Chapter 2 Lesson in Pain

"Stellan's sister and mother?" Evelyn burst out laughing as if she'd just heard the funniest joke in the world. "You two? Looking like that? You expect me to believe you're related to Stellan? What, you're trying fraud instead, seeing that your little scam failed? You think tossing his name around will scare me into letting you off the hook?"

The two employees behind her chimed in eagerly.

"Exactly! Our boss is the apple of Stellan's eyes. Who the hell do you think you are?"

"I bet they're professional scammers, boss. Don't fall for it!"

Panic clawed at my chest—my mother's breathing had grown so faint I could barely hear it anymore.

'Her medicine! Right, her emergency heart spray—it's in my bag!'

I bolted toward the shelf where my bag was placed, but I'd barely taken two steps before someone yanked my hair from behind.

Pain tore through my scalp as the two employees grabbed me and slammed me back hard onto the tiled floor. My body hit the ground with a sickening thud, and for a moment, everything went black.

Evelyn, meanwhile, was grinning ear to ear at her phone screen, watching the live comments roll in. "You guys are awesome!" she said gleefully. "Thanks for giving me such a brilliant idea. Today, I'll teach these freeloaders a lesson—and let you all see how it's done!"

Cold dread flooded me as a terrible premonition crept over me. A second later, a sharp metallic heel came crashing down onto the back of my hand.

"Ahhhh!"

Pain shot straight through my bones. I could swear I heard something crack as blood streamed from the wound, staining the spotless white tiles beneath me.

Evelyn adjusted her camera, making sure to frame only my contorted face. "Look at her, guys! She's panicking now! Caught red-handed trying to scam us—then she tried to fight back, but we stopped her just in time!"

"Mom…"

When my mother saw the blood pouring from my hand, her body convulsed violently. She looked ready to faint.

No, no, no! I couldn't let anything happen to her!

Evelyn's smirk deepened as the livestream comments filled with cheers and praise. "Since you claim my products ruined your faces, I'll be kind enough to 'fix' them for you."

She shot a glance at her employees. "Go get a bucket of concentrated salt water from the back, and bring out those bottles of medicated oil. Let's show our audience a little 'ancient remedy'—fight poison with poison."

My blood ran cold. If they put that on my mother's already raw skin, the damage would be unimaginable. "No! Stop it, please!" I screamed, my voice cracking.

Moments later, one of the employees carried in a bucket of salt water crusted with white crystals, while another held several open bottles of medicated oil, their sharp scent flooding the room.

The women pinned my mother down as one soaked a towel in the salt water and began scrubbing her face.

"Ahhhh!"

My mother's scream tore through the air, piercing and unbearable. Her already swollen face turned ghastly before my eyes, oozing yellow fluid through broken skin.

"Stop! Please, stop! I'm begging you!" I thrashed wildly, but the two employees held me down, their grip unrelenting.

My mother was losing consciousness fast, her body twitching in pain. If this kept up, she was going to die.

"Medicine… the medicine…" I gasped, reaching desperately toward the shelf.

Following my gaze, Evelyn strutted over, her heels clicking sharply against the floor. She reached into my bag, pulled out the life-saving inhaler, and twirled it mockingly in her hand. A smug smile curled across her lips.

"You want this?"