Without the defibrillator, I could only kneel in the snow and perform CPR on Robert with all my strength.
But just as I was desperately trying to save him, a shot suddenly hit my right arm!
Warm blood gushed out, staining the snow crimson.
Lily screamed.
“Sister-in-law! Are you okay?!”
They had switched from stone guns to live ammunition!
The relatives screamed in terror as bullets whizzed through the air, kicking up sprays of snow.
I tried to keep working on Robert, but the gunfire grew closer and closer.
Someone was shot in the leg and fell down screaming.
Another’s cheek was grazed, blood gushing down.
Then Ethan’s mocking voice boomed through the helicopter’s loudspeaker.
“Rachel Moore, I’ll give you a chance. Get on your knees and bark like a dog ten times, and I’ll spare your family.”
Margaret shook with rage.
“That ungrateful son! Rachel, you mustn’t kneel! Wait till your father gets here—he’ll make him pay!”
Lily, already sobbing uncontrollably, grabbed my arm.
“This is too much! I never imagined your marriage was this humiliating!”
I looked around at the Parker relatives groaning in pain, at the dying Robert, at the blood pouring from my arm...
Slowly, I raised my head.
“Fine. I’ll kneel. Whatever grudge you have, take it out on me—leave my family alone.”
I pushed away those trying to stop me, bent my knees, and knelt on the freezing snow.
Then I lowered my head and barked like a dog—one sound after another.
“Woof. Woof. Woof...”
Ethan laughed loudly.
“Didn’t think you had such loyalty in you. Guess my parents weren’t wrong about you.”
Maybe this marriage had been a mistake from the very beginning.
Three years ago, I was a hospital nurse. Margaret had a heart attack and was hospitalized for a month.
I took care of her with all my heart, and she grew fond of me, saying I reminded her of her younger self. Later, she insisted on introducing me to her son.
At first, I didn’t want to overreach, but when I saw Ethan, I recognized him immediately—he had been the high school football team captain I’d secretly crushed on for three years.
At that moment, I thought fate had blessed me.
I married him full of hope, only to find he hated this arranged marriage, treating me like a servant.
I thought if I treated him sincerely, he’d at least feel a little affection for me.
But he hated me—hated me enough to wish death upon me and my entire family.
Today’s tragedy happened simply because he mistook the Parker relatives for my poor family.
But I couldn’t let the people who truly cared about me suffer for it.
By the time I finished barking ten times, my face was streaked with tears.
“I did what you asked. Now let them go.”
But from the helicopter came roaring laughter.
“She’s so stupid—she actually believed us!”
“Yeah! How could someone that gullible have won over your parents?”
And then, the chilling howls of wolves echoed from every direction.
Pairs of glowing green eyes lit up all around us, making everyone freeze in terror.
I clenched my teeth so hard my jaw ached.
“Ethan Parker! You promised to let them go!”
Ethan smirked coldly.
“I only said I wouldn’t use guns—didn’t say I wouldn’t use anything else.”
He raised his hand and made a small gesture.
His trained wolf handler immediately understood and blew a whistle.
Dozens of starving wolves shot toward us like black lightning.
The pampered Parker elders, already battered by the stone guns, no longer had the strength to resist.
