At our wedding, just as my husband and I were exchanging rings, my younger sister suddenly burst in, completely unclothed.

"Even though you thought I was despicable and cut all my clothes to shreds, since I promised you, I had to come see you off no matter what."

My husband blamed me for hitting my sister’s sore spot and sent me to Snake Island as punishment. It was the place I feared most.

I was transformed into a snake-woman, meant for the amusement of those with particular desires.

Six months later, my husband came to take me home. The entire family praised my newfound docility and quiet demeanor.

Until the moment I caught a mouse and, in my excitement, swallowed it whole.

My husband flew into a rage. “Snake Island is nothing more than a paradise, filled only with gentle, non-venomous snakes. It was just six months of self-reflection, do you have to go this far to spite me?”

Just then, an overwhelming wave of masculine pheromones flooded the air. An insatiable hunger surged within me and my pupils unconsciously narrowed into vertical slits.

My body twisted into an extreme arc, instinctively coiling around the cold, muscular form of a massive python.

——

When my husband, Victor Winter, arrived at Snake Island on his private yacht to take me home. He made such a grand spectacle of it that he brought along all our friends and family.

I was dressed in a pristine, snow-white gown and stepped forward under the astonished gazes of the crowd.

Victor regarded me with a stern, composed expression. “Eve, have you reformed yourself during these six months on the island? I hope that when you return, you won’t trouble Clara anymore. Don’t disappoint me again.”

I flicked out my tongue, curiously testing the air around Victor with my serpentine senses, only to find his scent unfamiliar and utterly uninteresting.

Victor’s gaze lingered momentarily on my red lips, his expression faltering for just a split second before he gave a satisfied nod.

"I've never seen such an innocent and playful side of you before. It seems this beautiful island has truly cleansed your filthy and malicious heart. I've already prepared a banquet on the yacht to welcome you back into the family."

Victor took my hand, intending to personally lead me onto the luxurious private yacht.

However, the moment his skin touched mine, he nearly let go.

"The sun is scorching on this island. Why is your body so cold?" Victor's brows knitted tightly. "This temperature… doesn’t feel like a living person’s. Are you sick?"

Victor was saying too much but I couldn't understand his words at all.

As I stared at him blankly, Clara Rivers stepped forward nervously. "My sister has been on the island for six months. She's already adapted to the sun here. Of course, her body temperature is different from ours."

The moment I laid eyes on Clara, alarm bells rang in my mind. My blood instantly froze.

"Hiss… hiss…"

I instinctively retreated, a low warning sound escaping my throat.

Under the astonished and bewildered gazes of the crowd, Clara covered her face, sobbing uncontrollably. "Eve, I can't believe that after six months, you still hate me this much… You even wish I were dead…"

Victor immediately pulled Clara behind him, glaring at me with fury. "Eve, I actually thought you'd changed, but I see you've revealed your true colors again so soon."

"Clara may have come from the mountains and is merely a foster daughter supported by the Rivers family, but when it comes to kindness, she's far better than you!"

The moment Victor's words fell, I became the target of everyone's condemnation.

Even my own parents looked at me with disappointment and frustration. "Eve, the entire River Family will be yours in the future. All Clara needs is a bite to eat. Why are you so narrow-minded that you can't tolerate her?"

The banquet, originally meant to welcome me home, had turned into a courtroom where my sins were put on trial.

I felt the malice closing in from all directions and in fear, I scrambled under the table.

"Eve, even someone as vicious as you can be this afraid? Who are you putting on this act for?"

Victor's hand landed on my shoulder, attempting to pull me out from under the table.

But instead, he tore off an entire piece of shedding skin from my back that had yet to fully peel away.

Pain shot through me and I instinctively rubbed my back against the ground before retreating deeper under the table.

Victor’s pupils contracted sharply, as if struck by lightning.

Without a care for his dignity, he dropped to the ground, meeting my gaze at eye level. When he spoke, his voice was hoarse, as though something was choking him. "Eve, what's wrong? Why is your skin peeling off like this? Are you feeling unwell?"

Before I could respond, Clara immediately choked up and cut in, her voice trembling. "The island has sunshine all year round and Eve's skin is so delicate. It must have peeled from sunburn. This is all my fault. Victor, if it weren’t for me, you wouldn’t have been angry enough to send my sister to the island in the first place."

"Clara, this isn’t your fault." My mother held Clara in her arms, her voice full of affection. "Even though Eve is my biological daughter, I can’t defend her against my conscience. She’s already in her twenties, does she not know how to avoid the sun if it’s too hot? I think she knew we were coming to pick her up and deliberately stood under the sun to put on this act of suffering."

The moment my mother finished speaking, Victor’s expression darkened instantly.

Without hesitation and ignoring my struggles, he grabbed my ankle and forcibly dragged me out from under the table.

My freshly shed back scraped against the ground, sending unbearable pain searing through me. Blood gushed from the raw wounds, staining the floor.

Yet Victor remained indifferent, merely casting a cold glance at me as he reprimanded, "Eve, is this your pitiful act? So not only are you vicious toward others, but you're also ruthless to yourself."

"Compared to the cruel things you've done to Clara over the years, forcing a young girl to stand naked at our wedding, sending you to an island to enjoy nature for six months was barely even a punishment!"

I ignored Victor. My body, weakened from excessive blood loss, screamed for sustenance. I had to eat and fast.

