Chapter 1

My gaze locked onto Sue Sanford's glaring social media post.

In an instant, my entire body began to shake uncontrollably, and my phone slipped from my hand.

"Bayndemar…"

Almost at the same moment, Leo Kelman slammed open the door to my office and rushed inside, crying out, "Ryan! Sue's gone missing! Her location is showing Bayndemar!"

Panic covered his face. Behind him, my secretary looked helpless.

"Mr. Parell, I couldn't stop him…"

Leo's frantic shouting snapped me back to reality.

That was when I realized… I had been reborn.

Bayndemar. A horrifying hell on earth.

Terrifying memories crashed over me like a tidal wave. Every bone in my body ached as though it were being crushed all over again. I jerked my head up, my eyes bloodshot as I glared at Leo.

"You…!"

But he mistook my reaction for worry over Sue. Grabbing my hand anxiously, he said, "Ryan, Sue always replies to my messages instantly… but I haven't been able to reach her these past two days! Do you think—do you think she might've been taken into one of those kidnappers' compounds? She's such a delicate girl. If she's really stuck in a place like that…"

My heart sank violently.

Scenes from my previous life—the humiliation and torture I endured inside those Bayndemar compounds—cut into me like blades carving flesh from bone.

To save Sue, I sold every asset my parents had left me and traveled alone to the kidnappers' compound in Bayndemar. I thought it would be a simple exchange: money for her freedom.

Instead, I was captured by the compound's leader.

They beat me day and night, worked me like an animal, and when I was barely clinging to life, they dragged me onto an operating table to harvest my organs.

Yet, even at the moment of my death, I was still praying for Sue's safety.

The compound leader saw this and let out a mocking laugh. With a cruel grin, he initiated a video call.

"Ey, Ms. Sanford," he sneered, "your boyfriend sure loves you. Should we let him go?"

I stared blankly at the screen.

On the other end, Sue was completely unharmed. Leo—the boy I had sponsored for years—was holding her in his arms.

She looked at me with utter disdain.

"He's so filthy. Why would I want him back?" she said coldly. "I'm tired of playing with him. He's useless now, so just get rid of him. If anyone's to blame, it's him for being stupid."

Leo provocatively kissed her cheek and laughed.

"Sue, don't say that. If it weren't for his ransom money, how could we be living this comfortably?"

I only remembered that, during those few short minutes, I bit straight through my own lower lip. My eyes burned with regret, but I couldn't even cry.

That soul-piercing agony remained vivid even after being reborn.

Snapping back to the present, I shoved Leo's hand away and said coldly to my secretary, "If she's missing, call the police."

The secretary immediately picked up my phone, but Leo slapped it out of her hand.

"Ryan! Are you insane? Calling the police will alert the kidnappers! Sue will be in even greater danger!"

I forced down the murderous urge surging inside me and leaned back in my chair. A faint, icy smile tugged at my lips as I looked at him.

"You seem awfully certain that Sue was taken by one of those compounds."