Chapter 500: Neither of them regretted it

Roseline forced herself to breathe.

Panic would kill her faster than the knife in Collin’s hand ever could.

“Okay,” she said slowly, lifting her hands in surrender. “You want money? I can give it.”

Collin’s eyes narrowed as he watched her frantically reach for her wallet on the couch.

With trembling fingers, she pulled out the cash. Cards and receipts slipped from her grasp and scattered across the floor as she extended the crumpled bills toward him.

“This is all I have right now,” she said, her voice unsteady, her cautious eyes fixed on him.

For a moment, Collin said nothing. Then a menacing laugh rumbled from his chest.

“You think I’m a fool?” he sneered. “You think a few bucks will solve everything? I don’t need your pennies, Roseline. I want real money.”

Collin might have been reckless with his own spending, but he knew Roseline was not careless. She was too calculated to lose everything like he had.

“T This is all I have for now,” she insisted, trying to sound convincing.

“You won’t agree so easily,” he warned through gritted teeth, bringing the knife slightly closer to Anna.

Roseline’s breath hitched.

“No… no, Collin, don’t,” she pleaded, realizing her cleverness was failing her.

“I’m not lying,” she said quickly. “This is all I have.”

She truly did not have enough to clear whatever massive debt he had accumulated.

“Then get me the money,” he snapped. “I won’t let you leave me unless you help me. Or be ready to get exposed.”

The cruel curl of his lips made her blood run cold.

“Y You wouldn’t do that,” she said, though her voice lacked conviction.

He laughed.

“Try me.”

Her heart pounded as she realized he had reached his breaking point. He would not let her walk away without dragging her down with him.

What do I do now?

Her eyes flickered between Anna and Collin. She could not risk a reckless move.

Taking a slow breath, she made a decision.

“Fine,” she said quietly. “Give me a moment. I’ll call Hugo and ask him for the money.”

Collin looked momentarily surprised. Curiosity softened his grip just enough for him to lower the knife slightly.

“How?” he asked.

“Hugo trusts me,” she replied carefully. “If I tell him there’s an emergency involving Anna, he’ll transfer it immediately. But you have to calm down.”

“You’re buying time,” he muttered.

“I’m trying to save us,” she shot back. “Do you want the loan sharks here again? Do you want Anna growing up in fear?”

His jaw tightened.

“Put the knife down,” she urged gently. “If she keeps crying, the neighbors might hear.”

After a tense pause, his grip loosened slightly.

“Give her to me,” Roseline whispered. “Let me hold her while I make the call.”

He hesitated, then thrust Anna into her arms.

The moment her daughter settled against her chest, something fierce ignited inside her. Anna’s tiny fingers clung to her shirt, her sobs muffled against Roseline’s shoulder.

“I won’t betray you,” she murmured, rocking her gently.

Collin gave a bitter laugh.

“That’s funny.”

Roseline unlocked her phone, pretending to scroll through contacts.

“See? I’ll call him.”

But instead of dialing, she shifted slightly toward the door.

Just one more step.

“Stop.”

She froze.

“You think I can’t see what you’re doing?” he said coldly. “You’re trying to move toward the door.”

Before she could answer, he lunged.

His hand grabbed at her wrist. Roseline twisted instinctively, shielding Anna with her body.

“Don’t touch her!” she screamed.

“Give me the phone!” he shouted, the knife flashing again.

She stumbled but tightened her hold on Anna.

“You’re scaring her!” she cried.

“I’m doing what I have to!” he roared.

He grabbed her shoulder, and in the struggle, the knife came dangerously close.

Years of fear.

Years of cleaning his mess.

Years of silence.

Something snapped.

She kicked his shin with all her strength.

He groaned, losing balance. The knife slipped from his hand and clattered onto the floor.

That was her chance.

She shoved him hard. He crashed into the table.

Quickly, she placed Anna on the couch for a second. “Stay, baby,” she whispered.

Then she moved.

Collin lunged again.

“You think you can fight me?” he spat.

He grabbed her wrist, but she twisted sharply, breaking free. Her other hand seized the knife from the floor.

His eyes widened.

“Roseline—”

Too late.

When he reached for her again, she slashed upward.

The blade cut across his cheek.

Not fatal.

But deep enough.

