登入"Take this with you."She gripped Marco's arm with surprising strength. Marco turned to find a middle aged woman trembling beside him. The Sinclaire maid's eyes were swollen, red, and veined with fatigue. Tears continued to spill down her aging cheeks."This... this is all I can give to that poor, kind girl." Nura thrust a worn cloth bag toward Marco's chest.Marco lowered his head, glancing at the bag, then back at Nura.He remembered. Nura was one of the oldest workers in the household. The middle-aged woman must have known Hazel since she was so young."Now, I have no reason to continue working in this horrible family," Nura's voice trembled, muffling her own sobs."So, please... help me bring justice to Young Lady Hazel. She..." Nura choked on her own breath, her shoulders shaking. "She was too understanding."Marco slowly loosened his fists, still numb from beating Howard. He stared intently at Nura, then offered his arm. "Leave this place with me right now. I... really want to h
On his hospital bed, Marco stared blankly at the white ceiling. He had been lost in thought for who knows how many hours.The long vibration of his phone on the nightstand shattered the silence. He turned his head lazily. An unknown number flashed on the screen. He swiped the green icon and brought the phone to his ear."How's my brother doing there?" A cold, haughty woman's voice immediately invaded his ears. "I told you his location last night to check on him. Not to make you faint on his doorstep."Marco took a deep breath. His lungs felt heavy as he parted his chapped, dry lips. "Jonah Bennet... he looks much better than I do now. Satisfied?"On the other end of the line, Jenny Bennet snorted softly. "You have one more debt to repay me. You remember that, right, Marten?"Marco tightened his jaw. "Of course."Just as the shift in Jenny's breathing signaled she was about to hang up, she delivered one last sentence."Ah, have you heard? The truth about Hazel." Jenny's tone dripped wi
By all the gods that still exist, that man really is just a gorilla being taught how to dress. He keeps shaking the doorknob.Damn it! Damn it! That gorilla bastard!I looked around wildly for a place to hide. Under the bed? I could choke to death on the dust. The bathroom? Way too predictable. The closet? That brute would surely tear it apart. Where the hell was I supposed to hide?!Just a split second before the hinges on my bedroom door snapped and the door slammed open, I was already swallowed by the darkness. From my hiding spot, I could hear Marco's ragged breathing, sounding exactly like a wild animal aggressively sniffing out its prey."See! You can see it for yourself, right?!" Jonah snapped loudly. "Do you see Hazel in here?! This room is completely empty! Your illness has apparently rotted your brain!""But I can feel her..." Marco muttered, his heavy footsteps dragging across the floorboards. "Her presence... and the scent in this room... it's Hazel's scent."I held my bre
An iron gate over two meters high, crowned with pointed spearheads. And the guy who had just collapsed in the hospital climbed right over it?Hazel didn't know whether she should be amazed at Marco's athletic instincts refusing to die, or curse the man's sheer, unreasonable stupidity.She rushed forward, scanning the other CCTV screens for his figure. There, on the camera angle overlooking the side lawn, she spotted Marco.The man had managed to land, though he was now limping across their expansive, dark yard. His posture was no longer upright. He dragged one leg, his hand clutching his stomach as if trying to keep his internal organs from spilling out onto the wet grass.Jonah patted Hazel's shoulder. "How about you go into your room first? Hide in there, and I'll go out and take care of him."Hazel gave a stiff nod. Her body was ready to turn and obey Jonah's rational instruction when her eyes caught Marco's erratic movements on the monitor.The man looked up at the pitch-black nig
Ironically, without her needing to push them over the edge, those people were destroyed by their own corruption.Perhaps the saying "the rotten apple falls from the tree" was true after all.Just a few days ago, she learned that the Sinclaire family had been in a tragic accident. Ashley was hospitalized after a near-fatal incident caused by her own husband's actions.Her biological family, the Quinns, was equally devastated. She learned that her mother would rot in prison with a diagnosis of stomach cancer, while her father could only lament his fate, unable to do anything to help the woman he loved most. Worst of all, her dad might not be able to see her mother one last time due to her illness.Just this morning, Hazel heard that her father, who was usually so silent, was now wailing to be reunited with his wife.Most surprising of all, the Bennet family was actually crying over his departure. The genuine sadness from her in-laws felt foreign, yet somehow, it warmed her frozen chest.
Hazel's breath caught in her throat. Her eyes burned, but she refused to let a single tear fall. She tugged at her wrist, trying to free herself from Marco's large, cold grip.She took a deep breath, swallowing the invisible lump in her throat, then spoke in a tone as flat as asphalt. "No. I am dead. And yes, you cannot see me anymore. This is a dream."From the corners of Marco's reddened eyes, tears fell silently, wetting the pristine white hospital pillow. The young man's jaw trembled. He didn't struggle, only stared pleadingly at Hazel's face."Then... let me see you like this a little longer, please." he whispered hoarsely."I can't," Hazel replied firmly."Why? Do you... really not want to show your face to me anymore?""Yes. I don't want to anymore."Silence fell over the room.Hazel tried again to free her hand. Marco's grip was so strong, it was as if he were clinging to the only lifeline on the edge of a cliff. Hazel was forced to use her left hand, desperately prying those
Jonah leaned back, looking up and staring straight into the blinding fluorescent lights on the ceiling. He didn't blink, letting his eyes sting slightly, while the same question played over and over in his head like a broken record."Why?"Since his teenage years, Jonah had been acutely aware of hi
He took the suitcase handle from my grip.I nodded lightly. "Yes. I've cleaned everything. Nothing's left."I'd also tidied up my belongings in the downstairs apartment unit. I'd made sure the entire interior was back to its original shape and layout, exactly as it was before I set foot in the buil
Marco ran through the afternoon air. The tips of his sneakers scraped roughly against the paving stones, rushing to catch her. However, gravity was far more cruel.Thump!Marco's shoulders jerked. His steps came to an abrupt halt.Hazel had fallen hard into the weeds below. Her body hit the earth w
Hazel took a deep breath. "Right, you're not a kiddo, you're a middle schooler. My bad.""Middle schooler?!" Marco snorted sharply. His mouth opened halfway, ready to fire off the sharpest rebuttal his brain could muster, but his vocal cords stopped working.In the end, he just clenched his jaw bec







