Chapter 2

At the hospital, the doctor looked at both me and Melissa with a troubled expression.

“We only have one dose of anesthetic left. Mrs. Cole’s wound isn’t that deep. Honestly, she might not even need the graft—”

Before he could finish, Benedict frowned and cut him off.

He shoved me forward forcefully. With an air of finality, he urged the doctor to begin the surgery.

“Give the anesthetic to Mel. If we skip the graft, what happens if it leaves a scar?”

With no anesthetic left for me, I had no choice but to endure as the doctor cut into my skin. I clutched the bedsheet beneath me, trembling from the pain.

Yet the hurt in my heart was far worse than that of my body.

Because Melissa’s wound was tiny, the surgery was over quickly.

In the hospital room, I looked down at myself, wrapped in bandages of all sizes. Five years of marriage, and all I had gotten in return was a husband who had betrayed me and a body covered in wounds. After hesitating for a long time, I pressed the call button next to a contact number that I had left untouched for years. It was my senior in academia.

“Peter, is there still an opening in the professor’s lab?”

There was a long silence on the other end before a gentle voice replied, “There is. I’ll come and get you, Ellora.”

The moment I heard that familiar voice, all the pent-up feelings of grief had been holding inside of me finally came rushing out.

Five years ago, I had slipped on a riverbank while fishing and fallen into the water.

Benedict was the one to save me. He fell in love with me at first sight, and we quickly embarked on a romantic relationship. For him, I had given up my true passion for scientific research.

So much time had passed. It was time to put an end to my sacrifices.

I was just looking at the flight information Peter had sent when my phone was suddenly snatched away.

Melissa looked at the phone screen with a mocking smirk.

“El, I’ll say this one good thing about you. At least you know when you’re not wanted. Can’t exactly stick around in a house where your husband is dead, can you? Please. Don’t play games with me. We’re both women. I know exactly what you’re doing. You’re trying to use David’s sympathy to string him along, aren’t you?”

She let out a cold laugh and tapped a diagnostic report against my cheek.

“A sister-in-law throwing herself at her brother-in-law? You’ve got some nerve being that shameless! Too bad for you, though. I’m pregnant now. David cares a lot about this child. Once the baby’s born, I’ll be happy to let you take a look. See if he resembles Benedict.”

My hands clenched into fists. I smiled bitterly.

“Sure. I’ll hold you to that.” I lifted my head and fixed my gaze on Melissa. Then I mouthed slowly, “One person’s trash is another person’s treasure. How pathetic.”

Clearly, she did not catch on. She just saw it as provocation. She stomped her heel and scoffed.

“You just wait!”

My phone pinged with another message from Peter. He had sent me an encrypted file.

[Ellora, the professor heard you’re willing to come back. He wants to know if you’re interested in this classified project. If you say yes, you’ll need to have your current identity wiped.]

The wind outside rustled the branches. Melissa’s discarded pregnancy test was swept into the trash can.

I agreed without hesitation.

If Benedict wanted to play dead, I should play the part of a wife who died out of love, too. With my ten previous suicide attempts on record, the motive was solid. No one would suspect a thing.

I smiled faintly.

I opened the encrypted file and registered myself with a new identity.

...

That evening, as a nurse was changing my bandages, Benedict walked in. He looked at the gauze wrapped around me, and a flicker of discomfort crossed his face.

Once the nurse was gone, he gently tucked a stray lock of hair behind my ear.

“El, I know I overreacted the other day. But seeing that you’re okay now, I feel a lot better.”

I subtly shifted away from his touch.

Benedict froze for a moment but continued to say patiently, “Look, I’m the older brother. It’s not like I’m trying to play favorites with my own wife. But the truth is, this whole thing started with you. Just apologize to Mel, and we’ll all move on like nothing happened.”

I never imagined anyone could be so shameless.

Benedict, however, kept talking. His face radiated incomparable happiness as he said, “And on top of everything, Mel’s pregnant now. You’ve upset her so much that she can’t eat or sleep. Don’t you feel bad for that?”

I started crying and screamed at him to get out, but he held me tight instead. He had clearly already made up his mind.

