Chapter 9

The knife was brought quickly, and seeing it in Sydney’s hand made Remi shiver.

“What… What are you doing?” Remi tried to scream, but her voice was hoarse and barely audible.

As she tried to pull away, strong hands pinned her shoulders, holding her firmly against the floor. Helpless, she watched as Sydney stepped closer, a cruel smile on her face.

“You want to know what I’m going to do? I’m going to destroy your face, of course. Let’s see whether you’ll have the nerve to look like me again!”

Sydney summoned every ounce of strength, bringing the blade down with all her might across Remi’s face!

“Ah!”

The moment the blade sliced through flesh to the bone, Remi could no longer hold back the scream. Yet the very next moment, Sydney's blade came down upon her again fifty-two times.

Remi's wails of agony rang out, but no one showed a moment's mercy. Remi could distinctly hear the blade slicing through her flesh. She could feel the trail of blood trickling down her cheeks. She could see the hideous, terrifying grins upon their faces… The air thickened with the stench of blood. Her entire face had long since become a bloody, mangled mess, her body convulsing uncontrollably.

Still unsatisfied, Sydney sent her best friend to the kitchen to fill a bucket of ice-cold water, then pressed Remi's blood-soaked, mangled face into it. Remi instantly erupted in a shrill, piercing scream. The sound felt like an invisible hand, clutching at her heart with deadly force. It was excruciatingly painful.

Despite that, Sydney cackled wildly. Her face twisted with madness as she pulled out her phone, snapping photo after photo.

“Hahahaha! Look at you now! You're nothing but disgusting. With your face ruined, I'll be damned if you dare try to seduce James again.”

Remi opened her mouth, yet no words came out. She lay in a pool of blood, barely able to move, her breath faint and dying.

Sydney’s friends hovered nearby, close enough to hear Remi say, “You… You will regret this.”

Everyone felt a chill run down their spines. “Sydney, have we taken this a little too far? Mr. Hudson won't hold it against us, will he?”

Sydney snickered, arms crossed as she took it all in, utterly unconcerned. “Hold it against me? James adores me so much. How could he possibly blame me over such a trifling matter? Besides, I'm carrying his child. That's practically a get-out-of-jail-free card. Have you forgotten how much he used to care about me?”

Her friends nodded in agreement, their worries instantly dispelled.

Sydney kicked Remi, who lay sprawled on the floor like a dead dog. “Mark my words. Not just anyone can capture James’s heart. Give up that delusion of climbing the social ladder. Since you're so desperate for male attention, I'll grant you a few men.”

With that, Sydney summoned several homeless men by phone.

Surveying the ragged figures with yellowed teeth and foul breath, Sydney smiled smugly before pointing at the blood-soaked woman sprawled on the ground.

“She's yours. Though her face is beyond recognition, her figure remains passable. Do as you please, but just don't kill her.”

Having wandered the streets for years without a woman's touch, the homeless men showed no disdain for Remi. Drool dripping, they lunged at her, instantly tearing her skirt to shreds. Gazing upon her smooth body, their eyes glowed like ravenous wolves. Several scrambled to grope her, their tongues licking her skin incessantly.

Remi struggled feebly, lying limp on the ground like a dead fish. Their hands grew bolder, gradually creeping lower. Through the haze, she thought she was back at that summer long ago, when she had scraped her knees raw from climbing a wall to pick flowers. Just a trickle of blood had made the eyes of the one who loved her turn crimson.

The young man had tended to her wounds, blowing gently on them as he worked. “Sweetheart, from now on, don't let yourself get hurt. Your pain hurts me more than it hurts you.”

Tears trickled down her cheeks, mingling with the blood from her gruesome wounds before vanishing into the floorboards.

‘James, is this what you wanted?’ Remi thought.

Her clothes were torn to shreds, every inch of her body kissed by those homeless men. Just as they lowered their trousers to take her… Her lungs spasmed violently, choking off her breath. In utter despair, she bit down on her tongue, ready to end it.

At that very instant, the gate burst open with a violent kick.

“What do you guys think you’re doing?”