Chapter 6

Yvonne POV

At Chloe Sterling's words, the fury buried inside me for three long years erupted into a roaring blaze.

I charged forward like a woman possessed, seizing Chloe by her hair. My hand cracked across her face over and over until her cheeks swelled bruised and purple, blood leaking from the corner of her lips.

Frantic, Chloe clawed at her pocket trying to pull out her phone, but I slapped it out of her grip, sending it smashing into the wall where the screen shattered to pieces.

Reaching into my handbag, I whipped out the mini tire pressure gauge, its sharp metal probe glinting coldly beneath the shop lights.

The moment Chloe caught sight of the spike, all color drained from her face, and she scrambled backward in sheer terror.

I grabbed her left hand, pinning it flat against the concrete, and rammed the metal probe mercilessly straight through her palm.

"Ah—!"

A bloodcurdling shriek tore from Chloe's throat as the spike pierced straight through her hand, blood surging out and splashing across the floor.

Terrified out of their minds, the workers dropped their hammers and ran for their lives.

Hurried footsteps echoed at the entrance. Caleb Sterling rushed in with a group of people. The moment he saw the pool of blood on the floor and Chloe Sterling's mangled hand, his face warped with horror.

He lunged forward, shoved me aside violently, scooped Chloe into his arms, and spun on his heel toward the door.

"Get her to the hospital! Now!"

At the doorway, he halted and looked back at me, his eyes brimming with arctic malice.

"Just you wait."

Ten minutes later, he returned, flanked by two team security guards.

I was still standing in the same spot, my hands stained with Chloe's blood.

"Yvonne Vance, why do you always have to target Chloe?" Caleb asked from the doorway, his tone detached, as if inquiring about something entirely unrelated to him.

I stared at him and laughed, laughing until tears welled in my eyes.

"How did she offend me? Look at this place!" I pointed at the utter wreckage around us. "This is the only thing my parents left behind for me! You gave it to her, and you let her smash every single keepsake they had!"

Caleb remained deadpan. "It's just a worthless dump. If it's trashed, it's trashed. It wasn't worth a dime anyway."

My laughter stopped dead. I stared at him as if looking at a total stranger.

"That was my parents' life's work!"

Caleb gave a flick of his hand to the guards behind him.

"Pin her down."

Two guards surged forward, flanking me and grabbing my arms, pinning me until I couldn't move an inch.

Parked right outside was a race car that had just been shut off, its exhaust pipes still billowing scorching heat.

"Bring her over."

The guards dragged me to the rear of the car. Caleb grabbed a fistful of my hair and slammed my face down toward the exhaust pipe.

A wall of blistering, high-temperature exhaust fumes hit me, thick with the acrid stench of gasoline.

"Ah—!"

A bloodcurdling scream ripped from my throat. My airway and esophagus burned as if set ablaze. I thrashed wildly, but the guards held me in a vice grip.

The toxic fumes flooded down my throat, triggering a violent fit of coughing. A mouthful of blood sprayed out, followed by a second, and then a third.

The blood splattered against the scorching exhaust pipe with a harsh sizzle, drying instantly in the heat.

My body went limp. When the guards let go, I collapsed onto the ground, gasping desperately for air, every ragged breath tasting of iron and blood.

Caleb stood over me, his gaze void of even a flicker of warmth.

"This is what you owe Chloe."

He turned and walked away, his footsteps fading at the end of the alley.

I lay prone on the ground, blood continuing to spill from the corners of my mouth. I wanted to crawl, but my limbs refused to obey.

The world before my eyes began to blur. The last thought that crossed my mind was the memory of my father in this very shop, teaching me how to tell wrenches apart.

Back then, I was still so small. His hands were warm, and the shop was always bright.

Now, everything was gone.

My eyes fluttered shut as blood trickled from the corner of my lips, dripping onto the asphalt.