Melody's POV

Everyone else said Marcus Stokes was head-over-heels for me.

But unbeknownst to them, he cut both of my fiancé’s legs off and wrapped them in a gift box for my birthday just to force me into a relationship.

So, in revenge, I kidnapped him, snapped one of his tendons, and gouged out one of his eyes.

Even so, he didn’t get angry and even smiled at me.

“See?” he said. “I told you, we’re the same kind of people. Meant for each other.”

I smiled back. For some reason, his words made sense.

Eight years with him, and I’d seen things most people wouldn’t believe: blood and storms, a life of chaos.

Then one day, a woman appeared at his side: pale, immaculate, like she’d walked out of a painting. She wore a long white dress that made her look almost angelic.

“Marcus said,” she started, “you’re too dirty for him. Only someone like me deserves to stand with him.”

Yet I didn’t take her seriously. I just nodded and used a knife to ruin that pretty face.

“An angel, huh?” I said, as I carved. “I wonder if angels can be disfigured.”

Her screams were awful, but they sounded musical to me.

Grinning, I took a photo of her bloodied face and sent it to Marcus.

[Take your dog away,] I texted him.

——

In just ten minutes, he showed up with a gun tucked in his arm.

“What did you do?” he asked.

“I dealt with a disobedient dog,” I said. “Aren’t you supposed to be grateful?”

His brow tightened. The blind eye flashed a strange rage as he ground his teeth. “Melody, you can’t hit the dog without asking the owner. You’re being presumptuous.”

Impatient, I lit a cigarette and rubbed my ear. “What are you barking? I don’t hear you. Say that again.”

“Melody, you—” The woman, Judy Moss, clutched her ruined face and sobbed. “Marcus, kill her. Kill her for me! She ruined my face because she's jealous that you like me!”

When Marcus pulled her hand away and looked at the bloody scars, his eyes went bloodshot. He put the gun to my forehead, and the chamber clicked. His voice was colder than the muzzle as he said, “Melody, you’ve gone too far. She’s only a girl! She’s not like us!”

I smiled, pushed the barrel aside with my hand, and blew a smoke ring into his face. “So what? Are you going to kill me to avenge her?”

“Or—” I let the question hang, teasing. “Do you want to ruin my face, too, to make her feel better?”

I chuckled and continued, “You know I’m not that idiot. You know the consequences.”

With that, a dagger pressed against his belly.

Immediately after seeing that, Marcus’s men closed in on me.

But my knife tips had already drawn closer, and faint blood oozed.

He hissed in pain, and for a long moment, he just stared. Then unexpectedly, he laughed and waved his hand to his men.

“Back off,” he barked. “I didn’t tell you to come over. Get out of here!”

“You're really awesome, Melody,” he added, surprising me.

“Of course,” I said. “My brother-in-law taught me well.”

After all, he cut my fiancé’s legs and sent them to me as a present to turn me into someone like him. Then he held my hand and plunged a knife into my fiancé’s chest to force me into marrying him.

He had even said, “If you become as dirty as I am, then only I deserve to be with you.”

He dragged me down from a high place and left me in the dirt. Now, my once clean hands were stained with blood, which I couldn't wash away easily. Yet he pretends to like “clean” things? It was laughable.

“Don’t like my gift, Marcus?” I asked innocently. “Oh, right! You prefer cutting off limbs. So, I’m still soft for you, huh? I’ll remember next time.”

Judy fumed, pulling at Marcus, demanding he avenge her. But he only watched me for a long time before finally turning and leaving with his men.

Melody's POV

“Melody, remember, things won’t end so easily.”

And he was right. The consequences came quicker than I expected. That very night, Marcus gathered every doctor in the syndicate to treat Judy. He threatened them with their own lives, demanding not a single scar remain on her pretty face.

By the time the news reached me, I was at the aquarium, feeding the sharks.

I clicked my tongue. “Been a while since you’ve had meat, huh? Getting cranky, little one?”

I sprinkled food into the water, my voice calm and coaxing. “Don’t worry. I'll feed you well soon.”

His face tight with anger, Samuel Woolery draped a coat over my shoulders. “Sir’s gone too far this time. It’s the first time he’s turned against you over some woman. If it weren’t for your support, the syndicate never would’ve landed in his hands.”

I shook my head, laughing under my breath. “She’s just a toy. If he wants to make a scene, let him. When he’s done, I’ll clean up his corpse.”

I tapped a finger against Samuel’s mouth, displeased. “Remember, there’s no syndicate anymore. We’re a legitimate company now.”

I turned back to the tank, eyes on the exotic fish Marcus had been raising. “Pour them in. Useless things don’t need to stay.”

Over a hundred small fish scattered desperately, but none of them escaped the shark’s bloody jaws. I watched, amused, and snapped a picture. Then I sent it straight to Marcus.

“Fun, right? Just not enough of them. Next time, raise more.”

Marcus didn't reply, but a video call came through. I answered it, and Judy’s smug face filled the screen.

