forward to stop him.

Without destroying the evidence, what were they supposed to do—give her a grand funeral?

Everyone present was both a witness and an accomplice.

Glenn quickly found people to carry Alice's body away.

He boarded a speedboat, then, under everyone's gaze, threw Alice's body into the ocean.

Michael stood on the shore watching the entire time, his expression never changing.

Clifton turned and got in his car. He didn't want to say another word to Michael.

Alice—a woman who'd followed Michael for ten years, loved him for ten years—and this was how it ended?

Eric watched the yacht, finally sighing helplessly. "Mr. Johnson, when it comes to being ruthless, I truly bow down to you!"

"Mr. Torres was right—being love-struck never ends well. Alice is the perfect example, isn't she?"

Harlan said nothing, but looked thoughtfully at the blood on the ground, then glanced at his subordinates.

Someone immediately stepped forward to clean up the blood.

One of them discreetly pocketed the bloodstained tissues.

Even after witnessing Michael kill Alice with his own eyes, Harlan still wanted to test the blood. What if Michael was pulling another scheme?

Before Glenn could disembark, Michael had already gotten in his car.

Stefan asked nervously, "Mr. Johnson, should we head to the hospital first?"

"Go straight to the penthouse. Call the family doctor over. Cut all contact with Zaid's side." The moment Michael finished speaking, he clutched his chest and passed out.

Feeling the light was too bright, Alice instinctively raised her hand to block it.

She suddenly opened her eyes, staring at her outstretched hand in disbelief.

She looked around—it seemed to be a hotel room. Not overly luxurious, but definitely high-end.

The European-style design and décor reminded her somewhat of Zaid's yacht.

Remembering the gunshot, Alice quickly checked her body.

The wedding dress had been changed. She wore silk pajamas, and where was the gunshot wound on her chest? There was only a faint red mark.

"Awake?" Zaid entered carrying food. "Don't worry, the doctor examined you. You're fine, and so is the baby. The wound on your neck might take some time to heal—you can wear a scarf to cover it later."

"I'm not dead?" Alice couldn't understand what was happening.

She clearly remembered Michael shooting her. She even thought she'd heard Michael tell Glenn to throw her into the ocean.

So was this all a dying hallucination?

She pinched her arm hard. The sharp pain made her flinch.

"Not dead!" Zaid helplessly handed her a glass of water. "Drink some water first. We'll talk about everything else later."

"Why didn't I die?" Alice distinctly remembered smelling blood, and her wedding dress had been stained red.

The wedding dress?

Something suddenly clicked.

Michael had designed the wedding dress, but a white gown with red roses at the chest had seemed strange.

And despite her good figure, the stylist had insisted she wear a push-up bra under the dress. The inside of the bra had felt like it was filled with liquid. Could it have been blood packs?

So Michael had planned this from the beginning?

Looking at Zaid again—he must have known about this too, which was how he could rescue her in time.

"What's really going on?" Alice grabbed Zaid's sleeve, desperate for answers.

Zaid patted her hand. "You need to rest now. We'll reach Marigoldia in a couple of days. Once we change your identity, no one will be able to touch you. You're safe."