Chapter 3

Sophie leaned back against the couch, basking in her companions' flattery.

"Sophie, what's the next plan for him?" one of them asked. "Now that you've got the shares, this thing will just be an eyesore if you keep him around."

Sophie lit a cigarette and exhaled a puff of smoke.

"I've already contacted that private psychiatric hospital out in the suburbs. The director there is an old fling of mine. They'll send a car to pick him up first thing tomorrow morning.

"That place is easy to get into but impossible to leave. I'm going to have him try all kinds of new treatments until he turns into a real lunatic."

She crouched down and slapped my cheek. "Honey, are you happy? You're moving to a new home."

I giggled idiotically and nodded.

"New home, new home… Sophie, hugsies…"

I reached for the hem of her skirt.

She dodged me with a look of pure disgust and backhanded me across the face.

"Get away from me. Don't touch me with your filthy hands, you piece of trash!"

The crowd erupted into another wave of laughter before finally leaving.

Sophie locked the door behind them and hummed as she headed to the bathroom for a shower.

Meanwhile, I stood up and wiped the coffee stains from my face, my gaze cold and piercing.

I walked over to the safe and punched in a sequence of numbers, a password she assumed I had long forgotten.

Inside, there was no cash. There were only dozens of empty prescription bottles.

There was also a backup copy of every piece of evidence I'd gathered over the past six months, including all her affairs and every time she had drugged me.

The sound of running water in the bathroom gradually stopped.

Sophie walked out, wrapped in a bath towel, only to freeze when she saw me standing right in the middle of the living room.

"Who told you that you could stand up? Get back on your knees!" she barked instinctively, grabbing a crystal ashtray off the table and hurling it right at me.

I stepped aside to dodge it.

"Lucas, are you asking for trouble?" Sophie shrieked.

She lunged forward to slap me, only for me to catch her wrist.

"Sophie, I think I took a few too many pills. I'm feeling a little too lucid," I said, staring into her eyes, my voice entirely flat and devoid of any emotion.

A flicker of panic crossed her eyes.

"So what if you're lucid? As far as the world is concerned, you're a certified lunatic. I have the medical report, and the share transfer agreement is already legally binding. Even if you call the cops, they'll just think you're having a psychotic episode!" she said.

I shoved her onto the couch, then walked over to the pantry and hauled out two cans of gasoline I had prepared ahead of time.

"Lucas, you psycho! What are you doing?" Sophie shrieked, scrambling off the couch to make a break for the front door.

I pulled a remote control out of my pocket and hit the button to lock every single door and window in the house.

To facilitate my treatment, she had intentionally remodeled the mansion into a fully sealed, soundproof space, even going so far as to seal the windows.

Now, this place had become a perfect iron cage.

"Didn't you say I was just a pet?" I asked.

Pouring the gasoline over the floor, I looked over at her with a smile. "Corner an animal long enough and it tends to tear its master to pieces."

Sophie shrank into the corner of the couch, shaking like a leaf.

"Honey, I'm sorry. I was just kidding. Those pills were for your own good. I really do love you!" she said.

I pulled out my phone, then clicked on the group chat.

"Look, Godmother. I'm in the group too."

Pointing at one of the group admins' profile pictures, I said, "Those little psychological tactics you taught them are actually incredibly outdated. Do you know why this group was able to exist for so long without ever getting flagged or shut down?"

Sophie's eyes went wide as she stared at the familiar profile picture.

"Because this group was created just for you, so I could see exactly how rotten and depraved you could get," I revealed.

I swiped the screen, bringing up a massive archive of every single chat log and file.

That was when Sophie went completely limp against the couch.

"You were never crazy? Then those pills—"

"Oh, those pills? I fed them all to the goldfish in the tank. Even when it died, it looked a lot better than you do right now."

I pulled out a match and struck it, a flame instantly flaring to life.

Staring at the flame, Sophie let out a blood-curdling scream as she frantically pounded against the sealed floor-to-ceiling windows.

"Honey, we aren't quite finished yet," I continued. "Do you know who actually arranged the car that's coming to pick me up tomorrow?"