Without morphine to suppress it, the pain from my bone cancer finally broke free and erupted inside me with terrifying intensity.

It hurt.

It hurt so badly I couldn't breathe.

The pain was so sharp I could almost hear my bones cracking bit by bit.

I started thrashing on the ground and curling into myself. I tried everything to ease the inhuman agony.

I even slammed my head against the glass wall.

I just wanted to pass out or just outright die.

Outside the glass enclosure, the crowd burst into gasps and laughter.

"Look! Withdrawal's kicking in!"

"Disgusting. Serves him right!"

Xenia stood outside the enclosure with a microphone in her hand. "Everyone, this is what drugs do to a person. Once you're hooked, you lose all dignity. You become nothing more than a beast driven by craving. This is the price of self-destruction."

Her voice sounded through the speakers. It reached everyone. It reached me.

My consciousness began to blur. Hallucinations crept in.

The Xenia outside the enclosure was no longer the ruthless police captain.

She was the girl I knew from seven years ago. She was in a white dress. She stood under the sunlight and reached out to me with a smile.

"Don't be scared, Caleb. I'm here. I'll take you home."

"Xenia…"

Tears streamed down my face as I reached toward her. With the last bit of strength I had, I called her name. "Xenia… Help me…"

My pleas looked completely different to everyone else.

Aaron snatched the microphone. His tone was laced with pity and disdain. "As you can see, the suspect is experiencing severe hallucinations. This just shows how the drugs have destroyed his mind."

His analysis spread instantly across the livestream. The screen flooded with mockery and insults.

"This guy is beyond saving."

The illusion shattered. Pain swallowed me whole again.

I couldn't take it anymore. Everything went black as I fainted.

…

A bucket of icy water was dumped over my face. The cold shocked me awake.

The public execution continued.

I didn't know how much time had passed. At the peak of another wave of agony, my body gave out completely.

A warm wetness spread from my abdomen and soaked through my pants.

I had lost control in front of the entire country.

In that moment, the pain, humiliation, and anger I had felt all disappeared.

All that remained was numbness and despair.

The last shred of my dignity was crushed to ashes.

…

Somewhere in my fading awareness, I heard the glass door slam open.

Footsteps rushed in, and a hand grabbed my collar. It was a furious Xenia. "Caleb! Get up! Stop faking it for sympathy!"

She was so furious that she lost control of her grip.

A sharp cracking sound rang out.

It was the sound of my collarbone—already weakened by cancer—snapping clean in two under her grip.

Her hand hung midair. Her eyes flicked from her hand to the visible collapse beneath my shoulder.

A normal addict wouldn't be this fragile. They wouldn't break from a single shake.

For the first time, there was a flicker of fear in her voice. "Caleb… Your bones…"