Chapter 4

A young woman stepped forward and tugged at his sleeve.

"Boss, ice plus water will stick to skin like glue. Any movement will tear off chunks of flesh. She's about to give birth—something could go seriously wrong..."

Everett's commanding gesture froze mid-air.

As he hesitated in silence, a soft whimper came from behind.

"Everett, forget it. My time in the ICU wasn't as terrible as you think..."

Nina's words made Everett's expression turn instantly severe.

He lowered his suspended hand and said coldly:

"Do exactly as I said!"

The young woman tried to stop him again, but Everett waved her off.

"This suffering is nothing compared to what Nina went through. I've already got an ambulance on standby outside. What could possibly go wrong?"

Hearing Everett's words, the young woman didn't dare say more.

With Everett's order given, the group grabbed ice blocks and re-entered the freezer.

They yanked me up by my hair and surrounded me tightly with ice, then poured a basin of cold water over my head.

The next second, my skin felt glued to the ice blocks.

Bone-chilling cold flowed through my pores into my marrow.

I glanced at the time—I'd already been in this freezer for at least five hours.

My limbs had long since turned dark purple.

To protect the baby in my belly, I tried to shift position within this ice-confined space.

But every tiny movement tore away a piece of flesh.

Yet the movements in my belly were growing increasingly faint.

Ignoring the stabbing pain from my torn skin, I moved my body, trying to keep my belly in the warmest possible position.

The transparent ice blocks gradually became stained with my crimson blood.

By the time I'd adjusted my position, the ice had turned completely blood-red.

The people nearby who'd been laughing fell silent at such a gruesome scene.

Through the scarlet haze, I roared at Everett outside the freezer:

"Everett, if anything happens to this child, you—his biological father—will be his murderer! I'll kneel before his spirit every day and pray that you die a miserable death!"

Everett's gaze wavered, no longer as resolute as before.

He slowly approached, seemingly wanting to check my condition through the blurred blood.

In the silence, a cry suddenly came from behind:

"Boss! My dad says a plane with the West family's private aviation signature just appeared on their exclusive route!"

Everett's face changed instantly. He slammed his fist against the glass and roared at me:

"Lana, what are you playing at?! Are you planning to use your family to intimidate me for the rest of your life?!"

Before I could respond, Nina came forward, constantly soothing Everett's back while looking at me with accusation mixed with grievance:

"Lana, if you don't want to apologize, fine, but why torture Everett like this? You know how much he suffered when Old Mr. West was alive. Now that he's dead and the West family fortune has been liquidated, what's the point of this charade?"

Nina then took Everett's hand and said gently:

"Let it go, Everett. Let her out. We don't want anything to happen to the baby and become sinners. I don't think she's ever seen people like us as anything but beneath her..."

Nina's words intensified the fury in Everett's eyes.

He cursed, then barked at the people behind him:

"Set the freezer to negative 148 degrees Fahrenheit! Now!"