The man opened his photo album and pulled up the torture video.
The others crowded around, jeering.
"Show me!"
"I want to see too!"
The sound of Darcy's dying screams filled the air.
Something inside me snapped.
I snatched a jagged shard of glass from the floor, grabbed the man by his hair, and drove the shard straight into his eye.
His shriek tore through the room, but to me it was nothing more than background noise—like the finishing stroke of a painting. I turned my head toward the crowd. The ones who just moments ago were pointing and laughing fell silent, their faces went deathly pale.
No one dares provoke a madman.
Especially a madman willing to take the Carter family's precious little princess down with him. Even the guards hesitated, unwilling to make the first move.
I spat a mouthful of blood at their feet, sneering one word before turning on my heel toward Noreen.
"Trash."
Inside the private suite, Noreen had brought Maxwell to a bed and summoned her personal doctor.
The doctor leaned in to examine Maxwell's wound, but Maxwell waved him away.
"Don't look at me—check on Noreen first."
His voice cracked with self-pity. "I can't believe it... Colin is even crazier than before. I should've never shown mercy back then. If he's here today, it must be because he still can't let you go."
He wiped his tears, clinging to her.
"Back then, he loved you so much the whole city knew. And just because you were kind to me, he humiliated me in public—he even slapped me across the face."
His eyes watered again.
"Noreen, don't let him ruin us. Please."
Noreen sat at the bedside, her hand gently covering his, her voice calm and soothing.
"I won't. Don't worry."
Then, with a laugh as soft as glass breaking, she added, "To me, Colin has never been anything but a toy. When I was little and bored, I'd lock him in the dark room, throw in snakes and rats, and laugh at his cries."
Her eyes sharpened.
"Later, I found him feeding stray dogs every day. I poisoned a few, and he actually dared to raise a knife against me—over animals!"
Her teeth ground together.
"That mutt deserved to die."
I had reached the doorway by then, and her words struck me like a blade.
My memory flashed with the image—Noreen chaining me for three days straight, breaking my body, her hands always closing around my throat as she hissed, "If playing with you isn't enough... then I'll bear your child. Let's see if you can keep that defiance once I'm carrying your blood."
Her eyes had been fevered, obsessed. That memory was carved into me.
It was Darcy who found the old master and saved me. Darcy accompanied me to the hospital—who sat with me as I chose sterilization, severing any chance of fatherhood. Because I would rather die than let Noreen give birth to my child.
It was from that day that her hatred of Darcy curdled into a death sentence.
Suddenly, my phone buzzed.
The name flashing on the screen softened my face instantly.
"You went to the banquet for Dad?" The voice on the other end was gentle and warm.
"I heard your ex-wife is there too. Why didn't you wait for me?"
I couldn't hold back my frustration and complained, "I'm about to get killed here! If you don't save me soon, I won't last!"
I hung up, pulse hammering.
From inside, Maxwell's voice trembled.
"And what if Colin still wants to be with you?"
Before Noreen could answer, I kicked the door open.
Maxwell's face twisted in shock. Noreen instantly shielded him, glaring at me.
"Colin! You've really got no shame—chasing us here!"
She smiled coldly, unhurried, almost mocking.
"What is it? Do you want to crawl back into the Carter family? Do you even know who you are—"
My blade cut off her words.
I surged forward, and drove the knife deep into her abdomen.
Her eyes widened.
I leaned in, lips curling into a smile as cold as death itself.
"Noreen."
"Go to hell!"
