The sounds around me were a blur, as if they were muffled through a thick fog of blood.

Someone roughly grabbed my hair, dragging me into a damp and dark basement, throwing me onto the cold cement floor.

"Mr. Genevan said not to let her die, we need her for tomorrow."

The iron door slammed shut with a bang and the darkness swallowed everything.

I curled up in the corner, trembling from the pain all over my body. My tears had long since dried up, leaving only numbness.

I didn’t know how much time passed, but Mike’s impatient voice echoed in the brightened surveillance screen.

"Why can’t I get through to Karen’s phone?"

"Mike, don’t worry, she is probably just busy with work."

"Bullshit! No matter how busy she is, she will never ignore my calls!"

Mike's voice carried a distinct hint of panic.

My heart skipped a beat, as if an invisible hand had clenched it tight and I dared not even breathe too deeply.

He’s looking for me.

The next moment, Mike received another call.

The voice of my close friend, Kyle, came through clearly.

"Mike, is Karen with you? Her phone has been unreachable!"

Mike suppressed his unease, pausing for a moment before speaking in a casual tone, "She’s probably working late again. You know how she is, always a workaholic."

Kyle firmly disagreed. "Impossible! Tomorrow’s the wedding, she wouldn’t still be working at this hour!"

Mike fell silent for a few seconds, then quickly pulled out his phone and began checking the surveillance footage to track my whereabouts.

My heartbeat quickened and a faint spark of hope flickered within me.

Could he realize something was wrong?

Would he recognize that the person who was nearly tortured to death today was me?

"There's no one at home, just as I guessed. Kyle, don’t worry, Karen is either still working late or dragging her feet on the way home."

He hung up the phone and turned to the people around him, giving instructions.

"Prepare the car, I'll take Jane home."

My hope was instantly extinguished.

He would rather believe I was just lingering on the road than face the truth that the person he had tortured to the point of death was his fiancée.

"Mike, aren’t we going to play a little longer? You’re heading home so early?"

His friends, disappointed by my sudden miscarriage, hadn’t had their fill of fun.

Mike’s face instantly turned cold. "Tomorrow is my wedding with Karen. If I’m not going back to be with her, do you expect me to stay with you guys?"

The crowd fell silent, too afraid to speak.

But Jane boldly wrapped her arms around his neck and acted coquettishly. "Mike, can you stay with me tonight? Starting tomorrow, you won’t belong to me anymore. I’m so sad..."

"Jane! You need to know your place. I promised you I would throw a fortune at you tonight to help you unwind and you should be content. I don’t like greedy women!"

But his cold, harsh words were easily shattered by Jane.

"Mike, I bought your favorite maid outfit. Tonight, you can tear it up to your heart’s content…"

The air froze for a moment.

I heard Mike’s breathing suddenly become heavier, his Adam’s apple bobbing.

He pulled out his phone and sent me a voice message, his tone unbelievably gentle.

[Karen, I drank too much at the bachelor party tonight, so I’m staying at a friend’s place. You sleep well and tomorrow I’ll marry you.]

After he sent the message, he lifted Jane by the waist.

I watched as he hurriedly left, unable to suppress the tears that silently slid down my face again. But the pain from the wounds on my face made it so I couldn’t even cry properly.

It turned out, his tenderness was so fake.

It turned out, his love was so cheap.

I closed my eyes and memories surged in like a tidal wave.

Two years ago, Mike knelt down on one knee, placing a ring on my finger, his eyes filled with starlight.

"Karen, marry me. In this lifetime, I will only love you."

Six months ago, after I stayed up late preparing a birthday surprise for him, he hugged me tenderly. "Silly girl, you are a thousand times more important than any gift."

Yesterday, he kissed my forehead, swearing with all his might.

"Karen, starting tomorrow, please guide me through the rest of our lives! I promise, I will never let you suffer even a little."

The Mike in my memories was a completely different person from the cruel and violent adulterer he was today.

I curled up in the darkness, my body cold, as my consciousness slowly sank into the abyss.

If this was love, then I would rather have never met him.

The squeaking sound of rats suddenly jolted me awake, my body drenched in cold sweat.

As soon as I moved, the rats cautiously backed away a few steps, but they didn't run away, as though they knew I was so weak that I didn't even have the strength to drive them away.

The iron door creaked open and a man with a brutish face threw a bowl of spoiled food into the room.

