Chapter 2

I lay under the blinding sun like a broken ragdoll, completely motionless.

Seeing no reaction from me, Valerie stepped forward in her high heels. Her heavy heel slammed down on my wrist, grinding into my skin with brutal force.

"Giving birth to you was the most disgusting mistake of my life!"

Valerie looked down at me with pure, unadulterated disgust. "If I knew you'd turn into such a useless coward, I would've thrown you straight into the trash!"

My floating soul shook violently. A wave of absurdity and crushing pain hit me.

When she gave birth to me, she almost bled to death.

When I was little, she knew I couldn't stand blood. Our house never even served medium-rare steaks.

Everything changed when she became the Underboss.

The sweet, loving mom in my memories turned into Ms. Valerie. She didn't even let me call her Mom in public. I had to call her Underboss like everyone else.

To prove her authority and show no favoritism, she stripped away my right to inherit my grandfather's gallery. She dragged me straight into this dark, bloody mob world.

She used to say, "You're not a child anymore. Nothing in life is free. You want power? Fight for it with your own hands!"

And now, she crushed my last piece of dignity like I was a bug.

But Mom, I'm already dead.

My heart had stopped beating long ago. My breathing was completely gone.

The pale body lying on the ground was nothing more than a corpse rapidly losing its warmth.

"Ow!"

A high-pitched gasp suddenly shattered the silence.

Chloe, the intern medic, cried out in shock. She tumbled backward onto the ground with a dull thud.

As she fell, the metal medical tray in her hands flipped into the air! It was loaded with sharp needles and broken saline bottles covered in blood!

BANG!

The heavy metal tray, sharp glass shards, and bloody fluids slammed right onto my lifeless face.

The broken glass sliced across my cold skin. Dark, dead blood oozed out.

"Underboss! Help me!" Chloe's eyes welled with tears. She clutched her elbow, crying out in fake agony. "The Young Lady pushed me! She was mad because you yelled at her! She blamed me for saying she was faking it. She took all her anger out on me!"

"Chloe! Are you okay?"

Valerie, who was ice-cold to me a second ago, rushed over. She gently pulled Chloe up, her eyes filled with deep concern.

"Underboss, I'm really fine. I just feel bad for the Young Lady," Chloe sniffled, leaning gently against Valerie. She lowered her voice and suggested, "From my medical experience, she keeps faking it and acting out because the punishment isn't harsh enough. I suggest doubling her live-fire drill time! We need to break her illusions completely to fix her soft heart!"

Double it?

Double the punishment for a corpse whose heart had already stopped?

"You're right," Valerie sneered, patting the back of Chloe's hand. "You're so thoughtful, always thinking about the family's future. From now on, you supervise the whole thing!"

Right then, hurried footsteps sounded in the distance.

The family's chief senior doctor rushed onto the field, out of breath, followed by two assistants.

When he saw me lying on the cement—face gray, chest completely still—the old doctor's face turned ghost-white.

"Underboss! What happened?! Gemma's heart can't handle this level of—" The doctor frantically opened his medical kit and tried to rush to my side.

"Stop!" Valerie stepped forward, blocking his path. Her voice was light and careless. "We don't need you here."

"But Underboss, her face is cut up by broken medical gear! And her breathing—"

"The medic just dropped a tray on her by accident," Valerie interrupted with cold contempt. "The intern medic checked her thoroughly. Her vitals are completely stable! She's lying there purely because she's too soft-hearted to kill a rabbit. She's throwing a tantrum and playing dead!"

The old doctor stared at Valerie in shock. "Playing dead? But her medical history—"

"The medic guaranteed she's fine. Giving up over a tiny thing? She doesn't deserve to be my daughter! I'm fixing her today!"

Valerie pointed at my lifeless body and barked her ruthless order to the guards:

"Nobody touches her! Force the gun back into her hand. Keep her shooting!"