Chapter 5

On the day I was discharged, the doctor repeatedly stressed the importance of rest and recovery.

After much hesitation, I returned to the Blackwood estate.

Stepping through the front door, I saw Caleb with Isabelle in his arms, his cold, mocking eyes filled with a tender affection I had never known.

“Sister is out of the hospital! Caleb dearest and I should have gone to pick you up!”

Caleb frowned in annoyance at her words.

“Don’t mention that wretched woman and spoil our mood.”

Then he playfully tapped Isabelle’s nose, and their poison-laced lips met in a passionate, wild kiss.

I felt no anger, no sadness.

And certainly no desire to witness their intense display.

I simply quietly took off my shoes, walked upstairs, and burrowed into the blankets, wanting nothing more than to sleep.

Three days left. Soon, everything would be over.

When I woke, the empty rooms echoed with their unrestrained laughter from the living room.

Their laughter, sharp as fangs, betrayed the endless malice festering within them.

Seeing me emerge, Caleb’s lips curved into a playful smirk. He beckoned me over with a flick of his wrist.

I calmly walked towards Caleb, then looked up at the large screen on the wall.

It was playing videos from years past: Caleb forcing me to dig for zombie cores with my bare hands, throwing me into clusters of mutated flora for antidotes, leaving me suspended over a thousand-foot cliff while zombies gnawed at me.

My screams, my terror, my frantic struggle for survival, my desperate pleas—they had always been nothing more than entertainment in their eyes.

In the video, a thick rope bit into my waist. I clung desperately to Caleb’s wheelchair, my legs like jelly.

Suffering from severe acrophobia, I was ghostly pale, staring at the bottomless abyss before me:

“Caleb, please, let me go!”

Caleb glanced at me indifferently:

“Then kneel. Kneel and apologize to Isabelle, tell her your deceitful schemes prevented her from marrying me.”

I didn’t hesitate. I instantly dropped to my knees, begging humbly, apologizing frantically:

“I was wrong. I shouldn’t have married you. I’m shameless, I’m despicable.”

Caleb’s lips curved in satisfaction. He pushed his wheelchair closer and extended a hand.

My tear-streaked face was covered in wild strands of hair. A flicker of hope ignited within me, and I quickly reached out, allowing his hand to help me up.

Before I could even discern the expression on his face, I felt a violent shove.

I looked at Caleb in shock. He was smiling as he personally pushed me off the cliff.

In those fleeting seconds, I finally saw his treacherous, true nature.

The sensation of freefall threatened to drag me straight to hell. My screams echoed through the valley, disturbing the zombies lurking in the darkness.

Their agitated roars grew closer, more numerous.

I could already picture myself being torn apart, not even bones left.

The rope suddenly went taut, leaving me dangling precariously over that valley of death.

I gripped the rope tightly, swallowing my fear.

The rumbling of the earth below reminded me to hold onto this lifeline and escape immediately.

My feet scrambled against the loose, crumbling earth of the cliff face. The rope chafed my hands raw, turning them bloody.

When I finally reached the ground, I collapsed, utterly drained, my face devoid of color.

I lay at Isabelle’s feet, too weak to struggle, watching her double over with laughter:

“Sister, you’re so resilient! I can’t believe we’re seeing you alive again. Come and see how scared you were, your mouth was wide open!”

I clenched my fists tight, the biting pain of my nails digging into my palms was the only thing keeping me from screaming, keeping me from collapsing into tears.

If my suffering brought them such joy, then I would absolutely deny them that satisfaction!