He staggered back, blood trickling through his fingers.

“You—” he hissed.

Roseline stood between him and Anna, the knife trembling in her hand.

“Don’t come closer,” she warned. “I won’t hesitate again.”

“You would attack me?”

“You tried to use our daughter as a weapon.”

Anna’s soft cries filled the silence.

“You think this changes anything?” he said darkly. “You think a cut will save you?”

“It saves her,” Roseline replied, backing toward the door.

Blood dripped down his face.

“You still love me,” he muttered. “You wouldn’t have stayed if you didn’t.”

“I stayed because I was scared,” she said firmly. “Not because I loved you.”

That wounded him more than the knife.

“You’ll regret this,” he warned.

“Maybe,” she said. “But I’d regret losing my daughter more.”

Without breaking eye contact, she picked Anna up and moved toward the door, the knife still raised.

Collin did not follow.

For the first time, he saw something in her eyes he could not control.

And that terrified him.

His knees began to wobble. The dizziness hit him all at once. Blood seeped through his fingers, warm and sticky, and the sharp sting across his cheek throbbed with every heartbeat. He tried to steady himself, but his strength gave out.

Collin dropped to his knees.

The knife slipped from Roseline’s trembling grip and fell to the floor as she watched him sway. For a second, she almost moved toward him out of old habit, out of instinct.

But she stopped herself.

This was not the man she had once tried to save.

This was the man who had tried to use their daughter as leverage.

Collin’s body slumped sideways, his hand still pressed against his bleeding face. His breathing turned uneven, slowed by alcohol, shock, and blood loss. He looked smaller like this. Weaker.

But Roseline knew better than to pity him.

Without wasting another second, she wrapped Anna tightly in her arms, and walked out the door.

She did not look back.

That night changed everything.

After leaving him, Roseline did not go to a friend. She did not hide.

She went straight to Hugo.

When she stood before him, pale and shaken, Anna asleep against her shoulder, Hugo did not ask many questions. He saw the fear in her eyes. He saw the bruise forming along her arm. He saw the silent plea she could not voice.

“I will marry you,” she told him.

Her voice was steady, but her heart was not.

Hugo looked at her for a long moment, searching her face as if trying to understand the sudden decision. He had already proposed days ago, ready to accept her past, her child, her complications.

But this time, Roseline was not agreeing out of hesitation.

She was making a choice.

“There is one condition,” she said quietly.

Hugo’s expression hardened slightly. “What is it?”

“Collin cannot come out of prison,” she replied. “And my past with him must never be exposed.”

There was no tremor in her voice now.

She was done being afraid.

If Collin walked free, he would destroy everything. He would expose the kidnapping. He would reveal the lies she had carefully buried. He would ruin Hugo, ruin Anna, ruin the fragile future she was trying to build.

She could not allow that.

Hugo remained silent for a moment, his gaze darkening with something unreadable.

“You want protection,” he said finally.

“Yes.”

Not love. Not romance.

Protection.

Roseline had learned the hard way that love could be manipulated. Protection could not.

Collin had believed letting her walk away was nothing more than losing control for a moment.

He did not realize it was the moment he lost her forever.

Because Roseline was no longer the woman who endured.

She was the woman who chose survival.

And this time, she would make sure Collin never had the chance to rise again.

Hugo did not look shocked.

Instead, he smiled.

It was not the smile of a man overwhelmed by love. It was the smile of a man who understood negotiation.

“For you and Anna,” he said calmly, “I can handle Collin.”

Roseline held his gaze. There was no illusion between them now. No romantic fantasy. Just clarity.

For him, this was not merely a proposal accepted.

It was an arrangement secured.

To the world, Roseline would become his wife. To Kathrine, she would be a mother. To society, they would appear as a respectable family bound by gratitude and affection.

But beneath that image lay something far more practical.

For Hugo, she was the woman who had “saved” his daughter. The mother of the child he believed survived because of her courage. Keeping Roseline close meant keeping control over that narrative. It meant stability for his household and loyalty from a woman who now depended on him.

For Roseline, Hugo was not romance.

He was safety.

He was power.

He was a shield strong enough to keep Collin behind bars and silence the dangerous truths buried in her past.

Their marriage was not built on love.

It was built on need.

And neither of them regretted it…until now.

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