Chapter 3

"What are you planning to do?" Ashton shrieked, widening his eyes in terror. "Just punish me if you have a problem with me! Don't hurt my mother!"

He forgot all his dignity and fell to his knees before Jezebel, desperately pleading with her. However, she didn't even glance at him and growled at Butch at the door.

"Get him out of here! Don't let him soil Damien's eyes!"

Butch immediately stepped forward and forcefully dragged Ashton out of the master bedroom. The door then slammed shut with a loud bang behind them.

Ashton knelt outside the door, pleading, "Jezebel, please, don't do anything to my mother! She's already in a vegetative state! She really can't take any more torment!"

However, he was only answered with the sounds of bliss and unrestrained pleasure emanating from both Jezebel and Damien. They were like surging waves completely drowning out the last vestiges of Ashton's hope, each worse than the last.

Ashton didn't even feel the humiliation as much as he felt the despair washing over him, as though his heart had been shattered into smithereens.

He couldn't wait any longer. Ignoring his boiling fever and excruciating pain, he scrambled to his feet and rushed into the raging storm outside.

He wasn't able to get a taxi in such terrible weather. So, he ended up running nearly ten miles in the downpour, falling heavily into the mud several times, but he still forced himself back up to continue running.

Finally, he arrived at the nursing home completely covered in filth. He saw Faith lying alone at the entrance to the basement of the home, her breathing weak and half her body soaked through.

She was completely bound with restraints, her limbs blue from the tightness of the straps around her body. Physiological tears clung to her pale, aged face.

Ashton felt like his heart was ripped out of his chest when he saw his mother in that state. He rushed up to her like a madman, trying with all his might to push the medical bed back inside where it was sheltered.

However, with Faith's weight and the all-metal frame of the medical bed, Ashton simply wasn't able to move her an inch as he was already feverish and on the verge of collapse.

If things continued like this, Faith would die at any moment without life support.

Ashton had no choice but to dial Jezebel's number. His voice trembled uncontrollably as he begged, "Jezebel, please, I'll do whatever you want as long as you'll let my mother go! I'm begging you!"

Yet, he could only hear Damien's mocking voice on the other end of the line.

"Let's settle the score for everything you did, Ashton Rivers," Damien said coldly. "You beat me, humiliated me, and sent me to the Red Labor District in Pineland to die. And yet, you can't even handle something as easy as this? But this is only just the beginning, you know?"

Before Ashton could say a thing, Damien suddenly raised his voice and exclaimed, "No, Mr. Rivers! I just didn't want to put Jazzy in a difficult position! That's the only reason why I tried to be friends with you… Why are you cursing at me like that?

"I just… I just truly love Jazzy…" he continued, his voice straining with suppressed grievance. "I never thought of coveting anything from her, and certainly not ever competing with you for the title of the Vesper family's son-in-law… No! I'm not after their wealth either, I swear!"

Ashton's heart sank. He had a terrible feeling about this. Yet, it was far too late.

A split second later, Jezebel's cold voice was heard on the other end of the line. "Ashton Rivers! You're beyond despicable!"

Ashton tried to explain himself again. "I never said anything! I was just begging you to let my mother go—"

"That's enough!"

Jezebel's voice was furious and tinged with impatience. "Did you think that I didn't know your true colors? Damien's already being sensible enough! How dare you try to drive him to his death just for the sake of my money?

"You're nothing but a cowardly good-for-nothing piece of trash who only covets my family's wealth! You've completely disappointed me!"

Ashton's chest felt like it was filled with water. He could barely breathe anymore. There was nothing he could say to defend himself. Anything he said would immediately be dismissed as an excuse anyway.

After all, Jezebel had already condemned him as a gold digger, and she would never believe another word he said.

Jezebel spoke again, her tone cold and resolute this time. Every word she said cut into Ashton's heart like a sharp blade.

"You want me to spare your mother? Fine. Then you'd better go and get your brain washed at the nursing home to snap you back to your senses!"

Ashton felt his blood freeze in his body. He finally realized what Jezebel was going to do to him.

This nursing home was equipped with state-of-the-art electroconvulsive therapy machines, and it was more than enough to shock his brain and reset him to factory mode.

"No… Jezebel… I'll die…"

Ashton had been diagnosed with severe depression for years. While electroconvulsive therapy might only cause some slight pain or discomfort for most people, it was extremely excruciating for him.

When he and Faith had been targeted by their rivals years ago, he'd been captured and tortured for three days and nights on an electric chair. By the time they were rescued, he had scratched his entire body raw, all ten of his fingernails had broken off, and his body was a torn, bloody, mangled mess.

He'd developed depression ever since then. And every time he thought about it, he would get a sudden panic attack that would then result in somatization.

The year Jezebel loved him the most, she couldn't even bring herself to say the word "electricity" in front of him for fear of triggering him.

Now, Ashton's hoarse, begging voice contained a final plea for their relationship, begging her to have mercy on him just for once, even if she no longer loved him.

"Jezebel… Please…"

Jezebel fell silent.

Just as Ashton thought she was finally letting him off the hook, she suddenly replied coldly, "So what? That's the only way you'll ever learn your lesson!"

Ashton's heart plunged deep into the abyss when he heard her say that.

She didn't care.

She was clearly telling him that she wouldn't hesitate to personally send him straight to hell, just for Damien's sake.

Ashton collapsed to the ground, feeling utterly powerless. His phone fell into the muddy water and short-circuited. It flickered a few times before shutting down completely.

The doctor in the nursing home soon came out and dragged Ashton in before strapping him to the electrotherapy bed. No matter how much he struggled, the doctor simply replied coldly, "Ms. Vesper specifically said that you were not to be shown any mercy.

"The longer you put up with the torture, the longer your mother's life will be prolonged with the machines."

Ashton finally stopped struggling and couldn't help but laugh bitterly at his situation.

So, as it turned out, Jezebel's 99th lover had finally managed to become the one and only in her heart.

As for the torment she continuously inflicted on him, it was no longer because of the fury she felt after finding out about the first agreement and deeming that he'd only been after her money all along.

He'd realized everything far too late.

The electroconvulsive machine was activated, its shrill buzzing piercing into the air.

Ashton closed his eyes in despair.

The instant the intense electric current coursed through his body, he let out a heart-wrenching scream.

"Ahh!"