Stephen headed straight to his base after he was done handling Jacobson Corporation-related affairs.

Stephen stood a short distance away from Jacqueline, who was still confined to the basement.

“Steve! You’ve finally come to see me, Steve!” Jacqueline grew hysterical the second she laid eyes on Stephen, crying loudly as she tried to run to him.

Her voice was hoarse. Coupled with the dark basement, she sounded like something out of a horror movie.

Unfortunately for her, she was leashed to the iron gate nearby. She was tethered to it like a common mutt, stripped of whatever dignity she once had.

Stephen furrowed his brows in displeasure as a heavy air radiated from him. “Who gave you the permission to call me so familiarly?”

Jacqueline stiffened at his words before laughing bitterly.

“Why can’t I call you that? Do you want me to call you Stephen instead?” The look on her face twisted into something odd before she smiled. “I can do that. I can call you Stephen. I like you the most, Stephen.”

The frown on Stephen’s face deepened. “Do you even hear yourself?”

“Of course, I do!” she shrieked hoarsely. “I like you! I love you, Stephen! How could you not feel the love I have for you?

“Are you here to ask me why I did all those things?” She cackled through her tears and screeched, “I did it all for you! It’s been years, Stephen. Yet, you’ve never once figured out how much I love you?”

The obsession in Jacqueline’s crazed eyes was plain to see despite the dim light in the basement. There was no hiding the twisted feelings she had been harboring for over a decade now.

The basement fell into a deathly silence after her manic proclamation.

Stephen’s figure was tall and imposing as he stood before Jacqueline, looking down his nose at her. A chilling air soon radiated from him when he heard her words.

His presence was so piercing it was as if there was a faint scent of blood wafting in the air.

After a pregnant pause, Stephen abruptly let out a chuckle.

“Love, you say?” His eyes were like twin bottomless pools of abyss.

Jacqueline’s eyes never left Stephen. So, she immediately noticed the sardonic smile playing at his lips and the utter indifference in his eyes.

“Do you think you’re worthy of it?”

It was just a simple question. However, there was no concealing the disdain and bite in his tone.

Jacqueline’s face drained of all color upon hearing those words. She bit her lower lip hard as tears streamed down her cheeks.

“Stephen….. Stephen, how could you be so cruel?” she choked out accusingly.

Stephen remained unfazed as he stared down at her coldly, clear impatience flaring to life in his eyes.

“Jacqueline, you are no longer part of the Jacobson family,” he said with a tone of finality.

Jacqueline’s gaze turned blank, the life in her eyes withering to nothing as she muttered, “I never wanted to be your sister anyway.”

Stephen nodded slightly. “Then, it’s time for you to atone for your sins.”

“Take her outside, Lawrence,” Stephen ordered calmly.

“Yes, Mr. Jacobson,” Lawrence replied swiftly.

Jacqueline asked, “Where are you taking me?”

Stephen didn’t bother answering her. Instead, he turned away indifferently, walking slowly but surely out of the basement.

She was brought to a large plain where she saw a helicopter parked there.

Lawrence ordered his subordinates to carry Jacqueline out of the basement and throw her to the ground.

Then, a man bound her hands with a thick rope and secured the other end to the helicopter’s undercarriage.

A few minutes later, the helicopter’s engine started, and they promptly took off. Jacqueline was suspended from the flying vessel, swaying helplessly in the air.

Even though it was early spring, the breeze was still bitingly cold. Plus, the higher the altitude, the colder and stronger the wind became.