Chapter 4

Sophie's POV

Melanie was right. Zachary loved her very much. That was why he had gone to such lengths to have me tortured.

Even though I had already accepted that reality, my heart still ached terribly.

"This is what you get for being a homewrecker, Sophie," Melanie spat, looking down at me with contempt.

I lifted my head and met her gaze.

"I'm Zachary's legal wife. You're the other woman in this relationship," I rasped.

A flicker of anger flashed across Melanie's face, but she quickly broke into a smile again. "You're really unaware, aren't you? Your marriage certificate is fake. Zachary had our marriage finalized behind your back a long while ago. I am his lawful wife now."

After a brief pause, she added, "Besides, he told me you're nothing more than a woman he keeps around to satisfy his needs."

Upon hearing this, my mind went blank, and I stared at her in disbelief.

Our marriage certificate was fake?

I was just a woman he kept around to satisfy his needs?

"Did you actually think that Zachary loved you?" Melanie scoffed. "He only kept you around because he didn't want to hurt me. You really have no self-respect, Sophie Smith."

As tears streamed down my face, I suddenly let out a self-deprecating laugh. The truth was far uglier than I had ever imagined.

I mistook his constant demands for sex for love when, in reality, it was actually his act of love for someone else.

I laughed harder and harder until my chest began to ache with every breath.

Frowning, Melanie took two steps away from me. "Have you gone mad?"

Staring at her with bloodshot eyes, I abruptly asked, "If I'm just someone he keeps around for sex, then why are you so afraid?"

Her gaze stiffened. My words had clearly struck a nerve, and she quickly lashed out in anger.

She dug her sharp fingernail into one of my wounds. "You think I'm afraid of you? Let me tell you something—Zachary would never be interested in someone like you. I, on the other hand, won't give you the slightest chance!"

With that, she ordered someone to drag me away.

"Let go of me!" I cried. "Where are you taking me?"

I struggled desperately to break free. But after everything I had been through, I barely had enough strength to resist.

I didn't know how much time had passed before I found myself gagged and strapped to an operating table.

Melanie and Zachary were on the other side of the curtain.

"It still hurts down there, Zachary. Would you still love me all the same?" she sobbed, her voice choking with tears. "I can't believe someone else saw me like that. I have no will to live anymore."

Zachary caressed her face. His voice was gentler than I had ever heard it.

"Of course. I love you more than anything else. The people who examined you were all doctors. They're professionals—they don't look at patients that way."

Melanie threw herself into his arms. "No! I don't want the doctors to look at it either!"

"What do you want me to do? I already had Sophie detained to make you feel better. Was that not enough?"

"No, it wasn't," Melanie said tearfully.

Lowering his head to kiss her, Zachary casually replied, "Then we'll use her as a live model for the medical interns to practice on."

Melanie fell silent, while my eyes widened in horror.

I desperately tried to speak, but I couldn't make a single sound. Not long afterward, more than a dozen medical interns were brought into the room.

I was stripped of all of my clothes before being forced into a degrading pose to serve as a live model for their training. Moments later, the sound of nervous swallowing filled the room, and a crushing wave of humiliation washed over me.

Then, from behind the curtain, I heard the sound of heavy breathing, followed by Melanie's voice.

"Do you want to check if my surgical wounds have healed properly, honey?"

Her coquettish voice filled the room, and the sound of Zachary's low, restrained breathing felt like a knife being driven into my heart.

A split second later, a piece of cold medical equipment was inserted into my body.

I let out a muffled groan. My body trembled uncontrollably, and tears slipped from the corners of my eyes.

"You're so good at this, honey. Tell me—who can satisfy you better? Me or her?"

Zachary's low voice rang out clearly through the curtain. "You, of course. To me, she's nothing more than a tool I use to satisfy myself."

My heart shattered completely.

As the noises from the other side grew louder, the air in the room seemed to grow hotter and hotter. Eventually, I heard someone unbuttoning their pants.

"Why don't we see how effective the dilator is?"

I didn't know how much time had passed, but eventually, I no longer had any tears left to shed.

When everything was finally over, I was left on the operating table like a discarded ragdoll in a pool of my own blood.

…

Third-Person POV

After Melanie fell asleep, Zachary stepped outside for a cigarette and made a phone call.

"Has my wife been brought home?"

There was a brief moment of hesitation on the other end of the line. Seconds later, Zachary's assistant, Tom Anderson, replied, "Wasn't Mrs. Hudson taken to the hospital?"

Zachary frowned. Just then, he overheard a group of interns talking nearby.

"That woman felt so good…"

"I heard she used to specialize in vaginoplasty."

Zachary's heart dropped.

He spun around and marched back into the room. The moment he yanked the curtain open, his eyes widened at the sight before him.