Chapter 13
1046words
He spent every day by her side, and he'd trace his fingertips gently on her eyebrows and eyes over and over again.
"Ember, the people who hurt you have already been dealt with. Please, open your eyes and look at me, won't you?"
However, there was no response from the unconscious Ember.
Meanwhile, the Langford siblings, who had been disgracefully cast out of high society, were struggling to survive.
Kaylee had previously leveraged her connection to Atlas to secure a modeling job with the Fergusons' company and access to the elite social circle.
However, her manipulative and insincere behavior had left her with few genuine friends.
Now that Atlas had blacklisted her, she not only lost her job and housing but also became a pariah within those circles.
Spencer was in an even worse position. A talentless drifter, he had been no different from a homeless vagrant before his brief association with Atlas.
With no status left and their lavish spending habits unchanged, the siblings quickly burned through their savings.
They had been living in a villa provided by Atlas, but they were forced to squeeze into a cramped 300-square-foot rental apartment now that it was repossessed.
"It's all that cursed Ember's fault! Now we have no money and no employment—what are we supposed to do?" Spencer grumbled angrily.
Kaylee frowned in thought for a moment before her face twisted into a sinister smile. "I have an idea."
Not long after, a livestreaming account suddenly went viral across the Internet.
The stream featured a brother and sister: the man appeared downtrodden and dejected, while the woman looked pitifully delicate.
Kaylee wept in front of the camera as her tears fell like raindrops.
"Everyone, please judge this for yourselves…" she sobbed.
"My boyfriend was with me, yet he's still obsessed with his ex. Now he's kicked me out of the house for her and even dragged my brother down with me. We've lost our jobs because of this—what are we supposed to do?"
She painted herself as a helpless victim and pinned all the blame on Ember.
Her fabricated story quickly caught fire online, gaining support from countless clueless netizens who flooded the comments with words of encouragement.
Some went as far as digging up Ember's personal information, leading to an onslaught of cyberbullying.
Seeing the overwhelming tide of support, Kaylee smirked in satisfaction. But she watched in shock as the comments section went completely blank the very next moment.
Her live stream was abruptly cut off, and there was a loud knock at the door.
Spencer's face paled instantly. "What's going on?"
He started toward the door to lock it, but it was smashed open before he could. A group of bodyguards then stormed into the tiny apartment.
Atlas stepped through their ranks with an ice-cold expression. His gaze was filled with murderous intent as he looked at the two of them.
"A-Atlas?" Kaylee stammered, nearly biting her tongue in fear.
Seeing the terrifying expression on Atlas' face, Kaylee immediately crawled to his knees, clutching at him while crying.
"I-I was forced to do it!" she wailed while turning to point at Spencer.
Her eyes were filled with hatred as she complained, "It was all him! He said this would make money and help me win you back.
"It's all his fault. I'm innocent!"
Since Spencer hadn't stood by her last time, she had no hesitation in throwing him under the bus now.
Spencer erupted in fury, pointing a trembling finger at her. "You little snake! How dare you pin this on me? I'm your brother!"
"Ha!" Kaylee spat at him in disgust. "What kind of brother are you?
"Mom always favored you, spoiling you while you ate well, dressed well, and bullied me whenever you wanted. Did you ever treat me like your sister?
"Now that Mom's gone, you're nothing but a parasite who's leeching off me. Don't think for a second I'll ever call you my brother again!"
She turned back to Atlas, tears streaming down her face as she sobbed pitifully.
"Atlas, you have to believe me! He's the one who forced me to do this. I love you. I truly love you!"
"Is that so?"
Atlas let out a cold laugh, his words cutting like ice. "Kaylee Langford, do you take me for a fool?
"You lied to me over and over again. Do you think I'd let that slide?"
He waved his hand, summoning his bodyguards. "Break their legs."
"What!"
The Langford siblings screamed in unison, and their terror was quickly replaced by agonized howls as their punishment began.
"Atlas! Atlas, you can't do this to me! Ahhh!" Kaylee cried out.
Only when both of them were left bleeding, crippled, and unable to stand, did Atlas' fury begin to subside.
"Remember, this is the price you pay for hurting Ember!"
Kaylee was now lying on the floor as her tears mixed with blood. She hadn't expected Atlas to be so ruthless.
Overwhelmed with anger and despair, she shouted at him, "Atlas, do you really think you're any better?
"Stop pretending you love Ember so much! If you truly loved her, would we all end up like this? How could you leave her heartbroken day after day?
"You're nothing but a hypocrite!"
Atlas' expression darkened instantly. He knelt and gripped her chin with crushing force as he said through clenched teeth, "What did you say?"
Kaylee's expression twisted with despair. "You know it's true, Atlas.
"Ember loved you deeply. She lost herself for you—her friends, her social life, everything. She gave it all up.
"And what did you do? You pushed her away, found her annoying, and told her to leave. You never cared about her!"
Her voice trembled from the pain, but her words struck like daggers.
"Atlas, the way you're acting now is nothing but karma!"
The man before her began to tremble as her words hit their mark.
Atlas finally stood after a long silence. He cast one last glance at the siblings before turning to his bodyguards, his tone devoid of emotion.
"Throw them down the snowy mountain.
"Everything Ember endured, they'll experience every last bit of it too."
