She had a fist in Vivian's hair, slamming her head into the wall, again and again.
"A murderer like you should pay with her life!"
Blood ran down Vivian's forehead as she thrashed. "You dare do this to me? Aren't you afraid Benjamin will find out?"
Lindsay let go all at once and watched her crumple to the floor with cold eyes.
A force hit her from behind. Benjamin.
He threw Lindsay down hard, disgust written all over his face. "You killed Veronica, and now you want her sister dead too?"
"Lindsay, and here I thought you'd changed. I should have known you'd still make me sick."
He pulled Vivian tight against him, his voice urgent. "Vivian, are you all right?"
A dull pain spread through Lindsay's lower back, but she still laughed, brazen. "She killed my brother. So what if I hit her a few times?"
"You feel that sorry for her?"
Vivian clung to Benjamin's arm, shaking all over. "Benjamin, she smashed everything in the house, and she said I had to pay with my life for her brother..."
"This house is filthy now that she's lived in it." His thin lips parted, and what came out was cruel. "Her brother died by your hand. That's what they call getting what you deserve. You don't have to be afraid of her."
Above the center of the living room, the crystal chandelier began to swing hard.
Lindsay tried to get up, but her body wouldn't obey.
The next second, with a deafening crash, the chandelier broke loose and came down on her.
The pain tore from her spine through every inch of her, as if a thousand needles were driving into her flesh, until she couldn't breathe.
She lay sprawled on the floor, the last of her strength drained away, and all she could see was Benjamin holding Vivian, his eyes as tender as if he held some rare and precious thing.
When he looked at her, his gaze turned to ice, an ugly smile at the corner of his mouth. "Serves you right."
Vivian asked him, "Are you really just going to leave her? What if something actually happens to her?"
Benjamin's voice was cold. "Better if she dies."
Only after he carried Vivian out did Lindsay, with what was left of her, dial for an ambulance before she lost consciousness completely.
When Lindsay surfaced from the dark, she was already in a hospital.
What she hadn't expected was Vivian, standing there in her room.
There was a smile on her lips, and the smugness on her face she couldn't hide. "Lindsay, did you hear it just now? Benjamin said it'd be better if you died."
"I knew it. He's always loved me most. Back then I left a note written in blood, just to see exactly how much he loved me. I never imagined he'd torture you for three whole years for my sake. What a thrill."
"So I've decided to end his test and go back to him."
Lindsay's heart was pounding so hard it felt like it would leap out of her chest. She forced the words out in disbelief. "There never was any twin sister. You're Veronica!"
"You staged all of it. Why?"
Back then, she had already told her father to call off the engagement.
If Vivian hadn't faked her death, she could have married Benjamin without trouble.
And Lindsay would never have had to suffer through those three years.
Vivian let out a snort of laughter. "To test whether his heart was really mine, of course. I'm not as pretty as you, and my family's nothing special. Who's to say he wouldn't fall for you over time?"
For one test, she had made Lindsay and Benjamin tear each other apart for three years.
Lindsay had always paid back every wrong. She rose, closed her hand around Vivian's throat, and walked her toward the window.
"Tell Benjamin the truth, or I'll throw you out right now!"
She would not be condemned for nothing!
Half of Vivian's body hung out the window, and terror set her shaking from head to toe, yet she couldn't get out a single word.
Benjamin walked in to exactly this scene. His pupils shrank, and his voice was thick with terror. "If Vivian dies, you'll pay with your life!"
Lindsay's grip tightened by degrees. She smiled as she spoke. "Her life is in my hands. You shouldn't be threatening me right now. You should be on your knees, begging me."
Benjamin didn't hesitate for a moment. He actually knelt, his eyes full of nothing but fear for Vivian. "Fine. I'm begging you. Just let Vivian go, and you can have my life..."
Lindsay had never imagined that Benjamin, always so cold and proud, would truly kneel for a woman.
A vicious irony washed through her, and she laughed until she could barely catch her breath. "Benjamin, you really are pathetic."
The words were barely out when Vivian, seizing the moment Lindsay loosened her grip, shoved her away hard.
On instinct Lindsay snatched up the scissors beside her and drove them into Vivian's belly. She turned her head toward Benjamin. "This is what they call getting what you deserve."
