“Speak! Speak!”

The scalpel’s blade bit into my neck, slicing the skin, parting flesh inch by inch.

“Ah!”

Lawrence’s roar was animalistic. He thrust the scalpel toward my head with such force that a cold jolt shot through me. Metal grazed the corner of my eye; heat and wetness blurred my vision.

The blade buried itself deep in the ward’s wall, quivering from the impact.

“You bitch!” His voice shook with rage. “You wouldn’t even spare your own son. What right do you have to live?”

His palm crashed against my face.

Blood trickled from my lip, but I swallowed my words.

More blows followed—harder, faster—until the world tilted and my body folded to the floor. I stayed silent, even as the hospital staff rushed in to restrain him.

“If you keep hitting her, someone’s going to die. Don’t be impulsive,” the attending physician warned. “I swear we’ll do everything we can to help.”

“What good will that do?” Lawrence seized the doctor by the collar, voice low and lethal. “If Selene speaks, Claudia’s legs can be saved. My son can live. Can you guarantee that?”

When the doctor couldn’t answer, Lawrence shoved him aside.

“Selene,” Claudia sobbed, “I know I’ve wronged you these past years, but it was all to take care of your son. Please—help me.”

I slumped against the wall, vision glassy.

If I can’t even beg to save my own child, why should I save her?

Lawrence’s face hardened. At that moment, I knew something in him had broken.

He seized my throat and slammed me against the wall. “Selene, listen to me. If Claudia’s leg isn’t healed tonight, I’ll make you feel every ounce of her pain. If Alex dies, you die with him. Don’t test me.”

The pressure on my windpipe stole my breath. I clawed weakly at his wrists until darkness nipped at the edges of my vision. Only then did he let go.

---

His bodyguards dragged me down the hall and locked me inside the utility room.

That evening, Nanny Evelyn came with a tray of food. She lingered at the door, her voice hushed.

“Madam, I heard everything. I know these years haven’t been kind to you, and Claudia has treated you cruelly. But… even for your own sake, you should help.”

I shook my head, mute.

Her sigh was heavy. She left without another word.

When the footsteps faded, I broke. Silent tears soaked my sleeves.

Alex might resent me for my silence, might hate me for not being there—but he was still my son. My blood. My heart.

---

Sometime past midnight, pounding shook the door.

Lawrence stormed in, his face a mask of grief and fury.

“Because of you, Claudia’s leg was amputated!” His howl rattled the walls. “Bitch! Why didn’t you save her?”

I bit down hard on my lip, tasting iron. But somewhere in my eyes, a flicker of satisfaction glinted.

Maybe I am small-minded.

How could I bear to watch another woman wedge herself between my husband and me? How could I stand to see her raise my child as her own?

Especially when she was the one who had endangered my Alex in the first place.

“Didn’t I tell you?”

Lawrence’s gaze darkened, the light draining from his eyes.

“I’ll make you feel the same pain she’s suffering.”

At his signal, shadows shifted in the doorway—his bodyguards stepping forward.

“How did Claudia’s leg get broken? I’m going to make you understand it today!”

Lawrence’s voice was low and venomous.

“Someone! Get a car!”

The bodyguards seized me at once. “Hold her.”

He climbed into the SUV, slammed the door, and floored the accelerator.

My legs were bound with thick rope, my upper body pinned by two men. I couldn’t move—only watch in frozen horror as the headlights bore down on me.

The impact came like a lightning strike. Pain exploded through me, white-hot and blinding. My legs crumpled beneath the weight of the car. I bit down so hard that a piece of flesh tore from my tongue, the copper taste flooding my mouth.

The SUV rolled back. Lawrence stepped out, eyes dark and unhinged.

“Selene,” he said slowly, “this is your last chance. Promise to give Claudia a good life in her remaining years—and speak to save Alex—and I’ll let you live.”

His mouth twisted in rage.

I met his gaze and gave him a bitter smile. I shaped the words with my lips: Dream on.

His expression sank into something black and soulless. He stalked over, then ground his heel into my shattered ankle.

Agony ripped through me, so sharp I saw stars. My nails dug into my palms, breaking skin, but still he pressed harder, over and over, eyes fever-bright with cruelty.

“Are you sure you won’t speak?” His voice was a growl. “I won’t give you another chance.”

I was half-conscious, my body trembling, the world narrowing into throbbing pain. Words were beyond me.

---

Barely fifteen minutes had passed when I heard shouting from outside the courtyard.

“Let me go!”

The sound jolted me upright—it was my brother.

The bodyguards dragged him in, struggling against their grip.

Ten years I had hidden him, always fearing Lawrence might use him against me. I had prepared for everything. And still, he found him.

Lawrence’s hand clamped around my brother’s throat. “I’ve changed my mind,” he sneered. “Instead of letting you and Alex die together, I’d rather make you watch your family suffer—piece by piece.”

His tone was almost casual. “From now on, every ten minutes I’ll take one of his hands. Should I chop them clean off, or break every finger first, one by one, before finishing the job?”

He yanked my hair, forcing me to look.

My brother met my eyes, shaking his head even as he gasped for breath.

“Sister,” his voice rasped, “don’t forget what our parents told you. Don’t do anything you’ll regret—no matter what.”

“Shut up!”

Lawrence snapped his fingers backward with a sickening crack.

“Ah!” My brother’s scream pierced the air.

Lawrence’s gaze pinned me like a knife. “Remember this, Selene—he’s suffering because of you.”