Suffering

That did not make the bodyguard waver. He clicked his tongue. "No, you're mad. I've been working for the Leafenstein for ten years, and Mr. Zacharias is the second-in-line I know. How dare you impersonate him!"

Zacharias came out from behind and looked at me coldly. I had the feeling he saw me as nothing but meat he could carve up. He turned to Annabelle. "What now, Annabelle? All I wanted was to drink with my friends, but your boyfriend told everyone I'm a fake heir.

"My family has always lived a low-profile life, so I've been tolerating his behavior. I even called my chauffeur and tried to send him away, but he accused me of hitting him with my car. He's ruining my family's reputation. I must do something about that."

He was twisting the truth. It was absurd, but Annabelle went white. She grabbed my collar and pulled me off my wheelchair. Then she kicked my knees and made me kneel. She told someone to push my head down to the ground.

"I can't believe you'd do that, Horatio! Apologize to Zacharias! Grovel until he forgives you!"

I was trembling with rage and tried to get back up. Gregory told me that men should never kneel unless it was for the people they loved. All my life, I had knelt to no one but my parents. This was humiliation.

Annabelle sneered and haughtily demanded, "You do not get to give me attitude! Want to know a secret? The Leafensteins are going to marry someone from my family, and that's me! People like us will never give peasants like you a chance. You'd best give up and apologize to Zacharias. Maybe I'll spare you, for old times' sake."

Veins throbbed in my temple, and I chortled. "The Leafensteins will never marry you, not even if you're the last woman on earth. You'd better get ready. Your family's going to kick you out."

My words were blades, and they found their mark. Annabelle shattered the vase against the wall and reached for a shard—aiming to stab me in the leg.

"You don't talk to me like that, you filthy peasant! If you're going to give me attitude, then I'll break you until you can't even talk!"

I couldn't even move, and I closed my eyes in despair, but the pain did not come. I opened my eyes and saw someone defending me. Wendy.

Her patient gown was drenched in blood, yet she did not falter. Weakly, she said, "Don't trust Zacharias. He's a bastard. He will stoop to any level to get what he wants. That guy is no Leafenstein, and if you want to hurt Zacharias, you'll have to kill me first!"

Annabelle looked at her sisters' wounds in horror. She was about to ask, but Zacharias was faster. He tucked away his panic and yanked Wendy over just to slap her. He roared, "You bitch! I can't believe you're starting another rumor about me! I know you're trying to scam us because you couldn't get my friend to sleep with you!

"You're Annabelle's sister. I can't believe you're jealous of your sister just because she gets to marry into my family. And you show up with that broke kid at the same time? You're making your plans obvious enough for us to see!"

Wendy fell to the ground and spat out blood. What little color she regained was lost, and she nearly blacked out again. The bodyguard snickered and dragged her into a room.

I wanted to stop her, but Annabelle swung her bag with full force, slamming me to the floor. Furious, she roared, "So that's what happened! Both of you lied to me in my past life!"

My heart jumped. The truth was out. Like me, Annabelle was reborn. No wonder she was so sure that I was lying, even before I could ask for her help back then.

I didn't even have the strength to talk. Blood was seeping out fast. It was all I could do to struggle on the ground.

Annabelle took a deep breath and held my hands in a vise grip. "Do you have any idea what happens to people who hurt Zacharias? He was stolen at birth, but his family didn't even panic. The thief had his limbs broken that very afternoon and was cut into pieces. His remains were thrown into the middle of nowhere.

"Someone tossed nails on the ground in the hopes that he would step on them during junior high, and his legs were crushed the next day. When he was in university, some girl tried to get close to him, but she got exposed as a cheater and vanished the next day. You should be thanking me for my generosity, or you'd be facing the Leafensteins instead."

She grabbed a scalpel and jabbed it into my wrist, then she stirred it like my wrist was a pot of stew. The pain shot through my veins, and I shivered in agony. Even so, I gnashed my teeth. "When my family finds out what you're doing to me, you're dead. All of you!"

Zacharias sneered and slammed his foot into my belly. "You're going to die, and yet you're still delusional. Your parents failed to educate you, but I don't mind helping them out. You will learn respect!"

Annabelle cut my tendon, and Zacharias was abusing me. I was getting overwhelmed by pain, but I kept moving backward. Or at least I tried to.

The bodyguards' captain held me in place and slapped me fiercely. He spat, "You're going nowhere! I'll make you pay double for what you did to Mr. Zacharias! You will endure this!"

And so, I couldn't even move an inch, pinned to the ground. I could do nothing but close my eyes and take the suffering, waiting for the last of my time to slip away.

However, the hospital's entrance swung open, and in came Gregory and his men. He roared sharply, "What are you doing out here?" He turned his eyes to me.