جميع فصول : الفصل -الفصل 9

I hung up. My wedding dress, worth millions, was riddled with black holes where the fabric had been eaten away.My exposed skin burned as concentrated acid seared into it. A foul-smelling yellow slurry mixed with blood oozed out of the burnt flesh.I glared at the woman in front of me. The fury in my eyes was a white-hot flame. It was a silent inferno that could consume her where she stood.Yet, the crowd of onlookers, drawn by the drama, only erupted in derisive laughter.“Hahaha! She actually stole Mrs. Hoover’s man! She’s done for!”Sonya Hoover jabbed a finger at my face and cursed. “You shameless trash! Still putting on an act? You think calling someone here will make me let you go? Just drop the act already! The Skylar family? I’ve never heard of them! I’m calling the cops right now and having you arrested for stealing the wedding dress!”I clutched at my ruined wounds as blood kept slipping through my fingers.A wave of dizziness blurred the edges of my vision because o

“Ahhh!!!” Sonya screamed in agony. My hand, still clenched around the shears, twisted deeper inside her.“You trash! How dare you hurt me?!”Grabbing the handle, she lashed out with her stiletto-clad leg and kicked me away as she roared.Pain exploded through me as I crashed to the floor. The taste of blood instantly flooded my mouth.Sonya looked unhinged. She said, “Kill her! Kill her now!”As soon as she said that, the guards turned toward me as a single mass with murderous intent.The next second, a wooden chair came crashing down toward me. “Don’t touch my sister!” Matt shouted hoarsely through the chaos.Through my blurred vision, I saw Matt stagger in front of me. The chair slammed down hard against his head.“Matt!!!”His body collapsed onto mine. He twitched a few times, then went limp.I completely lost it. I scrambled to hold him, but the guards lunged and pinned me to the floor.They pinned my limbs down. My face rubbed roughly against the floor. Blood and te

Gerald’s face was deathly pale as he got up and rushed straight into the freezer.Sonya’s expression contorted into a sweet and demure smile. It was in stark contrast to the madness lingering in her eyes. She latched onto his arm and whined in a soft voice.“Honey, you’re here! Promise me you won’t ever see her again, okay? Whatever you did before, I’ll let it slide. Men cheating in a relationship is normal. It’s okay, I forgive you. All I ask is that you kill her yourself and make her disappear forever.”The flames on me died down. I lay on the cold floor, breathing in shallow, ragged gasps.Gerald trembled in fear. When he felt the razor-sharp gaze burn into his back, cold sweat beaded his forehead and ran down his face.Sonya gave his arm another insistent tug. “Honey…”“Shut up!” Gerald barked and slapped Sonya hard across the face.Her cheek reddened at once. It began to bruise with blood vessels faintly visible beneath her delicate skin.Her eyes widened in disbelief. A

Watching the scene unfold from inside the medical pod, I suddenly felt like laughing.“Take me over there,” I said to the doctor beside me. Moments later, I was wheeled before Gerald.A ripple of shocked murmurs spread through the onlookers who had gathered outside the freezer.“Seriously? Do rich families have this much drama?”“Yikes! That’s the head of the Skylar family. The man’s a walking executioner. That couple has crossed him now! Their future just got very dark.”“Future? I’m not even sure those two are leaving here alive today. Everyone knows how fiercely the head of the Skylar family protects his daughter. Look at what they did to her! He’s got a lot of rage left to unload.”“Didn’t the last person who messed with the Skylar family end up six feet under?”Listening to the murmurs around him, a cold dread settled in the pit of Gerald’s stomach.He crawled to me on his hands and knees. Then, he begged.“I’m sorry, Carol. I was wrong! I can explain everything about Son

“Carol, is this enough?” He ignored Sonya’s tortured cries and acted as though he was presenting me with a finished project.I closed my eyes for a moment, then nudged the divorce agreement toward him. “You’ll walk away with nothing. Do you have any objections?”Gerald stared at me in disbelief. “Carol, didn’t you say—”“I never said I’d forgive you. Don’t be so naive, Gerald.”“But I only did that to Sonya for you and—”Before he could finish, my father drove his foot hard into Gerald’s chest once again.“Be smart and sign it! Unless you’d prefer I handle this my way. My methods won’t be as gentle as my daughter’s.”“Sir—”Gerald tried to say something, but my father clamped his hand around his throat.“Will you sign it or not?”Gerald had no choice but to sign the divorce papers. A wave of profound relief washed over me.The thought of being tied to Gerald for even a moment longer filled me with nothing but revulsion.“Do you really think I don’t know about the little