Page 3 of I tried to save the four villains driven mad by the heroine

I fought down my fury, asking Richard in a cold voice.

"Maggie didn't want any of your things here, so I cleared them out,"

Richard said, his voice distant.

"I'll find you somewhere else to live."

Cleared out? He made it sound so simple.

"Just like you got rid of that innocent little dog, are you trying to get rid of me?"

I let out a cold, hollow laugh.

From start to finish, I was always the extra one.

"You"

I cut him off, my voice trembling with emotion.

"You can do whatever you want with everything else, I don't care. I just want that box!"

Inside was Grandma's lucky charm, my only connection to her!

"What do you want it for?"

Richard's face instantly darkened, his eyes turning wary and harsh.

He thought I was going to use the contents of the box to stir up trouble with Tom again.

"You'll never be as kind and wonderful as Maggie!"

"Tom would never like a manipulative, vile woman like you!"

"I'm warning you, I will *never* let you ruin Maggie's wedding!"

Kind? In his eyes, only the heroine of this world was truly kind.

I had once told Richard about that box.

Under the moonlight, he'd said, with a hint of jealousy, that he'd keep it safe for me until I found my true love.

I'd also said that if I could ever be with him, I'd give him the box.

Back then, his expression was serious and loving, filling me with hope.

Now, he was warning me with the most vicious words:

"You stay put! Don't you dare try to cause any more trouble for Maggie!"

"If you don't tell me where the box is, I'll go tell Maggie right now exactly what kind of filthy, hidden thoughts you have about her!" I intentionally provoked him.

Richard was indeed completely enraged.

He retrieved the box from a corner and violently threw it to the ground.

The box shattered, and the lucky charm fell out.

He snatched up the charm and brutally tore it to shreds, the pieces scattering across the floor.

"Venus, you're so ungrateful! I'm going to teach you a lesson you'll never forget today!"

I looked at the shredded lucky charm, my heart twisting in agony.

This was the man I had poured everything into caring for.

His inherent ruthlessness had never disappeared!

Good. His cruelty was exactly what I needed to end my life, to see Grandma sooner.

I clutched the torn pieces of the charm tightly in my hand, looking at Richard's enraged face, and smiled.

"We're completely even now."

With that, before he could react, I lunged, smashing into his previously injured leg.

The pain from my broken leg made me stumble, but I put all my remaining strength into the impact.

Excruciating pain instantly flared, and I coughed up blood, my vision blurring.

I knew it was his sore spot, the scar left by Maggie.

I deliberately provoked him, wanting only to finish this quickly and leave this world.

Richard froze, stunned that I would do such a thing.

His face flashed with shock, self-reproach, and pain, as he looked at me helplessly.

But soon, these emotions were replaced by fury.

"Venus! You couldn't seduce Tom, so now you're trying to seduce *me*?! You have no shame!"

I was fading fast, my consciousness blurring, but I saw Sean had arrived too.

When I woke again, I found myself in a dark, damp basement.

"Didn't Sean take me away? How did I end up here?"

As I wondered, Maggie stood before me, a triumphant look on her face.

"Venus, you're in such a wretched state, and you still can't leave them alone?"

Maggie looked down at me from above, mocking,

"Do you really think a pathetic wretch like you can compete with me?"

Before I could even process what she was saying, she suddenly leaned close to my ear and whispered, "I'll show you today."

"All your struggles and efforts are nothing but a futile joke."

"But, seeing how pitiful you are, I'll give you a fair chance to compete."

I grew even more confused. Just as I was about to demand an explanation, I heard sounds of a struggle outside.

Then, the door burst open, and Tom rushed in, yelling frantically:

"Maggie, are you okay?!"

He immediately saw Maggie and me tied together, connected to a complex device, and his face instantly turned grave.

I understood at once: this was Maggie's self-orchestrated kidnapping!

The device connected to two ropes, each tied to Maggie and me.

The other end of the ropes connected to two syringes filled with venom.

Once the device activated, both ropes would tighten simultaneously. One would snap, pulling its syringe into the person it was tied to.

Meaning, Tom could only choose one of us to save.

Maggie looked at Tom, feigning vulnerability. "Tom, save me"

I looked at Tom, my heart a desolate void.

Tom, the formidable crime lord he was once such a proud man.

But Maggie had left him utterly broken.

When he was at his lowest, before being acknowledged by his family in the underworld, Maggie brought people to humiliate him, forcing him to eat dog food and live in a dog kennel.

He endured endless torment. When he finally returned to his family, his personality had warped, becoming ruthless, cruel, and unapproachable.

I had placed my last hope in him, wanting to save him.

As his exclusive sparring partner, I silently endured his relentless torment, staying by his side, never leaving.

One day, he beat me black and blue. I turned to leave, utterly desperate.

But he suddenly pulled me back from behind, holding me tightly in his arms.

His deep voice rumbled in my ear: "Where are you going?"

"Stay here."

My ear rested against his chest, listening to his powerful heartbeat, thinking my redemption efforts had finally paid off.

I thought he, having been hurt the most, would be the most resistant to Maggie's allure.

But I was wrong, so terribly wrong.

In the end, he was the one who remained devoted to Maggie, refusing to marry anyone else, even holding such a grand wedding for her.

And all the suffering I'd endured by his side, helping him transition his empire into legitimate ventures, had become a colossal joke.

To prevent Maggie from discovering our past, he found 99 other women, stand-ins for her.

As if to prove I wasn't special, wasn't unique.

He was just so desperate for Maggie that he found so many women who resembled her.

To prove his loyalty to her, he even sacrificed me to his sworn enemy.

I was tortured for a day and a night, and the tiny life growing inside me was lost.

Tom looked at the intricate device, a flicker of hesitation in his eyes.

Seeing this, Maggie immediately feigned weakness again. "Tom, save her. She was with you for a long time when you weren't around"

"I'm content marrying you now, I couldn't ask for more."

She then brought up old memories from the orphanage, each word hitting Tom where it hurt the most.

Tom's heart ached. He turned to me, furious. "Venus, aren't you satisfied? Must you cause such a scene! You saw Maggie and I were getting married, so you deliberately set up this scheme, only to be kidnapped yourself. Are you happy now?!"

Just then, Sean and Richard also rushed in.

Seeing Maggie in danger, they both grew anxious, vehemently accusing me of being manipulative and bringing this on myself.

I looked at them, their past gentleness and promises now turned into icy accusations and condemnations.

I'd given everything, only to be met with their disgust and scorn.

Why did it come to this?

My heart felt as if it was being torn apart; I couldn't breathe from the pain.

I didn't want to waste any more time. I scoffed directly:

"You were all manipulated like puppets by Maggie, and now you're fawning over her like desperate dogs! How pathetic! I must have been blind!"

"You idiots! You were all played by that bitch Maggie, wrapped around her little finger!"

"And now you're still fawning over her like a bunch of tail-wagging dogs, completely devoted!"

"It's the most pathetic joke in the world!"

"I, Venus, must have been blind to ever think of saving you ungrateful bastards!"

Tom was indeed enraged. His eyes turned bloodshot, veins throbbing on his forehead.

With the three men's unspoken coordination, Richard quickly subdued the kidnappers, and Sean immediately shielded Maggie.

Tom, meanwhile, lunged at me, savagely plunging his dagger into my shoulder!

Agony ripped through me, blood instantly staining my clothes.

I looked at his bloodshot eyes, filled with madness and hatred.

"I never wronged you. Why do you hate me so much?"