Island From Hell: Tamed by a False System

I, Elmer Cox, strained to lift my head and met a pair of familiar eyes filled with panic.

It was Edith, who was supposed to be dead.

The person I had yearned for day and night for three years and dreamed of seeing again appeared before me without any warning.

Her eyes reddened with urgency as she fought to keep the panicked fury out of her voice, "I thought I told you to just scare him a little? How did he end up like this?"

As she spoke, she bent down and carefully helped me up. Then, she deliberately softened her voice and said, "Elmer, don't be afraid. It's all right now. I'm here."

I stared blankly at that familiar face as the words I'd just heard surged back into my mind.

So, what those people said was all true.

Edith and Lucille had gone to all this trouble just to get back at me for Trenton.

Exhaustion and despair swallowed me whole in an instant.

I gave a bitter smile, and more blood instantly gushed from my mouth.

Everyone in the room was terrified, and the scene descended into chaos.

Edith was trembling all over with panic. She slammed her hand on the table and roared, "What are you all just standing around for? Call a doctor now!"

Those people exchanged glances, and after a long while, someone finally stammered, "Ms. Cox, have you forgotten that when Mr. Trenton had a cold last time, you transferred all the medical teams under your name to his side?

"You also specifically instructed that Mr. Elmer has a habit of faking illness for sympathy, and you feared he might delay Mr. Trenton's recovery, so no one is allowed to mobilize any medical resources without personal order."

Edith froze for a moment, then somewhat guiltily averted her gaze from me.

After a long pause, she said through gritted teeth, "...Useless fools!"

In the brief gap while Edith turned away to make a call, I was roughly pinned down onto the bed by several people.

"Quick! Keep him alive until the doctor gets here! If Ms. Cox holds us responsible, we're all done for!"

The words had barely faded when all kinds of stimulant injections meant to force me to stay conscious were brutally jabbed into my flesh.

Excruciating pain exploded through me. The wound that had just been stitched not long ago split wide open, and my entire body convulsed violently.

Yet, it was precisely then that the soft, coaxing words of Edith's hushed phone call reached my ears.

"Don't be angry, Trenton. I'm just borrowing your doctor for Elmer for a little while. Once he wakes up, I'll definitely bring him over to thank you in person. Alright, alright, I'll have Elmer thank you on his knees. We'll do whatever you say."

I dug my nails into my palms and let out a self-deprecating laugh.

So now, even whether I lived or died required begging for Trenton's gracious permission first.

Another needle plunged in. Amid the torture of pain, I turned my head with great difficulty and seized the knife on the nightstand with all my remaining strength. Then, I slashed it viciously across my wrist without a moment's hesitation.

Edith turned around just as my blood burst forth. Her phone clattered to the ground as her pupils contracted in shock.

"Elmer!"

The last thing I remembered was Edith screaming as she lunged frantically toward me.