“What’s wrong? Disappointed to see me?” she asked sweetly. “Too bad. Not only did Marcus not abandon me after you ruined my face, but he also promised he wouldn’t let you off easy. He’s already gathered your doctors. Funny, isn’t it? I heard you need injections every night just to sleep. Wonder if you’ll get any rest tonight.”

She leaned closer, deliberately flashing the bite marks on her chest. Her tone dripped with mockery. “Melody, you’re filthy. So filthy it makes people sick. But me? I’m different. My hands aren’t stained with blood.”

I tilted my lips into a smile. “Is that so? What a pity. Clean people don’t last long in the Stokes.”

After saying that, I hung up.

A moment later, Samuel walked in with a folder. “Miss, I found what you asked for. It’ll be at tomorrow night’s auction.”

Finally, some good news. “Eight years I’ve waited. It’s about time. Prepare fifty billion. Tomorrow, I’m bringing it home.”

The next night at the auction, I ran into Marcus and Judy. She clung to his arm, her voice laced with sarcasm. “Miss Fairbank, what a coincidence. Something you like here tonight, too? But Marcus said everything tonight belongs to me as compensation.”

I caught the way he patted her hand, reassuring her. “Yes. That’s what I said. Last time, you went too far. Consider this my way of making peace. So, don't interfere, Melody.”

I almost laughed. When I killed dozens of his enemies who broke into his house, he only praised me for doing a good job. But now, because of Judy, why was he treating me like a nuisance?

I looked at him, my voice soft. “Didn’t you see the photos I sent last night? Guess not. Otherwise, how would you have the mood to come out tonight?”

Marcus' face froze, then turned sharply to Judy.

The latter stammered for a while before stutteringly confessing, “She sent… pictures... of fish being eaten. I didn’t think it was important, so I deleted them for you.”

Marcus’s breath grew heavy. “Who told you to make that decision?”

But the moment her tears fell, his scolding words caught in his throat.

Melody's POV

“Forget it. Let's watch the auction first. We’ll deal with this later.”

When the auction began, Marcus didn’t even glance at the items and simply raised the stakes all the way. As such, a collective intake of breath rippled through the room, while my face went cold.

Lot after lot fell under the hammer. When they reached the last three items, I jumped to my feet.

Those were my mother’s bracelet, the God statue my father had sculpted, and the antique my grandfather left me.

I called over the auction staff. “Those three stays with me no matter the price.”

Their faces went pale. One of them stammered, “Miss, you know the rules in the auction. Don’t put someone like me in such an awkward position. Maybe you should speak to Mr. Stokes directly?”

As suggested, I went to Marcus’s private box. But before I could say anything, Judy pointed at the stage and said, “Marcus, those three are my favorites. I want them.”

Marcus’s expression hardened. “Didn’t you just say those things were tacky?”

“Well, I want them now. Aren’t you going to give them to me? I’m pregnant, you know. When the baby is born, I’ll tell him his dad is cheap!” She threw out the last remark like a weapon.

I paused, looking at her flat stomach that hadn’t swelled yet. So that was it. This woman had the nerve to come after me because she was carrying his child.

Marcus’s face grew cold. “Melody, I promised these to Judy. If you like them, I can find similar ones later.”

“You know what these things mean to me.” My voice went cold.

Eight years ago, our syndicate was massacred by enemies, and those family heirlooms disappeared. I killed hundreds of their men, but the man responsible never spoke until Marcus put him through a month of torture and finally got him to confess.

Marcus’s tone was controlled but angry. “They’re items from the dead. Do you have to care so much? I told you I would make it up to you later. For now, give those to Judy. You owe her, remember.”

Then he leaned back as if settling the matter.

Judy stepped closer with a fake sympathy. “Right, Miss Fairbank. Your parents are gone. Wouldn’t keeping those things only bring more pain? Maybe they died because of their own sins. I heard they were cut to pieces, sewn into dolls. When I first heard it, I was terrified.”

Her words drove a blade into me. Swiftly, I grabbed her, slammed her down on the table, and drew a dagger from my thigh, pressing it against her wrist.

“Too many words.” I snarled. “Do you want the items or your hand?”

As quickly as I, Marcus sprang up and kicked the knife away. But I pulled a gun and pressed it against Judy’s belly.

“Melody! Let her go!” Marcus roared. “Judy just spoke the truth. You killed so many people and you can’t even hear one hard fact? You think your parents didn’t deserve it because they offended too many people? Look at you now, I barely recognize you.”

The gun in my hand trembled, and it nearly went off. I was shaking all over. He knew exactly how my parents died. Those enemies came after him, not them. They kidnapped three people and forced me to choose between my parents and him.

Seeing me torn, they told me they were old and couldn’t protect me anymore. They also begged me to hand over our family to Marcus so I wouldn’t be tormented.

They didn’t die at someone else’s hands. They killed themselves to save me from more trouble. Afterward, the enemies released Marcus and took my parents’ bodies away.

When I finally found them to exact revenge, the house was empty. Only two rotten, stinking dolls remained. I dug a grave for them with my bare hands until my fingers shredded, the flesh torn from my fingertips.