Chapter 3

When I woke up, Rebecca was standing beside the hospital bed with a lab report in her hand. "The doctor said you should get some proper rest over the next two days."

There was no warmth in her voice, and my heart tightened.

Had she found out?

But the next second, she sneered. "Are you done pretending? Coughing blood didn't work, so now you're faking a terminal illness? After five years in the underground fighting ring, you still haven't learned a thing. All you know is to use these filthy tricks to fool others."

I stared at her blankly, then lowered my head and forced myself to smile.

Right. I had almost forgotten.

She was no longer the Rebecca who would feel sorry for me.

Just then, Mason pushed the door open and came in. He then said in a sincere tone, "I know you feel terrible because of all that anger you felt from Rebecca buying me a sports car. I heard snakes are good for your condition, so I had someone catch the best snakes for you."

Rebecca's voice softened. "You don't have to be so nice to him. He made himself sick with his own mood. Who else can he blame but himself?"

Mason smiled at her, then waved for the bodyguards to bring in a cage full of snakes.

I instinctively tried to move away, and Rebecca's face darkened instantly. "Mason is just trying to help you, yet you're still so ungrateful? Hold him down."

The bodyguards pinned me hard against the bed.

Meanwhile, Mason picked up a snake from the cage with a pair of tongs and smiled. "I even learned how to handle snakes just to treat you, Ethan. Let me help you."

The venomous snake's sharp fangs sank into my arm, but he deliberately let go as if he had panicked. Then, he stepped back and knocked the entire cage onto me.

As he watched dozens of snakes bite into me, he smiled in contempt. "Does it hurt? But you spent five years in a place like that. This little pain should be nothing, right? Actually, when you were getting beaten in the underground fighting ring, Rebecca was watching through the security cameras. She even chose some of the things they did to you. I really don't understand how she ever fell for a broke loser like you."

Cold sweat broke out all over me from the pain, but I clenched my teeth and stayed silent.

Mason stared into my eyes with bitter hatred. "You were beaten like an animal by so many people, but somehow, you still survived. That being said, Rebecca can only care about me."

He suddenly picked up a snake, grabbed my hand, and pressed it toward his own arm. Then, he screamed. "Ethan, I'm so sorry! Please don't make the snake bite me!"

Rebecca rushed over and pulled us apart.

When she saw the bloody mark on Mason's arm, she raised her hand and slapped me.

"Ethan! Mason's being so good to you, and this is how you repay him? Where's your conscience?!"

I tried to sit up. "He brought the snakes here."

Slap!

Mason suddenly slapped himself and cut me off, crying. "I'm so sorry, Ethan. It was all my fault. Please don't hurt me anymore!"

Then, his body went limp, and he fainted.

I gritted my teeth and tried to explain, but Rebecca's murderous gaze stopped me cold.

At her order, several bodyguards tore open my clothes.

The cold tip of a needle pressed against my skin.

Fear and despair took over me. "No!"

Rebecca looked at me coldly. "Mason must have been poisoned, and he'll need a transfusion. You should be thankful that I'm even giving you this opportunity."

Then, she turned to the bodyguards and said, "Draw as much as you can, in case Mason needs more."

After that, she helped Mason up and left without looking back.

Following her orders, the bodyguards drew a liter of blood from me.

By the end of the day, my whole body was torn open, and my face was as pale as a ghost.

When the doctor came to check on me, he asked with pity. "Are we still doing the surgery tonight?"

I nodded.

-

When I saw Mason again, his cheeks were rosy as he proudly waved the brand-new watch on his wrist at me. "Rebecca just bought this for me. It cost about one hundred thousand dollars."

Rebecca did not even enter the hospital room. She stood outside the door and asked, "Have you learned your lesson? Will you touch Mason again? As long as you behave, we can stay married. I'll have my dad give you a cushy job, and you won't have to live in poverty anymore. I'll give you one night to think it over. Refuse, and you can go out and beg."

Rebecca, I no longer had a tomorrow.

Listening to her footsteps fading away, I suddenly felt relieved.

As I lay on the operating table, only one thought appeared in my mind.

'I can finally go see Dad and Mom...'

Rebecca suddenly felt a wave of unease in her chest as she was accompanying Mason somewhere else. For once, she left him behind and hurried back to the hospital room. "Ethan, come back with me if you're done causing trouble."

But all she found was an empty hospital room.

She grabbed the nurse who had come to clean the bed. "Where's the patient that was in bed three?"

The nurse looked at her strangely. "Wasn't he already sent to be cremated?"