Chapter 5

"You can't do this!" I shrieked, my voice hoarse. "You promised! I've already injected the expired medicine as you demanded, now you have to uphold your end of the bargain!"

Sera looked at me coldly.

"And what if I don't? What are you going to do? Sue me? Do you have any proof? All the surveillance cameras here are under my control. Everything that happened today, I can easily frame as an accident. You two barged in, caused a scene, and the old lady's asthma flared up from over-excitement. What does any of that have to do with me?"

Seeing my desperate face, Sera's eyes suddenly lit up, as if she'd thought of some amusing game.

"However..." she deliberately drew out her words. "I've actually thought of an even more interesting idea." "If you're willing to cooperate and play a little game with me, I might reconsider."

Hearing her, a glimmer of hope sparked within me again.

Whatever the game, as long as it could save Martha, I was willing to cooperate.

"What game? Tell me!" I asked urgently.

Sera walked to the reception desk, scrawled a few large words on a piece of paper, and then waved it in front of me.

"See this?"

I squinted. The paper read: "I am a shameless home-wrecker."

"The game is simple," Sera grinned triumphantly. "You hang this sign around your neck and crawl around the entire clinic. As you crawl, you have to shout loudly: 'I'm a slut who seduces other women's husbands, I deserve to die, I'm guilty!' If you can complete this game, I'll truly call an ambulance."

As she spoke, she pulled a string from a drawer, preparing to make the sign wearable.

I looked around. There were quite a few other clients and staff in the clinic.

If I actually did that, the video would definitely be uploaded online, and I'd never be able to show my face again in this lifetime.

But then I looked at Martha's purplish face, at her increasingly weak breaths.

My heart ached so much I could barely breathe.

"Okay..." I gritted my teeth. "I agree. But you *must* promise that after I'm done, you'll call an ambulance immediately!"

Sera's smile was even brighter now. "Of course, this time I absolutely mean it."

She handed me the finished sign. "Here, put it on."

My hands trembled as I took the sign and hung it around my neck.

I began to crawl, my voice barely a whisper. "I'm... I'm a slut who seduces other women's husbands..."

"Louder!" Sera yelled, dissatisfied. "Who can hear you with a voice that small?"

I took a deep breath, and with all my might, I screamed, "I'M A SLUT WHO SEDUCES OTHER WOMEN'S HUSBANDS! I DESERVE TO DIE! I'M GUILTY!"

My voice echoed through the entire clinic, drawing laughter from everyone.

"Hahahaha, look at this woman, she'll do anything for money!"

"Shameless! She's actually admitting she's the other woman!"

"This is going to be good! Record it and post it on Ins!"

Amidst the mocking laughter, I crawled step by painful step through the entire clinic. Each step felt like walking on knives, each shout like tearing open my own heart.

"I've done what you asked. Now will you call an ambulance?"

Sera looked at my humiliated state and clapped her hands.

"Bravo, absolutely brilliant!"

At that moment, complete despair washed over me. She had never intended to save Martha from the start.

Just then, hurried footsteps echoed from outside the door.

"What's going on here?"