Chapter 2

When I finally wiped the last trace of dark red blood from the floor, the wound on my chest, under the tenacious self-healing power of the elves, was struggling to close. At the same time, welcomed the dawn of a new day.

Anders walked out of the bedroom, carrying the sweet scent of Lisa's perfume. His gaze swept over the blood-stained cloth on the floor, turning dark: "Why is there so much blood?"

I didn't explain, merely obediently lowering my head, my voice as soft as a mosquito's buzz: "I'm sorry... I'll clean up these dirty things right away."

Outside the window, in the garden, a maid watering the flowers deliberately raised her voice, her words clearly audible inside:

"Hey, did you hear? That elf monster secretly asked me how to please human nobles, what kind of gift to give to a man like Mr. Anders! Oh my! Could she be delusional, thinking of seducing Mr. Anders?"

"Ha! With her? A lowly elf prisoner, daring to dream of Mr. Anders? Dream on! If it weren't for the elves' mischief, Mr. Anders' parents wouldn't have gone missing. That Jovia should spend her entire life atoning for her sins!"

“Does she still want to be the mistress? What about Miss Lisa? Is she going to drive Miss Lisa away?”

Hearing these words, alarm bells rang in my heart, and I just wanted to escape back to the dark but safe underground cell. But Anders was quicker.

He grabbed my arm without mercy, dragging me into a cold interrogation room filled with all kinds of high tech torture devices, and roughly pushed me onto a metal chair that emitted a faint blue arc—it was an electric chair capable of delivering intense nerve pulses.

Anders played with an energy crystal that activated the remote control in his hand, his eyes dark and terrifying, approaching step by step.

"They did remind me. It's time for the 'routine questioning' again."

"Speak! Where did you elves hide my parents?” His voice was suppressing a wild rage.

I closed my eyes, and the soul tearing terror I had experienced on this chair instantly resurfaced in all my senses. I couldn't help but tremble, shaking my head in despair: "I... don't know..."

Before I could finish, he suddenly pressed the remote control!

"AH—"

A pain a thousand times worse than being cut or burned instantly pierced through my limbs and bones! Wild electric currents raged through my body, every nerve screaming and tearing!

When the electric shock stopped, I slumped in the chair like a puddle of mud, even breathing became a torturous luxury, each inhalation pulling at the tearing pain throughout my body.

Anders's breathing suddenly became heavy and rapid. He leaned forward abruptly, his ear almost roughly pressed against my heaving chest, confirming that the faint heartbeat was still going. His movements carried a panic he himself didn't notice.

"Speak. Why won't you speak!" Anders's voice was tinged with a desperate hoarseness, as if he too was enduring torture, "I just want to know where my parents are! Just tell me, and I'll let you go immediately, I swear!"

Every inch of my body was screaming in pain. With my last bit of strength, I managed to utter broken syllables: "I... can't say..." That secret was about the true safety of his parents, and I couldn't reveal a single bit.

"Good... good... very good!" Anders stared at me for a few seconds, then let out a chilling laugh. He waved his hand, ordering someone to bring in the few precious elven life crystals I had kept from my deceased kin.

My eyes widened in shock, and I struggled violently on the torture chair, the chains clanking: "What are you going to do? Anders! You can't! You can't do that! YOU CAN’T—"

"Can't?" Anders cruelly curled the corner of his lips, his eyes looking at me as if I were an insignificant ant. "What can't I do to a sinner like you?"

He picked up a crystal that emitted a faint green light — it belonged to an elf elder who had once cared for me—and then, in my incredulous gaze, he brutally smashed it on the ground!

"NO! NO！"

As the crystal shattered with a crisp sound and I wailed in heart wrenching agony, he once again demanded harshly:

"I heard this crystal is the soul core of your elves? Destroying it means they can never be resurrected, right?" He raised his foot, cruelly grinding over the crystal fragments on the ground, making a grating sound. "This one under my foot, was it your beloved mentor or your loyal guardian?"

"Still won't say? Are you willing to watch your people be wiped out because of your foolish insistence?"

Tears, like broken strings of pearls, mixed with blood, kept rolling down from the corners of my eyes, hitting the cold ground and solidifying into tiny pearls with blood streaks, emitting a faint glow.

"Anders! I hate you!" I screamed with all my might.

In response, I received a brutal kiss that tasted of blood and almost deprived me of all my oxygen. Anders' teeth broke my lip, and he panted, grinding his teeth and growling, "Hate me? What right do you have to hate me? Isn't all this the fault of your elves? ”

I didn't respond. This kiss, carrying a destructive aura, plunged me into an even deeper trance. Recently, I've been conscious for less and less time. I almost forgot how purely we loved each other long, long ago, under the sun at the edge of the Forest of Life.

The elves occasionally leave the forest in search of their destined bonds. When I was three years old, I met a human boy named Anders for the first time. The moment he saw me, he looked up at his beautiful mother and asked seriously, "Mom, I like her. Can I have her as my bride in the future?"

Kara couldn't help but smile and looked at me gently, "Then you must protect her well and win her heart."

Later, we became the best playmates. Until I was fifteen, the elves, due to their precious life energy and healing abilities, attracted the greed and frenzied hunting of humans. I had to retreat deep into the forest, but I still sneaked out to find him.

When others asked about my identity, I was about to make up an excuse like "distant cousin". Unexpectedly, little Anders solemnly took my hand and announced to everyone, "She is the one I love the most, my future bride, Jovia."

At that moment, I knew my heart had completely fallen for him.

Later, the elves made a deal with a mysterious organization represented by Anders's parents, hoping to secure peace. But after the deal, Anders's parents mysteriously disappeared. As the heir of the elven royal family, I became the prime suspect.

I knew Anders hated me to the core, but I really couldn't reveal that secret.

Years later, Anders had become a cold CEO in charge of a vast business empire. He bought that piece of forest for commercial development.

For the last hope of my people's survival, I had to approach him again. Many times, when he was furiously questioning or occasionally showing vulnerability, the truth almost slipped out of my mouth, but I bit my lip hard.

I couldn't say it. Once I did, it would bring his parents to an irreversible fate.

However, whether it was love or hate, torture or yearning, soon, I wouldn't have to bear it anymore. There were only two days left.

Anders tried to lift me from the execution chair but was met with a warm pool of blood. His movements froze, and his gaze fell on my wounds that had split open again due to the electric shock, the skin torn and bleeding.

I weakly managed a sorry smile, "It's... so dirty, right? It doesn't matter... I'm dying..." These were words of relief.

However, the word "die" seemed to touch Anders's most terrifying taboo! His pupils shrank, and like a madman, he grabbed an expensive healing potion beside him and forced it down my throat without hesitation!

The effect of the potion was negligible. His voice was as cold as the frozen soil of Siberia, but beneath the ice was an uncontrollable panic: "Without my permission! You are not allowed to die!"

He roughly unlocked the shackles on my hands and feet and threw me into a pool filled with special repair liquid beside him.

I coughed and choked, the liquid stinging my wounds and causing new pain, but the bleeding was forcibly stopped.

However, I could clearly sense something wrong with these liquids—they were forcibly stimulating my remaining vitality to repair my body, like drinking poison to quench thirst, and would surely bring more severe backlash and destruction later.

I struggled to lift my head, through the misty water, and saw Lisa hiding in the shadow of the porch, giving me a twisted and malicious smile.

Her red lips moved silently, clearly conveying a fatal curse: "Jovia, I want you to die!"