“El, trust me. Once Mel has the baby, all of this will be behind us.”

I tried to resist.

The next second, Melissa walked in with two people in white lab coats. Instantly, I was pinned down beneath them.

A smug look flickered in Melissa’s gaze.

“Dear, did you see El just now? She’s clearly having another psychotic episode. The doctors you arranged are here now. Let them have a look at her.”

Before I could even speak, the two doctors slowly pulled down their masks.

My eyes flew wide open, and my body shook with overwhelming fear.

These two were Miles and Ethan Xanders. They had been my worst bullies back in high school! How could they possibly be the world’s top psychiatrists?

“Mr. Cole, your sister-in-law’s condition appears quite serious.”

“She needs... thorough treatment.”

Vengeance burned in both of their eyes. Their teeth were clenched as they spoke. I started trembling uncontrollably. I grabbed Benedict’s pant leg and held on for dear life. I looked up at him and shook my head frantically.

“No! They’re not doctors at all! Benedict, please! They’re the ones who used to bully me!”

Panic flickered in Benedict’s eyes, but he quickly convinced himself that my symptoms were causing me to mistake strangers for people I knew.

He exasperatedly pushed me away.

“El, you’re confusing me with Benedict again. You really are sick. Just go along with the treatment. I’ll come get you in a few days.”

After exchanging a few words with them, a hood was thrown over my head. I was then bundled into a van.

Before the vehicle could fully stop, I was kicked out and landed face-first in the dirt with a mouthful of grit and gravel.

When I opened my eyes again, I was surrounded by pitch-black darkness. The bullies flashed a cruel grin at me. Their gaze roamed over me with undisguised lechery. When I begged for mercy, one of them backhanded me across the face without hesitation.

“You little tramp! Weren’t you so eager to tattle back then? You got us expelled, and now you want to play innocent?”

I tried to run, only to find my ankle shackled by an iron chain.

I was already injured. I was hopelessly outnumbered.

“Look at you, now. All grown up and filled out just right. Ethan and I haven’t gotten laid in months. The two of us on one of you sounds like a fair deal, don’t you think?”

They then started touching me all over.

I fought back with all my strength. Just as the situation reached its critical moment, the iron door outside creaked open. Someone had used a key to open it.

...

Benedict and Melissa appeared in the doorway.

Still shaken, I scrambled frantically to hide in the corner.

Seeing me in this state, Benedict subconsciously frowned.

“Can this kind of treatment really work? Why are her feet chained up?”

Melissa noticed the concern in his eyes. Her hatred toward me intensified.

She spoke in a sweet, soft voice. “Dear, why are you second-guessing the doctor? I’m sure this is some kind of trauma response therapy.”

Benedict kept quiet. He then had someone bring in the electroshock equipment.

“You said you needed electroshock treatment. Here’s the machine.”

I saw the confusion on the two bullies’ faces and instantly realized that Melissa had switched the real doctors with these impostors.

“They’re not doctors. These aren’t the ones you hired!”

Benedict’s expression grew complicated. He started to step toward me, but Melissa feigned weakness and leaned against him.

“Dear, the air in here is so stuffy. The baby and I can barely breathe.”

Benedict stopped in his tracks immediately. He lifted her into his arms anxiously. His voice echoed through the empty warehouse as he said, “El, just cooperate with the treatment. Do what the doctors say.”

The heavy warehouse door clanged shut. Darkness swallowed the light. I shut my eyes and gave up. The bullies let out a cold laugh and dragged me toward the electroshock machine.

A powerful current ripped through my body. As I convulsed and screamed, they filmed the whole scene with their phones.

“Let’s sell this video to the auction house guys! We’re going to be rich!”

Time passed, but I could not tell how long; I simply lay limp on the floor, barely alive. The two goons exchanged a glance before their hands began to wander freely over my body again.

Suddenly, a plume of black smoke billowed out from the corner of the room.

“Fire! Fire!”

The two spun and fled. They left my ankle chain still locked in place.

Thick smoke filled my nostrils. As my consciousness faded, a figure appeared before me, silhouetted against the flames.