Hi to Your Bride, Bye to Your Child
Beneath that, weighed down by the report, was a torn page from a ledger.
On it, bold, harsh handwriting chronicled every single wound—from the first, all the way to the 99th. At the very end, a heavy, deliberate line read, "99th time: Public execution."
The 99-debt contract he had once used to fool an innocent girl and the 99 gifts he had given had now become marks on my tally of pain.
His hands started trembling uncontrollably. The silver box slipped from his shaking fingers, and the broken trophy pieces and abortion report scattered across the floor.