Chapter 3

The pain in my wounded leg made it impossible for me to fall asleep. So, I dragged myself up to seek out the medical team for some painkillers.

As I made my way past Kenneth and Gigi, I paused. I could hear Gigi cooing from behind the curtains, "Ken, I'd really love a warm drink… But it's so dark outside. I'm scared…"

In an extremely low voice, Kenneth replied, "I'll go get it for you."

He pulled the curtain aside, only to see me standing on the other side. Perhaps my appearance was so ghastly that he flinched and knitted his brows together suddenly as if he had been stung.

Gigi continued cooing from behind the curtains. "Just get Estelle to do it, Ken. She's used to doing these things at home anyway, isn't she?"

Kenneth gulped. After staying silent for a couple of seconds, he instructed in a mechanical tone, "Go get Gigi a cup of warm water."

A continuous shiver ran across my entire body, though I couldn't be sure if it was from the cold or the pain.

Stiffly, I nodded, then I turned around and headed for the door. Following that, I heard the crisp crack of a plastic bottle being crushed behind me, and Kenneth's breathing turned heavy all of a sudden.

I had been compliant. What else was he dissatisfied with?

The pain in my heart and my leg suffocated me. My body gave out, and I fell into the mud behind the shelter.

A passing volunteer caught sight of me and did a quick scan of the area. After doing so, a lecherous grin came across his face as he reached out to grab me.

I scrambled backward in terror. "What are you doing?" I asked.

With one swift move, he grabbed me by my collar, picking me up and dragging me into the shadows. I put up a fierce struggle, clawing frantically at his face with my blood-stained hands that had already gone numb.

He hissed in pain and slapped me across my face.

"Stupid whore! You just have to make this difficult, don't you?"

Somehow, I gathered the strength to jam my fingers right into his eyes, refusing to let go. He screamed in pain and released his hold on me.

"My eyes! You bitch!"

Out of nowhere, Gigi sprinted out from around the corner. She clasped her hands over her mouth and let out a loud gasp when she saw us.

"Oh my goodness, Estelle! It's the middle of the night. What are you doing, hooking up with another man out here instead of being in bed?"

The volunteer pointed his finger at me immediately. "It was her. This bitch came on to me first! She even blinded me after I rejected her!"

A series of hurried footsteps neared as Kenneth rushed over.

He saw me collapsed on the ground and my clothes in a ragged mess while the man towered over me. Instantly, his eyes turned bloodshot. He charged at the volunteer and kicked him away.

"How dare you touch her? I'll kill you!"

The commotion drew a crowd, and people swarmed around us, pointing their accusations at me. "This woman is shameless indeed. She throws herself at a man, gets caught red-handed, then she turns violent!"

Kenneth froze, whirling around and staring straight at me.

"Estelle, did you come out here in the middle of the night just to do such a thing? How cheap are you?"

I looked at him, feeling nothing but a sense of mockery washing over me. "You told me to get water, didn't you?"

As he stared at me, an incomprehensible flicker of emotion flashed across his eyes. Before I could even react, he removed his coat and wrapped it tightly around me before scooping me up into his arms.

Despite my struggles, he strode back into the tent.

"Shut up, all of you! She is my wife. I will rip out the tongues of those who dare utter another word!" he yelled at the people outside.

Thereafter, he turned around and tossed me onto the mat.

"Stay right here. Don't you dare go anywhere else. Do not give her any medications without my permission!"

I couldn't help but let out a mocking chuckle.

His bias toward Gigi was clearly etched right into his very being. Yet, he was now acting like he cared a whole lot about me.

The infected wound on my leg worsened. The swelling on my calf was so severe that even a light touch felt excruciatingly painful. A slow fever crept up on me, and my consciousness slowly slipped away as I slumped against the wall in the corner.

I thought I saw Kenneth. He stroked my face gently, but he looked right through me, as if he were looking at someone else entirely.

Right after that, the expression on his face twisted, and our surroundings transformed into a cemetery. He shoved me into a pit in the ground and began shoveling dirt all over me.

I startled awake in fright, drenched in cold sweat. I could not stay here any longer.

At the crack of dawn, a transport vehicle for the wounded arrived at the evacuation center. I made my way up to the vehicle, dragging my leg behind me, only for Kenneth to intercept and stop me in my tracks.

"Still making a fuss, are you?" he questioned with a deep frown on his face. He thought I was still sulking over what happened last night.

"The doctor has taken a look at your injury. It's just an external injury. Don't go taking up space that's meant for those who are severely wounded."

At the same time, Gigi was settled in the best seat in the vehicle. She was heading into the city for psychological counselling because she claimed she'd been plagued by nightmares since the earthquake.

I watched as the spots in the vehicle got taken up one by one. With everything I had, I lunged toward the vehicle.

This wretched state I was in was identical to that moment in my previous life when I cried and begged for my life after Kenneth pushed me into a pit to be buried alive. I pleaded with him with everything I had at the time, yet he refused to even spare me a glance.

Now, when my leg was rotting away, he actually told me not to take up space meant for those who were severely wounded.

In the chaotic scramble, someone stepped on my injured leg. I let out a scream of pain, collapsing to the ground as if this body was no longer mine.

The dressing around my wound was torn away, leaving my wound fully exposed. Pus and blood blended together around the lacerated tissue, through which a whiteness of bone was faintly visible.

Finally, someone took notice and shouted, "Get her up here now! She can't afford to wait any longer!"