That gang of thugs actually sat around my hospital bed, grinning at me.
I instinctively thought I was having a nightmare and pinched myself hard several times.
The gang leader sneered, then burst into laughter.
“Stop pinching yourself. This isn’t a dream, sweetheart—we meet again.
Smart people know when to yield. You made a mistake, now you pay. Boys, let’s show her what we can do.”
I was terrified, gasping for breath.
“Please—don’t hit me! Don’t hit me! I’ll call Daniel Carter—he’s the one who sent you, isn’t he? I’ll call him right now!”
But of course, Daniel’s phone was switched off. He wasn’t answering texts either. Lily’s smartwatch was also off. Even when I tried calling Margaret, it was nothing but a busy tone.
Fear swept over me in waves.
“Please, let me go. I’m just a pitiful woman. Whatever Daniel paid you, I’ll double it. Ten thousand, twenty thousand dollars—will that do?”
The gang leader looked at me with smug amusement.
“Didn’t think you were rich. Tempting offer, but I live by a code—I don’t break deals once I’ve accepted them. So, sweetheart, how do you want to die?”
“No, please, don’t hurt me. Let me go…”
“Hahahaha!”
At his command, the men dragged me off the hospital bed like I was a dead dog. They ignored my already injured leg and stomped on my other one, making me break into a cold sweat from the unbearable pain.
“Ahh! Stop twisting it! My leg’s going to snap!”
“Heh, one leg’s already gone. What’s another?”
My eyes widened in horror.
“You mean—”
“Bingo. Brace yourself, sweetheart. You shouldn’t have made enemies.”
I blacked out from the pain.
When I woke again, I was shocked to discover that everything below my waist was gone.
I wasn’t a whole person anymore. I was half of one.
So tragic. So painful. Too painful.
I cried myself unconscious again. When I woke later that night, the room was empty—but in the bathroom, I heard Daniel’s voice on a video call.
“Daddy, did you really have Mom’s other leg broken too? Just because she forced you to divorce her? But now she can’t even get prosthetics, right? She’ll be stuck in bed forever, like a paralyzed invalid. That’s so pitiful.”
My husband sighed in the bathroom.
“Lily, you saw her aggressiveness. If I don’t go through with the divorce, she’ll expose me and Isabella Reed. But we’re just innocent college friends, nothing more.”
“And Isabella cares about you so much. She never forces you to eat green peppers, does she? Unlike your mom—her controlling nature is unbearable. She needed to be taught a lesson, to rein in that arrogance.”
“I had no other choice. Even if your mom is bedridden for life, I can provide for her, give her a comfortable life. But poor Isabella—she’s abused daily and can’t get divorced. As her old classmate, isn’t it right for me to comfort her? I can be her support, her shield, so that abusive man never dares hurt her again!”