Just then, a large rat darted out from the yacht’s kitchen, sending the guests into a frenzy. People clung to one another, shrieking and jumping away in terror.

But my eyes lit up. Without hesitation, I lunged at it.

Under the stunned gazes of Victor and my parents, I bit down on the rat and swallowed it whole with satisfaction.

"Ah!" My mother let out a shrill scream of agony. "Is this still my daughter? How could living in isolation on Snake Island for just six months strip her of even the most basic humanity?"

Victor staggered, almost losing his balance. "Eve, I know you're terrified of snakes. But Snake Island is a beautiful place, full of harmless, non-venomous snakes. No matter how angry you are at me, you shouldn’t have done something so disgusting and self-destructive to yourself!"

Just as his words fell, Clara suddenly dropped to her knees, sobbing as she frantically slapped herself.

"If it weren’t for me, my sister wouldn’t have ended up like this. Take her back home. I'll stay on Snake Island for the rest of my life to atone for my sins and make it up to her!"

My mother’s cries abruptly stopped. She turned to me, her face twisting in fury and pointed a trembling finger at me as she screamed, "Eve, how can you be so vile? Just to drive Clara away, you've reduced yourself to a beast! Do you have no dignity left as a human being?"

Victor's dark eyes locked onto me, his gaze unwavering.

Suddenly, he let out a low chuckle, sending a chill down my spine. "Eve, don’t you love pretending to be a snake? Then let me bring you some company to play with properly."

With a flick of his fingers, someone immediately stepped forward and threw a bag full of writhing snakes at my feet.

"Eve, I know better than anyone how terrified you are of snakes. Even just seeing a rope shaped like one used to paralyze you with fear."

He stared at me coldly, a calculated glint in his eyes. "Right now, you will apologize to Clara and publicly promise never to trouble her again. Otherwise, I’ll open this bag and let you have a real taste of dancing with snakes."

Seeing that I remained silent, a fleeting trace of hesitation flashed through Victor’s eyes, but it disappeared just as quickly.

"Lock her in the karaoke room with the snakes. She can come out when she admits her mistake and begs for mercy."

With that, Victor threw me and the entire bag of snakes into the glass-walled room. He then crossed his arms over his chest, confidently waiting at the door for my screams and submission.

I used to be terrified of snakes. Even after my body was gradually altered by the researchers on Snake Island, transforming me into something inhuman, the sight of a snake would still make me tremble.

But later, in order to break me completely, the researchers threw me into a pit swarming with thousands upon thousands of snakes. There was no food, only the snakes themselves.

They forced me to adapt. Forced me to survive. Forced me to forget that I was ever human.

If I didn’t want to die of thirst or starvation, there was only one rule to follow—survival of the fittest. The strong devoured the weak.

After living in the snake pit for two months, I no longer saw snakes as terrifying creatures. To me, they had become nothing more than delicious food.

As I opened my mouth and bit into a green snake. I saw Victor’s staggering steps reflected in the glass.

"Eve, are you insane? What are you doing…?"

Victor had no idea that a single rat could never satisfy my hunger.

But this bag of snakes he had so graciously delivered to me was the greatest gift. The perfect nourishment.

Under the horrified and bloodshot gazes of Victor and my parents, I raised my head high and swallowed the writhing snake whole.

Victor’s eyes were bloodshot as he rushed into the karaoke room, yanking the snake from my hands and tossing it aside. Then, he pulled me into a tight embrace.

"Enough, Eve. Stop forcing yourself like this. Let’s not fight anymore, okay?"

I didn’t understand why he had taken my food away.

At the research institute, in order to secure more funding, they had transformed me into a "snake woman" and sent me to serve men with particular tastes, to be their amusement.

I had learned that only by pleasing men could I earn the right to eat.

So, I parted my tongue into two halves and obediently knelt before Victor.

Tucking my loose hair behind my ear, I reached out to unbuckle his belt.

His pupils shrank in disbelief and his voice turned hoarse and heavy.

"Eve… what exactly did you learn during those six months on Snake Island? Do you even remember that you are the heiress of the River Family?"

Victor suddenly grabbed my hand, his face filled with pain.

"When you played the piano, you were like a goddess, high and untouchable. How can you use these hands, the same hands that won national piano awards, for something so degrading, just to please men?"

His knuckles turned white from how tightly he gripped me. I didn’t understand his reaction, only that his hold was hurting me, so I instinctively pulled my hand back.

He was the one who sent me to this island. Here, my body had been altered into something others desired and my mind had been tamed into submission, turned into something less than human, something closer to a snake.

To survive, these hands, this mouth and every inch of my body had long since been used for things far filthier than he could imagine.

And now, he was disgusted by me. Calling me dirty.

I stared at him, unblinking. Yet, in the face of my gaze, he didn’t even have the courage to look me in the eye.

His lips pressed into a tight line. Then, his voice was cold and sharp.

"Find out exactly what happened to Eve on Snake Island in the past six months!"

The wait felt endless. Victor held me on his lap, wrapping my hands tightly in his palms, as if trying to pass warmth into me.

But he didn’t know that every drop of my blood had been replaced, that I had long become a cold-blooded creature. No matter how much warmth he tried to give, he would never thaw me.

Half an hour later, two men dragged my caretaker before us.

"I entrusted Eve's well-being to you," Victor's voice was icy, pressing down like a blade. "Now tell me, how did she turn into this? Neither human nor snake, all in just six short months?"

Under his interrogation, the caretaker trembled uncontrollably.