Just as I was about to lose consciousness, I heard faint footsteps from a distance.

Then, I heard Valerie’s anxious voice.

I thought she had come to save me.

Then, she rushed forward and urgently asked, “Cy, are you alright?”

When she noticed the red marks on his hand, she asked sharply, “What happened here?”

The cruel look on Cyrus’ face faded. It was replaced with a look of bewilderment.

He said aggrievedly, “I was just trying to run some tests on him.”

Valerie turned to look at me. It was as if she could not see the blood pouring out of me or the steel nails.

She said viciously, “Claude, how can you be so cruel? He’s just trying to do some human research. What’s the big deal if you make a little sacrifice?”

I did not want to dwell on this with her. My mind was focused on my mother.

“Save my mom. Save her.”

In my current state, I could barely save myself. There was no way I could get my mother out.

Her gaze landed on the elderly woman lying nearby, covered in dirt. She paused briefly.

Then, she let out a cold laugh. “This old hag hurt Cy. So she deserves to die.”

I looked at her in disbelief. My lips trembled as I said, “My mom ended up like this because of you!”

Back then, Valerie insisted that my mother go shopping with her. On the way, they encountered a car accident. When a speeding truck came hurtling toward them, my mother pushed Valerie out of the way.

Due to that incident, my mother fell into a vegetative state.

Valerie could be ruthless to anyone. But she had no right to be ruthless to my mother.

She looked me up and down with a mocking expression.

“How about this? Apologize to Cy a hundred times, and I’ll put some clothes on the old lady. Deal?”

Hearing her casual words made me laugh out loud. Tears blurred my vision.

My mother had risked her life to save Valerie. Yet that could not compare to a single fake wound on Cyrus.

She knew very well that my mother was my only family left. Yet she still did this.

Cyrus stood behind her. He silently taunted me by mouthing, “Idiot.”

Valerie’s smile grew as she became greedier. “Here’s another option. Transfer every asset you own to Cyrus. Then, I’ll be generous and let your mother breathe for ten more minutes.”

I stared hard into her eyes and said deliberately, “In your dreams.”

In the next moment, a dagger pierced through my palm.

“Then, get on your knees and apologize until Cy’s happy.”

Seeing that I did not react, Valerie’s expression turned fierce.

She walked straight toward my mother and yanked off her oxygen tube.

My mother let out a weak, strangled sound. Her eyes went wide, then quickly glazed over.

I was frantic with rage and screamed at Valerie, “Leave my mother’s oxygen tube alone. If you’ve got any guts, come at me.”

She turned a deaf ear to my despair. She toyed with my mother’s life-saving oxygen tube.

The surrounding bodyguards burst into jeers and laughter.

“Hurry up and apologize! If you don’t do it soon, your mother will stop breathing for good.”

My hands clenched into fists. My fingernails dug into my palms until they bled.

I looked at her with a vicious gaze filled with murderous intent.

Just as I was about to give in, the monitor beside me let out a sharp alarm.

My eyes widened. I was so overcome with grief that I could not speak. Tears and blood from my wound streamed down my face together.

“Oops. My bad. Don’t blame me for this. If you’d apologized sooner, your mother wouldn’t have died. You’re the one who killed her.”

Valerie laughed wildly.

“But don’t worry. You’ll be Cy’s lab rat soon enough.”

I lay on the operating table. Rage filled my body, even as my consciousness began to fade.

Just then, the laboratory door was smashed open. Carl and the doctors had finally arrived.

I said coldly, “Throw these two in the dungeon. I’ll make them wish they were dead.”