She rushed to help Hector to his feet, then turned to me, her expression twisted with disgust.

“Yoseph, you’ve been coddled for far too long. Hector has endured your temper in silence for years. And now, when it’s clearly your fault, he still suffers for your sake. How can you just stand there like this?

“I’m not letting this go. If you won’t admit your mistake, don’t even dream of leaving.”

She snapped her fingers at the people nearby. “Bring in more ice bricks, stack them around him. Drench the ice with water and make sure he presses right up against it!”

Just as she finished, a woman tugged at her sleeve. “Janet, please. If you pour water over ice and force skin to touch it, it’ll freeze instantly. If he moves, the skin will rip right off. And he’s holding a child... something could go very wrong.”

Janet paused, her hand still in the air. The silence stretched, until Hector’s quiet voice broke it. “Janet, let it go. The ICU wasn’t as bad as you think.”

His words made Janet’s eyes turn icy. She lowered her hand and said coldly, “Do it. Just like I said.”

The woman opened her mouth to argue, but Janet cut her off with a wave. “This is nothing compared to what Hector’s endured. I’ve already got an ambulance on standby. He’ll survive.”

The young woman fell silent as soon as Janet spoke.

On her signal, the group carrying the ice cubes reentered the cold storage.

They grabbed my hair, shoved me back and surrounded me with blocks of ice. Then came a basin of freezing water, dumped straight over my head.

My skin clung to the ice as if it had fused. My daughter let out a heart-wrenching cry, shaken by the shock of the cold.

The chill drilled into my bones, seeping in through every pore.

We had been trapped here for over five hours. Her tiny limbs had turned a dark shade of purple, almost black.

I tried to shift—to reposition myself and shield her better from the cold—but even the smallest movement ripped flesh from my body where it had frozen to the ice.

Her breathing was faint, each breath weaker than the last. I ignored the pain and forced my body to move, inch by inch, curling around her like a shield.

Blood began to stain the clear ice, turning it a deep crimson. By the time I adjusted my posture, the ice around us was red.

The people who had been mocking us moments ago fell silent, their laughter swallowed by the sight before them.

I screamed through the crimson-stained glass, my voice shaking, "Janet! If anything happens to this child, you, her own mother, will be her killer! I’ll pray at her grave every day, just to curse you with a miserable end!"

Janet flinched. The certainty in her eyes wavered. She took a slow step forward, trying to peer through the bloodied frost to see us.

Then, a sudden voice echoed behind her. "Janet! My dad just said a plane was spotted on the Gardner Family’s private flight path!"

Her expression shifted in an instant. Rage overtook her.

She slammed her fist against the glass and shouted, "Yoseph! What the hell is this?! Are you trying to control me with your Gardner name for the rest of my life?"

Before I could speak, Hector moved beside her, gently rubbing her back, his eyes full of blame as he stared at me.

“If you don’t want to admit your mistakes, then forget it, Yoseph. But why torture Janet like this? You know how much she suffered back when Mr. Gardner was around. He’s gone now and the Gardner Family’s assets have long been sold. What’s the point of dragging this out?”

After saying that, Hector gently held Janet’s hand and added, “Let them out, before something really happens to the child and we become actual criminals. I don’t think Yoseph has ever seen people like us as anything more than dirt…”

Hector’s words only fueled Janet’s fury.

Her eyes burned with rage as she cursed and barked, “Lower the cold storage temperature to minus 148 degrees! Now!”

The people behind her, stunned by her outburst, didn’t dare argue.

Without hesitation, they adjusted the temperature.

A sharp, freezing wind blew from the vent and slammed against my body like knives. I was so cold I couldn’t form full sentences, my teeth clattered uncontrollably.

As my mind started to blur, I suddenly noticed something was wrong. My daughter, curled in my arms, had stopped moving.

I forced myself to lean over and look at her face. The purplish tint on her skin had faded into a ghostly pale.

Her weak, shallow breaths had gone completely still, like the surface of dead water.

I let out a broken wail and slammed the ice wall in front of me with trembling hands, over and over.

Each strike reopened my wounds, sending fresh blood dripping onto the frozen floor.

Blood trickled down the ice wall. In the freezing cold storage, the crimson stood out like fire.

Soon, it melted the ice near me and seeped through the cracks.

I pointed at my daughter in my arms and screamed at Janet outside, “Janet! Let me out! My child, please!”

Janet was still glaring at me with anger, until the blood reached her feet. Her gaze dropped to the limp head of her daughter in my arms.

Panic consumed her. She grabbed the person nearest to her and shrieked, “The key! Bring me the key to the cold storage! Didn’t the doctor say it was safe? How did this happen?!”

Someone handed her the key, but her hands were trembling too much. It slipped and landed near Hector’s feet.

She clutched his arm, desperate. “Hector! Hurry! Open the door! Get Yoseph and my daughter out now!”

Startled by Janet’s breakdown, Hector didn’t even bother with his shoes. He bolted toward the door.

I watched as he reached the lock, his back to Janet. He inserted the key slowly.

Then he turned around, and in that moment, I saw it. A smile twisted with hatred and smugness flashed across his face.

And then came a sharp click.

Hector turned around and dropped to his knees in the direction Janet had run. “Janet, the key… it’s broken!”

Janet’s face went pale. She stumbled toward the door, her voice rising. “What do you mean it’s broken?! Call the locksmith, now!”

By then, warm blood had already pooled across the cold storage floor. My daughter’s body was starting to stiffen in my arms.

“Janet! He hasn’t even admitted what he did! You said this would be a chance to fix his rebellious behavior, there were so many people watching!

“And what about everything I went through in the ICU? Are you just going to forget all that? You promised me an explanation!”

Janet froze. She raised a hand to stop the person who was about to run for the spare key.

Then, turning back to the door, she began pounding on it and shouting at me.

There was a desperate plea in her voice. “Yoseph, can’t you just admit you were wrong? For the sake of our child, please?”

If you do, I’ll open the door right now. You don’t want the baby to be hurt, do you? Please… can’t you just let go of your pride?”

The blood was draining too fast. My vision dimmed, my body growing cold.

I collapsed in the pool of blood, my eyes fixed on Janet outside the door. “Janet! Let me out! My dad… he’ll kill you…”

Hector gave me a slight smirk, but his voice stayed weepy and self-righteous. “Yoseph, are you that delusional? Mr. Gardner died six months ago. The Gardner Family’s been gone since then! Just admit it, no one’s coming for you.”

Then the voices outside turned ugly.

“What a joke! He still thinks he can hurt Janet? His father’s probably burning in hell! He’s in no shape to harm anyone!”

Laughter followed. Someone pulled at Janet’s sleeve.

“Janet, this guy’s not worth your mercy. The baby is fine. Let him stay in there and think about what he’s done.”

“Exactly! After how he treated Hector, don’t you dare go soft!”

Blood had already flooded the cold floor. They couldn’t see it, but I could feel it; my daughter was gone.

I broke down, wailing and screaming.

Janet paced anxiously outside the door. When she turned to look at me again, her eyes held a trace of helplessness.

“Yoseph, stop clinging to hope that your father will come save you. He’s gone. He’s really gone. Just admit you were wrong, okay? Say it, ‘I was wrong’ and I’ll let you out!”

She raised her voice. “Give it up! Your father’s not coming for you this time!”

Just as her words faded, the door suddenly burst open with a loud crash.

A team of fully armed mercenaries stormed in.

A deep, authoritative voice rang out from beyond the door. “Who said his father wouldn’t come to save him?”