"Eat it. Don't starve to death. Mike said, you still have debts to repay."

A hoarse, desperate sound escaped from my throat as I shook my head with all my might.

I didn't gamble.

And I certainly didn't owe any debts.

The man frowned impatiently.

"What other tricks do you want to play?"

I tremblingly extended my deformed fingers, dipping them in the water on the ground. With all the strength I had left, I managed to scrawl in crooked letters on the cement floor. "I am Mike's fiancee."

The man stared at the words on the ground, then suddenly burst into laughter, as if hearing the biggest joke of his life.

"You? Mike's fiancee?"

He took out his phone and started a livestream, holding it in front of me.

"Open your eyes wide and take a good look. Mike's wedding is about to begin and I don't know how many lives you have to pretend to be Mike's fiancee!"

On the screen, Mike stood at the entrance of the hotel, dressed in a well-tailored black suit, a fresh flower pinned to his chest, anxiously looking around.

"Mike, the lucky hour is almost here, why hasn’t the bride arrived?"

The host's puzzled voice came from the phone.

The man retracted his phone, stomping on the knuckles where I'd written with a brutal force.

"Been watching long enough?" he sneered. "I could tell yesterday that you, this toad, were trying to get a taste of something beyond your reach. But you're still not giving up, huh? You probably don't even know, Mike's fiancee is a renowned mortician, even the police take her seriously! She's nothing like the likes of you, some scamming gambler!"

The sharp pain from the brutal kick made me curl into a ball, but despite the agony, a sliver of hope surged within me.

As long as Mike realized I was missing, he would definitely come looking for me.

The auspicious time had arrived at the hotel.

The guests were whispering among themselves and the emcee had already rearranged the program for the third time.

Mike stood in the lounge, calling my phone over and over again, but no one ever answered.

“Mike, why can’t we get in touch with Karen? Could something have happened to her?”

Kyle, the bridesmaid, was so anxious she was on the verge of tears.

Mike’s face grew darker and darker. He grabbed his coat and dashed out. “I’m going to find her!”

He sped all the way home and when he pushed open the door, the living room was silent.

My slippers were neatly placed by the entryway and the wedding dress was still hanging on the rack in the center of the room, the dust cover not even removed.

“Karen?” he called out.

He searched every room one by one, even opening the wardrobe to check, but there was still no sign of me.

He checked the bathroom and confirmed that I hadn’t come home the night before.

He couldn’t help but smile wryly, then picked up the wedding dress and headed straight to the police station.

He knew that the only reason I would neglect everything, including the wedding, was if I had been called in to help with a body reconstruction.

After all, every time I reconstructed a body, it helped confirm the deceased’s identity and bring justice to the wronged.

“Mr. Genevan, you’re just in time! We were about to contact you. Your mother’s whereabouts have been discovered. Regretfully, she has been found murdered.”

His mother had been missing for half a month. He thought it was the reason why I hadn’t come home and even missed the wedding. I must’ve been with his mother, waiting for him.

Mike forced himself to suppress the grief of losing his mother and asked the officers to take him to find me. “Karen and my mom were close. She… she’s okay, right?”

But the officer looked at him in surprise. “Miss Spears finished her reconstruction work yesterday and left. She even said she was getting married today and would bring you good news!”

The unease in Mike’s heart grew like a wild vine, tightening around his chest. With trembling hands, he pulled out his phone and dialed my number again.

Still, no answer.

He completely panicked and immediately requested the police’s help to find my whereabouts.

With the police conducting a rapid investigation, they tracked my phone to an underground fight club.

Could that be the reason I ran away from the wedding? Had I found out I had cheated and was hiding from him out of guilt?

Mike’s face turned deathly pale in an instant.

***

Once again, I was hauled into the underground fighting ring.

"Per the sponsor’s special request, we’re changing the game tonight."

“Anyone here can tattoo any part of her body!”

The host emphasized the words “any part,” and the crowd erupted in wild cheers.

A sharp blade etched cut after cut into my skin, marking me with pain and humiliation.

I glanced at the clock on the wall. Surrounded by the stench of blood, I finally closed my eyes in despair.

Suddenly, the main door slammed open with a thunderous kick.

“Everyone, stop!”

The familiar voice made my whole body shudder. I struggled to lift my head and saw Mike storm in with a group behind him.