Chapter 2

The staff did as they were told and proceeded to remove the gag from my mouth.

The moment the gag came off, I turned toward Sora and called out her name in a trembling voice.

The audience laughed and jested, “Listen, Sora! He’s calling for you!”

“You sure are something else, you have him captivated at first sight!”

“His voice is so mesmerizing. Don’t you want to claim him for yourself later, Sora?”

Meanwhile, Sora fixed a grim look at me and murmured, “Why does his voice sound so much like Cleo?”

I immediately tried to explain, “It’s… me… Cleo… Brown…”

However, my voice was broken into disjointed sequences because of the electric current running through me. I could barely form a complete sentence.

That was when Damien, who was next to Sora, glared at me and stated angrily, “Not only is this bastard imitating Cleo's physique, he’s even imitating his voice! What unruly behavior!”

Sora's initial suspicion turned into deep disgust following that statement. She declared, “Nobody can replace Cleo in my heart.”

With that, she issued another order, “Whip him!”

The staff produced a long and ominously black whip, which they used to flog me again and again.

“Ah! Ah!!”

I could not hold back and cried out from the sheer amount of pain that reverberated through me.

Soon, my body was covered in large, long streaks from being flogged. I felt a tight cramp in my stomach as well.

When I was younger, I suffered from terrible stomachaches due to irregular eating habits while I was abroad. When Sora learned of this, she did everything she could to treat me. She tried all sorts of alternative treatments and even dabbled in witchcraft.

Back when I couldn't eat anything because of my stomach’s condition, she would cook something easy to eat for me. There were even times when she would cry at the sight of how haggard and frail I looked.

But now, she was the one who was ordering me to be flogged.

I coughed out a mouthful of blood, which stained the floor beneath me red.

Someone cried out immediately, “Look, he's vomiting blood!”

“I think it's a stomach hemorrhage.”

“He must have a death wish if he’s risking his life doing something like this, even when he knows he has a health condition.”

Atop the stand, Sora waved her hand to signal the staff to stop flogging me. She looked at me, still coughing blood, and issued another order, “Take him to the hospital. Maybe this will bring some good luck for Cleo.”

That was when Damien interjected, “Hold on. Maybe it’s some kind of trick he’s pulling to distract you.

“Let me head down there to see if he is truly coughing up blood.”

With that, Damien walked down the observation deck and approached me. He angled my chin toward him with his fingertips and whispered in my ear, “Mr. Brown, pleasure meeting you for the first time. You may not know me, but I have known you for a long time.

“I have been with Sora for five years, even before you knew her at all. Still, you swooped in and took her from me using your status as the eldest son of the Browns.”

I saw the deep-seated hatred in his eyes when he spoke.

“And now, you’re trying to steal her away from me for good!”

His words astounded me. If he had truly been with Sora for five years like he claimed, that would mean they were already having an affair before I even got married to her!

Back then, it was Sora who relentlessly pursued me before I finally agreed to marry her.

I shook my head at him, but I could not get a word out.

Damien gripped my chin so tightly that his nails dug into my skin. He hissed viciously, “You are going to die today. Once you die, Sora will be all mine!”

With that, he flicked a finger against my face before turning to Sora. “It’s all an act! He had a blood pack stored in his mouth the entire time.”

Sora was furious. “He must have done his research and knew Cleo has a stomach condition! He’s doing this to get my sympathy!

“What a crook, I’ll teach him not to mess with me!”

With that, she marched up to me and prepared to yank the mask right off my face.