Chapter 4

The moment the words left my lips, an eerie silence descended.

Vivian could no longer contain her laughter and mockery. "You really are a shameless bitch. You haven't even seen Mr. Harlan yet, and you're already throwing yourself at him! How dare you call him by his name? You really have a death wish!"

The very next second, her gaze hardened, and she drove the tip of the blade into my face. Excruciating pain exploded through me like an electric shock.

"Hold her down! Don't let her budge!"

Without a moment's hesitation, Kai pinned my hands down and forced my entire face against the cold floor. The sickening crunch of my finger bones shattering echoed in my ears.

The agony blotted out my vision, and cold sweat instantly drenched my back.

The man I had loved with every fiber of my being was now personally pushing me onto the chopping block, playing the butcher's most devoted lapdog. A line of searing heat slashed from the corner of my eye straight to my temple, and fresh blood instantly blurred my vision.

Vivian erupted into a deranged cackle. "Once I ruin this face of yours, let's see what you have left to be so arrogant about!"

Kai chimed in with a sycophantic grin. "You're so right, Ms. Kincaid! If this isn't enough to vent your rage, once you're done carving the word, let's take some explicit pictures. Let's see how she ever seduces another man again!"

Eliana sneered, "We're letting her off too easily by slashing her face. Why don't we strip her bare and throw her into the fountain at the main entrance so she knows what happens when she offends Ms. Kincaid?"

As I listened to their revelry, the metallic tang of blood welled up in my throat. Every single wound they left on my body would become an epitaph carved onto their tombstones. Dad's methods would make them understand exactly what it meant to be unable to live or die.

The very next second, Kai reached out and grabbed at the collar of my lingerie. I thrashed wildly, what little strength I had left exploding in a desperate bid to break free.

However, he drove his knee into my spine, the heavy pressure forcing a dull snap from my vertebrae. "Give it up. Right now, you're nothing but a useless piece of meat on a butcher's block."

An overwhelming wave of humiliation engulfed me.

Vivian's smile became increasingly sadistic. She seized the last piece of fabric covering my body and yanked it off.

Then, she whipped out her phone and rapidly pulled up a livestreaming app with her other hand. "Merely dumping her outside doesn't cut it. I'm going live. I want everyone in the capital to see just how filthy this whore truly is!"

Right at that hair-raising second, a deafening explosion shattered the air as the ten-million-dollar rosewood door was shoved open from the outside. A tall, imposing figure stormed in. "Who gave you permission to run amok here?"

The manic look on Vivian's face instantly turned into delight. Raising her phone, she spoke in a sweet, coquettish voice, "Mr. Harlan, you came at just the right time! I was just helping you teach a new toy who doesn't know her place a lesson!"

Kai hurriedly looked up, wagging his tail like a pug. "Mr. Harlan, we specifically found you a woman who looks exactly like your first love, and she's a virgin! We just hope this gesture earns us a chance at that project in the western suburbs!"

Dad's footsteps came to a halt. His gaze swept past the crowd and landed on me where I lay sprawled in a pool of blood.

He saw my face, streaked with blood and tears. The commanding presence that had made him seem like a king of the world shattered in an instant.

I forced myself to lift my head and met his stunned gaze with a mocking smile. "Tristan Harlan, you bastard. You killed your wife and abandoned your daughter! If you'd been one second later, you really would've ended up with no descendants for the rest of your life!"