Chapter 1
744words
Edward Lawrence conducts a high-stakes international video conference where every second counts.
He stands before the camera, impeccably dressed in a tailored suit, exuding confidence as he presents the grand blueprint for the next quarter to hundreds of global executives.
"...Therefore, our core growth point for the next quarter will be..."
At that very moment, I sit imprisoned in the penthouse of his villa, facing a mirror, slowly raising a rusty pair of pliers.
In the reflection, my cheeks are sunken, my face as white as chalk, with only my eyes burning bright like the tempered steel of a vengeful spirit.
I stare at the little finger of my left hand.
I recall our first meeting, when he took this same hand, slipped a ring onto it, and promised me forever.
"Daisy, I'll protect you from now on."
His vow still echoes in my ears, though it has long since twisted into the most venomous curse.
Well then, let's start with this hand.
I close my eyes without hesitation and apply brutal force!
*Crack*
The sound of breaking bone—crisp and melodious.
Pain crashes over me like a tsunami, yet I don't make even the slightest sound, just bite down hard on my lip as cold sweat instantly soaks through my back.
In the distant conference room...
Edward Lawrence's phrase "lies in" has its final syllable violently torn apart by a scream that sounds barely human!
"AHHHHH!"
Over a hundred directors and executives worldwide witness an unforgettable horrifying scene through 4K high-definition cameras.
The CEO of Lawrence Group, who had been commanding the room just a second ago, suddenly doubles over as if struck by an invisible hammer. His left hand, which had been holding a presentation clicker, twists outward at an eerie angle, his little finger drooping unnaturally.
He collapses to the ground clutching his hand, his expensive tailored suit quickly soaking with cold sweat. His handsome face contorts in unimaginable agony, like a fish out of water, convulsing helplessly on the polished floor.
Complete silence falls over the room.
No one knows what has happened.
This "accident" becomes an indelible joke in city's upper-class social circles for weeks to come.
That evening, to comfort his shaken sweetheart Jenny Isaacs, Edward Lawrence endures the excruciating pain of his mangled finger and books out the most expensive French restaurant in the city.
He takes out a velvet box containing a diamond necklace worth millions.
"Jenny, don't be afraid, it was just an accident." He forces a gentle smile, his voice slightly trembling from suppressed pain. "Here, let me put it on for you."
Jenny bashfully lowers her head, revealing her swan-like elegant neck.
Meanwhile, I sit in the storage room.
I shatter a mirror, picking up the sharpest piece, its cold gleam reflecting my crazed eyes.
I recall that rainy night when I miscarried with severe bleeding, lying in a pool of blood begging him to save our child.
Yet he carried Jenny, who only had a slight fever, rushing out of the hospital without even a backward glance.
He said: "Daisy Wen, Jenny is a hundred times more important than you and that bastard child."
Fine, one hundred times it is.
I raise the glass shard and slash it fiercely against my arm!
A wound deep enough to expose bone instantly opens, skin and flesh curling back.
*Crash!*
In the restaurant, the expensive necklace falls to the ground.
Everyone sees Edward Lawrence's right arm, which was about to place the necklace on Jenny Isaacs, suddenly split open without warning!
A wound identical to the one on my arm appears out of nowhere on his arm, deep enough to expose bone, with blood gushing out like a fountain!
"AHHHHH!"
Edward Lawrence lets out another shrill scream of agony, rolling on the ground in pain, looking utterly pathetic.
Blood stains Jenny's snow-white formal dress, and chaos erupts in the restaurant.
Jenny Isaacs stares at Edward Lawrence, who is covered in blood and in a wretched state, her face draining of color with fear as she screams and backs away.
Edward Lawrence lies on the cold floor, the excruciating pain in his arm intertwining with phantom pain from his mangled fingers, bringing him to the edge of fainting.
In his daze, he finally remembers me.
Remembers the one he had locked away in the attic like garbage.
An unprecedented fear instantly seizes his heart.
This all began three days ago.
