Chapter 4

"No!"

Before my horrified eyes, Wayne ripped my jacket off in a single motion.

Adrian and Ryan both looked uneasy and rushed forward to stop him, only to be silenced by a glare.

In that brief exchange of looks, the three men reached an unspoken agreement.

Things went too far.

The only way forward was to keep this "rebirth" charade going.

Otherwise, the entire lie would fall apart.

No matter how much I cried, screamed, or struggled, none of them hesitated.

Piece by piece, they stripped away my clothes until only my underwear remained.

I could only fold my arms across my chest and curl up on the floor.

Every inch of exposed skin trembled in the cold air.

Wayne stood at the front with Adrian and Ryan beside him, my clothes clutched in their hands as they looked down at me from above.

"Fiona, either apologize to Lily or get out."

In that instant, countless memories flashed through my mind.

Ever since I could remember, the four of us were inseparable.

When we were six, Adrian was bullied by older kids, and I stood in front of him.

At twelve, Ryan skipped school to spend the day at an arcade, and I kept watch for him.

At sixteen, Wayne hated the fiancée his family chose for him, and I begged Grandpa to let me take her place.

At eighteen, we were caught in an avalanche while skiing. We supported each other all the way down the mountain, and none of us abandoned the others.

One by one, those memories shattered before my eyes and faded into nothing.

A faint smile tugged at my lips, so faint it was almost invisible.

Without saying a word, I walked out wearing nothing but my underwear.

Faintly, I could hear shouting behind me.

It sounded like Ryan finally had enough and was warning Wayne that he would regret this.

Would he?

It didn't matter anymore.

Ryan eventually came after me.

He wrapped his jacket around my shoulders, his tone filled with irritation.

"Have you lost your mind? Do you really want everyone to laugh at the Hart family?"

I let out a self-mocking laugh.

So that was it.

He was worried about me embarrassing the Hart family.

When he offered to drive me home, I didn't refuse.

Back at the house, I locked myself in my room.

I was utterly exhausted, both physically and emotionally, and quickly fell into a deep sleep.

But it wasn't a peaceful one.

My dreams were filled with memories of the four of us, laughing together, inseparable as ever.

Tears slid down my cheeks unconsciously.

Then suddenly, someone yanked me out of bed.

Before I could react, a sack was pulled over my head.

Aside from the initial pain, I calmed down surprisingly quickly.

This was a heavily secured private estate.

It was probably just another one of Wayne's cruel little games.

I was dumped inside an abandoned factory.

Even through the coarse burlap sack over my head, countless blows rained down on me.

It felt as though my ribs had broken, but I bit down hard on my lip and refused to make a sound.

The men seemed to grow uneasy.

"She isn't dead already, is she? Mr. Fall specifically told us not to seriously injure her. What do we do, boss?"

"What are you scared of? Miss Hart gave the order. We only hit her a few times. How's this our fault?"

After a flurry of hurried footsteps, silence fell around me.

I didn't know how long I drifted between consciousness and unconsciousness.

By the time the hood was pulled off, I was barely hanging on.

Wayne stood before me, surrounded by several bodyguards, his expression dark and grim.

"You refuse to repent. You even hired someone to ruin Lily's reputation. You're truly vicious."

The moment I realized what those bodyguards were there for, terror surged through me.

My eyes widened.

"I didn't! Wayne, you can't do this to me!"

Several men stepped forward and pinned me down.

Wayne's voice drifted over, light and indifferent.

"Fiona, actions have consequences. Consider this a lesson. As long as you behave from now on, everything will be fine.

"Don't be afraid. Go to sleep. When you wake up, it'll all be over."

This time, he wasn't using the deaths of the people I cared about as punishment.

He was going to destroy me first, then make me "start over."

As long as the trauma he left behind was deep enough, I would become more obedient.

I stared at him, my eyes bloodshot with hatred.

"If I ever get another chance, even if all of you died right in front of me, I wouldn't spare you a single glance."

Wayne spun around in shock.

What met him was a pair of eyes filled with nothing but hatred.

The hand hanging at his side began to tremble uncontrollably.

One thought lodged itself in his mind.

She knew.

She had to know.

However, he wasn’t worried.

This time, he'd simply increase the dosage and reinforce it with hypnosis.

He could still make her believe.

The previous ninety-nine times had worked, hadn't they?

He desperately tried to reassure himself.

But in the next second, he saw a man rushing toward them, panic written across his face.

The man called out to me.

"Fiona!”