Chapter 4

Seeing me vomiting a mouthful of blood as I wept in absolute despair, Lucian leaned in close to my ear, his voice hissing like a venomous snake.

"By the way, on the day Evelyn died, didn't Stella stay out all night?

"You didn't actually think she was out hunting for evidence to nail the killer, did you?"

It felt like I had been slammed in the head with a baseball bat. I rasped out in disbelieving horror.

"She told me she was out checking if any security cameras missed anything..."

Watching the crumbling expression shatter completely across my face, Lucian let out a booming, triumphant laugh and started slow-clapping.

"Man, you’re so naïve. Your precious wife was actually in my arms all night, letting me cuddle and comfort her.

"We were right there on your master-bedroom bed, going wild and having the time of our lives. Stella felt so guilty about what happened that she treated me like absolute royalty.

"You've probably never seen Stella wearing Victoria's Secret lace, have you? Ha, let me tell you, I had the time of my life savoring every second of it."

At that exact moment, I thought my heart was already too numb to hurt anymore, but those words stabbed straight through it with brutal force.

Two tracks of agonizing tears spilled over, burning straight down my face.

Yet on the day Evelyn died, Stella had acted more panicked and frantic than anyone else, sprinting through the morgue like she had lost her mind.

While she was soothing my passed-out body and frantically calling everyone she knew, she had looked like a hollowed-out ghost.

Now, I finally knew the truth!

Stella had been moving in such a frantic rush all night—just so she could run off to comfort the monster who murdered her own child.

She had even shamelessly rolled around in bed with a killer, living it up without a care in the world!

Hot, burning tears of sheer despair finally soaked my face.

The suffocating wave of hatred boiling up from the bottom of my soul threatened to drown me completely.

Sensing the wild, unhinged madness flashing in my eyes, Lucian flashed a cold smile.

A second later, a nurse stepped forward, holding a syringe loaded with sedatives.

"Look at me, I almost forgot a psychiatric patient needs his regular treatment. Don't worry, one shot of this and you won't remember a single shred of pain."

My pupils shrank to pinpricks, a cold wave of dread creeping up my spine as I thrashed wildly and screamed for help.

That was when Stella finally heard the commotion and pushed the door open.

She froze for a second when she caught sight of my shattered, hopeless face.

"Lucian, maybe we should skip it. Spencer's always been terrified of needles. Just let him calm down on his own."

Jealousy flickered deep in Lucian's eyes, though his face instantly morphed into an understanding, gentle smile.

"I guess I just panicked. I really wanted my brother-in-law to get a good night's sleep."

Lucian stepped forward to unbuckle my restraints, reaching out his hand like he wanted to help me up.

The second he leaned in, a fruit knife slipped out from the edge of my bed frame.

A piercing scream echoed through the entire ward!

Lucian clutched his hand, which was smeared with blood, and stared at me in absolute, fabricated horror.

"Spencer, I was just trying to untie you! Why are you trying to kill me?"

Stella rushed over, pulling Lucian into her arms to inspect his bleeding arm.

A murderous fury blazed in her eyes.

"Spencer! What the hell is wrong with you?! Lucian came all the way here to apologize to you, and you're still trying to murder him!"

Before I could even open my mouth to defend myself, Stella snatched up the syringe and plunged the needle straight into my vein.

Instantly, I felt like I had been dropped into a freezing glacier, my blood running completely ice-cold.

A sharp flashback cut through my mind: back when I used to panic over getting shots, Stella would pull me tightly into her arms and whisper sweet comforts, even shedding soft tears of worry over a tiny scratch.

Yet right now, she was shoving a sharp needle deep into my flesh just to protect Lucian.

Watching me writhe in agony, Stella bit her lip hard and turned to walk out of the room with the nurse.

Only Lucian remained standing by the bed, flashing a twisted, savage grin down at me.

"Forgot to mention, we added a little extra something special into this batch of meds. Have fun staying here and enjoy the ride!

"As for you pissing off your wife so badly, don't worry, I'll just have to stay behind and comfort her real good in bed!"

The next second, my whole body went into violent spasms as I collapsed hard onto the floor.

Right in front of my eyes, terrifying hallucinations of Evelyn’s bloody, mangled body began to take shape.

She was crying, screaming at me with pure hatred for failing to save her.

I broke down, sobbing hysterically from overwhelming self-loathing as my mental state hit absolute rock bottom.

I muttered apologies to my daughter over and over again like a broken record.

Grasping the fruit knife, I slashed into my own skin, covering myself in fresh, bleeding cuts.

I had no idea how long that kind of hell lasted.

Trapped in a relentless loop of hallucinations, I drifted through the days completely out of my mind.

The only things that arrived like clockwork every single day were the needles jammed mercilessly into my veins while the muffled, heated sounds of heavy breathing and colliding echoed from the room directly next door.

…

So, day in and day out, on and on it went.

I sank deeper into a dead silence, trapped between blinding hallucinations and a bottomless pit of self-hatred.

Until late one hazy, pitch-black night, I jerked awake from a brutal nightmare.

Faintly, through the quiet darkness, I caught the soft sound of a tiny knock on my door.

I looked up and saw my little girl's small figure standing out in the hallway, waving her hand for me to follow.

With everything I had left, I dragged my broken body across the floor toward the dark, letting out a peaceful, relieved smile.

Ten minutes later, a massive, roaring fire broke out in one of the wards at Ashford Psychiatric Hospital, lighting up the entire night sky.