Frederick came storming in and slapped me hard across the face.

“Loretta, all I asked you to do was cook a meal, and you slashed Victoria out of spite? Have you lost your mind?”

I stumbled back against the wall, shaking my head. “I didn't cut her. She did it to herself.”

Frederick let out a cold laugh. “Victoria's had low platelets since she was a kid. Her wounds don't heal easily. She'd have to be insane to risk her own life like that.”

I went rigid. I hadn't imagined Victoria would go that far just to frame me.

Victoria's eyes were red and brimming with hurt. “Maybe she just felt I wasn't worthy of eating the food she made.”

“She mocked the burn scars on my legs too. Said you'd grow disgusted with me sooner or later.”

Frederick's gaze slid to the pot of hot soup beside him, and a cruel smile twisted his lips. “You mocked Victoria's burns? Then you should feel it for yourself. Consider it your apology for cutting her.”

The moment I realized what he was about to do, cold sweat broke across my skin. “No, that soup was just made, don't……”

The scalding soup hit me head-on. I threw my arm up on instinct to shield myself.

Blisters erupted across the entire length of my arm in an instant, the skin too ruined to look at.

Something flickered in Frederick's eyes, a flash of something almost like pain, and he stepped forward. Victoria grabbed his sleeve.

“Frederick, my cut really hurts. I've lost so much blood.”

He stopped looking at me. He scooped Victoria into his arms and carried her out. “I'm taking you to the hospital.”

Two steps toward the door, he glanced back at me. For one stupid, desperate second, I thought he was going to bring me along, that he actually cared about my arm.

Instead, his voice was ice. “Have this place cleaned up before I get back. Otherwise, don't expect my forgiveness.”

Over his shoulder, Victoria flashed me a triumphant smile.

Whatever was left inside me went dead. I gritted my teeth, rinsed the soup and grime off the wound, took a needle and punctured the blisters one by one. Yellowish fluid seeped out. Then I dug through the cabinet for a tube of burn ointment and treated myself.

That tube was from the time I'd burned a tiny red mark on my hand. Frederick had bought it for me. He'd been so worried he nearly cried.

Now, even if my entire arm rotted off, he wouldn't care.

The ointment was too small. There wasn't enough to cover the whole wound, but I had no other choice.

Frederick had already frozen every one of my cards. I didn't have a single dollar to my name. I couldn't afford a hospital.

I cleaned the kitchen, set the finished dishes on the dining table, and headed for the door.

The climbing roses in the yard had all been ripped out, replaced with a garden full of red roses, because Victoria liked roses.

Frederick had bought this mansion in the first place because I loved those climbing roses.

None of that mattered anymore.

I pulled the front gate shut behind me and made it two steps before Frederick seized my arm.

“Loretta, you think you can just run after what you did? Do you have any idea……”

His grip tore at the wound. A strangled sound escaped my throat, and only then did he notice the blisters under his fingers. He let go, then wiped his hand on his jacket in disgust.

“Victoria lost too much blood because of her condition. You're coming to the hospital to give a transfusion. Now.”

Before I could refuse, he shoved me into the car.

Then I was pushed into a treatment room. “She's the one who cut Victoria. Draw her blood.”

The doctor took one look at me and hesitated. “Sir, she's badly burned and running a fever. She needs treatment first. She's not fit to donate.”

Frederick didn't waver. “Draw her blood. Or you won't be practicing medicine much longer.”

The thick needle slid into my vein. I felt the blood pulling out of me, and my body grew colder and colder.

“Take more. Victoria's fragile.”

Eventually everything went dark. Somewhere in the haze, words slipped out of me on their own.

“Frederick, the truth is, I'm the Player. One more week and I can leave you forever.”

Frederick was already turning to go. He froze mid-step and spun around. “What did you just say?”

I kept talking. “I'm leaving, Frederick. For good.”

Frederick's chest hollowed out for a split second, a bad feeling rising through him, and he was about to step forward and demand an explanation when the urgent shouts of Victoria's attending doctor pulled him away.

“Ms. Cox is having a rejection reaction to Ms. Butler's blood.”

“The blood is contaminated. There's something toxic in it.”

The next time I opened my eyes, I was in the basement of the mansion.

When he saw I was awake, Frederick seized me by the throat, his eyes bloodshot, his gaze murderous enough to grind my bones to dust.

“Loretta, you vicious bitch. Victoria almost died because of you. Do you understand that?”

His hand was crushing my windpipe. I didn't know what had happened, but whatever it was, Victoria had done something to frame me. She always did.

But the week wasn't up yet. I couldn't die now, or I'd never make it back.

I thrashed with everything I had and rasped out an answer. “I was half-dead myself. How could I possibly hurt her?”

He let go with a cold laugh. “Still won't admit it. You really are beyond saving.”

“Before the blood draw, you secretly injected a substance into your own veins that you knew would trigger an allergic reaction in Victoria. That's why she went into rejection during the transfusion.”

“Do you have any idea how close she came to dying? The doctors had to replace every drop of blood in her body three times before they brought her back.”

My eyes went wide. I hadn't imagined Victoria would go this far to set me up.

“I didn't do it. You're the one who dragged me there to give blood. I had no warning, no time to prepare. How could I have poisoned anything?”

“And the entire hospital is staffed by your people. How would I even know exactly what she's allergic to, let alone get my hands on the right drug?”

Frederick stiffened. A flicker of doubt crossed his eyes. Then Victoria burst through the door, pointing at me, her voice shaking with fury and grief.

“You want to know how she knew? Because she went through my medical file at home. She found out exactly what I'm allergic to.”

“And during the chaos of the emergency, she injected herself with the allergen before the blood draw.”

“Frederick, the doctors detected the drug in her blood. That's a fact no one can deny.”

Frederick slammed his foot down on the burn wound on my arm. The raw, blistered skin split open, and blood seeped out mixed with thick yellow fluid.

The pain ripped a plea out of me. “Frederick, I didn't do it. I was already leaving. I had no reason to do any of this.”

The moment I mentioned leaving, his expression turned savage. “Stop with the act. Where exactly do you think you're going?”

“You're staying right here until you admit what you did. When you're ready to own up, I'll let you out.”

The basement door slammed shut again. I curled up on the concrete floor, shaking from the pain. 「System, can you pull me out now?」

「Host, the full week is required. Please hold on a little longer.」

So I gritted my teeth and held on. But there was no medicine in the basement. No food. No water. The fever was burning through me, and before long, I blacked out.

When I came to, my whole body was scorching. My lips were cracked and peeling, my throat on fire.

I lay on the basement floor, helpless, waiting to die. Somewhere between consciousness and delirium, I heard laughter filtering in from outside. Music. It sounded like they were throwing a party.

I didn't know how much time passed. I felt myself growing lighter, and then, slowly, I drifted free of my own broken body.

The basement door flew open. Frederick rushed in, elated, shouting.

“Loretta! A Player took over my body before, but I've fought my way back. I'm me again. You……”

Then he saw my rigid, rotting body. His legs gave out and he crumpled to the floor. “Loretta!”