Part 3My Husband Stranded Me in the Desert to Defend His First Love

That single notification sent a shockwave through the entire broadcast.

Because the amount was so astronomical, the chat immediately erupted with suspicion.

[Who casually drops fifty million?! Are they rigging this just to steal our money?]

[Is this a massive scam?!]

Lily panicked but tried to play it cool. She flashed her own betting slip to the camera.

"Don't worry, everyone! I also put my money on Abigail apologizing. I have no idea what idiot is trying to hand us free cash."

But the doubts kept rolling in. Lily was sweating. She had literally emptied her entire bank account to place her bet.

Declan's face turned a dangerous shade of purple.

"Who placed that bet? Who else would possibly support you? Are you sleeping with another man behind my back?!"

"That is none of your business. The second I get out of here, we are getting a divorce." I fired back without missing a beat.

Hearing the word 'divorce' only fueled his manic rage. He let out a dark, cruel laugh and signaled his guards.

"If we are truly replicating the mountain path, we need to do it properly. I want her to feel exactly what Lily felt."

"Mountains are full of snakes. Release them!"

My heart stopped. The blood froze in my veins. Declan knew perfectly well that I had a crippling, clinical phobia of snakes.

At his command, the bodyguards hauled massive bamboo crates to the edge of the chopper. Hundreds of thick, slithering reptiles spilled out into the sand, writhing and hissing as they moved.

I stumbled backward in pure terror. Declan simply sneered.

"They are just harmless garden snakes. Kids in the country play with them every day. Only a fragile, pampered princess would be terrified of something so basic."

"Exactly! I used to get bitten all the time growing up. It's totally harmless!" Lily chimed in, though a vicious, calculating shadow crossed her eyes.

It didn't take me long to realize the horrifying truth. The vibrant, triangular heads emerging from the sand were absolutely not harmless garden snakes.

They were highly venomous vipers.

I turned and tried to sprint away, but my mutilated, bleeding feet couldn't find any traction. In my panicked rush, I lost my balance and collapsed hard into the dirt.

The scorching sand seared my bare skin. Hidden tacks pierced my palms and knees, tearing fresh, agonizing wounds across my body.

The vipers smelled the fresh blood. They began to swarm, closing the circle around me.

I had nowhere to run. A thick, brightly colored snake lunged forward, sinking its fangs directly into my ankle.

The venom burned like absolute fire. A cold sweat broke out across my forehead. Once the first snake struck, a second and a third slithered closer, ready to attack.

The skin around the bite immediately swelled, turning a sickly, bruised purple. The color rapidly drained from my lips.

The physician up in the helicopter instantly noticed my physical collapse. He stepped forward in a panic.

"Sir! She has been bitten by a venomous species! She is going to die! We need to administer antivenom right now!"

Declan didn't even flinch.

"I specifically ordered non venomous snakes. Stop overreacting over a tiny bite. We save the medical supplies for real emergencies."

But as he looked closer, the reality finally registered. My lips were turning blue. My breathing was shallow and ragged.

He looked down at the sea of vipers swarming the dunes. Those were not the harmless garden snakes he had requested.

A sudden, paralyzing panic gripped Declan. He screamed at the top of his lungs.

"I said no venom! Who brought these things?!"

"Get those monsters away from her! Bring the chopper down! Let me out!"

The bodyguards immediately deployed chemical repellents and heavy nets to drive the swarm back.

I lay in the burning sand, barely clinging to consciousness. Through blurred vision, I watched Declan shove past a protesting Lily and sprint toward me.

The doctor grabbed a vial of antivenom from his emergency kit and rushed to the open door.

"Sir, we have to inject her immediately! Let me call for a medical evac!"

Before the doctor could step off the helicopter, Lily suddenly lunged forward.

"Let me help!"

She violently tripped over her own feet, slamming into the doctor. The glass vial of antivenom slipped from his hands, plummeting toward the ground and shattering into a hundred pieces against a jagged rock.

Declan's eyes widened in absolute horror.

"What the hell did you just do?!"