Chapter 3

In my dream, I felt like I was falling into a bottomless abyss. When I opened my eyes again.

I saw Dad crouching by the villa pool, tossing a bloody piece of meat into the water.

The fish were eating until their bellies were round, their scales glowing with a strange, eerie red hue.

He turned, smiling at me, and said those fish, fed on human flesh, had the most beautiful scales, perfect for my bookmarks.

My brother leaned outside the glass door, showing off a bracelet he’d made from human bones.

Back then, I had just experienced my mother’s sudden death right in front of me and was most afraid of the dark.

No matter how late Ethan’s work dinners ran, he would always come home early to stay by my side, waking up before dawn the next day to go to work.

I casually mentioned I liked the starry sky, and he immediately spent millions to buy an observatory in the city outskirts, giving it to me as a birthday gift.

A wealthy heiress, wanting to be with him, offered a multi-billion dollar project, pressuring him to break up with me.

To give me a sense of security, he immediately blocked her and declared publicly,

“The only woman I will ever love is Eleanor Moretti.”

I believed him.

So I kept it from my family, accompanied him as he built his fortune from scratch, acted as his shield against countless schemes, and even proactively cut ties with my family for him.

He hugged me countless times, saying,

“Ellie, once the company goes public, I’ll take you on a world tour and pamper you like a princess.”

But now?

That man who swore he’d never betray me was watching me bleed to death in a hospital bed, all for another woman!

In a haze, I heard a baby’s cry.

The next moment, I was violently pulled back to reality.

Looking at Mark Stevens beside me, I forced myself to speak through the pain.

“Mark, my father personally picked you to be my bodyguard all those years ago. You know exactly what my family is capable of.”

He didn’t speak.

But his trembling hands gave away his terror completely.

“What do I want to do?”

My pale face twisted into a sneer.

“My father and brother will be here any minute. If you don’t get the doctors now, when they arrive, you’ll have nowhere to be buried!”

Mark instantly trembled all over, scrambling to go find a doctor.

Just as he reached the door, he seemed to remember something.

He suddenly let out a chilling laugh, then turned and viciously slapped me across the face!

A sharp smack echoed, and my head snapped to the side from the blow.

“This is Mr. Thorne’s private hospital, built just for you! It’s deep in the wilderness – not even satellites can find it, let alone any divine intervention!”

I gasped for breath, staring at him, weak but with fierce resolve.

“You’re too late, all of you. I already sent out my location.”

His face instantly turned ghostly pale, his legs gave out, and he collapsed onto the floor, his eyes wide with terror as if he’d seen a ghost.

“This… this isn’t real…”

I gritted my teeth, every word causing me to break out in a cold sweat from the pain.

“Go get the doctors now. When my father arrives, I’ll put in a good word for you, and you might just get to keep your worthless life. Otherwise… next year this very day will be your death anniversary!”

Mark was terrified out of his mind. He fumbled for his phone, scrambling on all fours, and bolted out like a madman.

I lay limp on the bed, the cramping in my stomach like a knife twisting inside me.

But the knot in my stomach finally loosened a bit.