My scream was so raw, so guttural, that Maxwell's face changed in an instant.
In the dead silence that followed, he walked toward the small window, seemingly wanting to check on my condition.
But the moment he opened it, Joy let out a sharp cry and collapsed to the floor.
Maxwell rushed to scoop her into his arms. “Joy, what's wrong? Where does it hurt?”
Joy pointed a trembling finger toward the dark room, her whole body so weak she looked on the verge of passing out. “Blood……I saw blood through the window just now. The mastiffs can't reach her, so why is there blood……”
“She hurt herself on purpose to make herself bleed, just to get to me. She knows I can't stand the sight of blood.”
“Maxwell, I feel so faint. Please, carry me somewhere to rest.”
Maxwell set Joy down on the chaise, but for once, he didn't stay beside her.
His brow furrowed. He pulled free of her grip and walked back toward the window.
When he saw me drenched in blood, my ruined body still being torn at by a pack of Tibetan Mastiffs, his pupils contracted to pinpoints.
This man who never let emotion show on his face nearly roared the order to open the door.
But just as someone moved to unlock it, Joy cried out again.
Maxwell turned back, irritation sharp on his face, and heard her say, “Maxwell, the company's stock has been in freefall for the past hour.”
“And……we've received termination notices on several major contracts……”
Maxwell went rigid.
He took the phone, and after reviewing the situation, his expression turned so dark it could have swallowed light.
He thought of what I'd said. ‘Someone's hurting me.’
He'd dismissed it as another ploy to win him back. But now……
“Doris, did you do this?”
“You don't have a brother. Who is that man?”
At those words, Joy perked up instantly.
“Maxwell, you felt guilty being with me, but maybe your dear wife already had someone on the side. Why else would a man go this far for her, even daring to cross Farley Group? You know she's an orphan. Where exactly did this 'brother' come from?”
She was getting more animated by the second. “Hm, come to think of it, maybe the baby isn't even yours. Five years with nothing, but the moment she's hiding some mystery 'brother,' she turns up pregnant?”
I looked at Maxwell through fading vision. The pathetic part was that he believed it. Every clumsy word of it.
He stopped the person reaching for the door and demanded in a cold voice, “Who is that man?”
I tried to speak, but blood surged up my throat instead.
The mastiffs were still tearing into me without restraint.
I couldn't hold on anymore. My hand dropped to the floor.
The instant my arms fell away from my stomach, several sets of fangs drove straight into my abdomen, and blood poured from my lower belly.
It seeped along the dark room floor and out through the gap beneath the door, blindingly red.
When I realized they would devour my child too, a sound ripped out of me that didn't feel human.
Outside, people screamed, “She's going to die in there!”
Maxwell had still been seething, but when that scream made him look down and he saw the blood pooling out from under the door, he froze.
He grabbed the nearest person in a panic, shouting, “Open it! Open the door!”
The maid scrambled to punch in the passcode, but halfway through, her fingers stopped.
She was shaking. “Mr. Farley, it won't open. The passcode isn't working.”
“The system's locked us out now. It can only be opened with a key, but……the key to the dark room is with the dog handler……”
“Get the dog handler to open it!”
No one moved behind him. Maxwell turned around and realized the dog handler was already gone.
Rage consumed him. “Where is the dog handler?”
“Who gave them permission to leave without my order?!”
Joy flinched and blurted out, “I thought they weren't needed here anymore, so I sent them to wait in the front hall. I'll go get them right now!”
