Chapter 3

Her blatant favoritism left the entire hall breathless.

Everyone knew Vivian cared about family decorum and reputation above all else.

The first year I attended this banquet as her fiancé, the gift I picked failed to fully impress her grandfather.

She made me kneel in the reception hall the entire night.

Now, she was shouldering the blame entirely for Ethan.

I should have laughed.

Instead, the phantom taste of copper rose in my throat.

Vivian stepped forward again. "Grandpa, the deed to the Hayes estate is finalized."

I stared at her, completely frozen.

My parents had died young; my grandfather was the one who raised me.

That old estate was the only physical memory I had left of him.

When the Hayes family collapsed financially, I was terrified of making her feel shortchanged.

I transferred the deed to her name.

The old man flipped through the paperwork and laughed boisterously.

"The manor is finally ours! Excellent work, Vivian!"

My dead heart twisted with violent pain once more.

From the very beginning, this was an orchestrated scam targeting the last asset my family possessed.

Vivian instantly became the star of the gala once again, and people flocked to flatter Ethan right alongside her.

Amid the clinking glasses, Ethan somehow tumbled into the deep end of the swimming pool.

Vivian’s face drained of color. Without a second’s hesitation, she dove straight in.

My eyes widened in horror.

Vivian didn't even know how to swim.

When the staff hauled them out, Vivian was drenched from head to toe, coughing violently.

Yet the moment she caught her breath, she lunged to Ethan's side.

Ethan gripped her trembling hands in sheer terror. "Vivian, I was so scared..."

"It's over, I'm here." Her voice shook as she held him tightly.

Ethan shrank back, pointing a trembling finger toward a dim corner.

"She pushed me! It was her!"

Everyone turned to look.

I looked too, and my heart plummeted.

It was Chloe—the girl I had sponsored through college.

Vivian marched over to her. "What the hell are you doing here?"

Chloe clutched the fabric of her skirt, her face paper-white.

"Ms. Lin, I couldn't reach Luke for days. I was worried sick, so I asked around and found out about this event..."

Ethan chimed in weakly, "You're the student Luke sponsors... Why would you track him down at a private Lin family banquet?"

It was like a lightbulb went off in Vivian's head.

"Luke sent you, didn't he?"

"Murdering Ethan's father wasn't enough? Now he wants Ethan dead too?!"

"No! That's not true!" Chloe waved her hands, trying desperately to explain.

Vivian sneered and seized Chloe's wrist.

"Still playing innocent?"

"I'm taking you to Luke right now so you can confront him face-to-face!"

"Vivian!"

Ethan suddenly turned ghostly pale, clutching his chest as his knees buckled.

"Ethan!"

Vivian lunged back to catch him.

The hall erupted into chaos.

Only I saw the subtle smirk curling at the corner of Ethan's lips as he sank into her arms.

A jagged shard of memory violently tore through my mind.

In the basement, the smell of blood was thick enough to choke on.

With my tendons severed and every bone in my fingers crushed, I was sprawled on the concrete like a discarded rag, waiting for death.

The door had opened.

Ethan walked down alone, gripping the leashes of two massive, vicious mastiffs.

He walked up to me and ground his heel into my ruined wrist.

I didn't even have the strength left to scream, only able to gasp shallowly for air.

"Pretty lonely down here by yourself, isn't it, Dr. Hayes?"

"I brought you some company. They've been riled up, and they need to vent."

He unclipped the leashes.

Heavy bodies slammed into me, but I had no way to fight back.

The sickening stench of beastly breath.

Fangs tearing through skin and muscle.

Humiliation and agony cutting deeper than bone.

My broken body was dragged across the floor, slammed against the concrete, bones snapping.

I couldn't form a single word. I just glared at Ethan with blood-filled eyes.

Finally, the carnage stopped.

I lay in a puddle of blood and filth, my vision fading, clinging to my very last breath.

Ethan crouched down, tapping the flat of his knife against my cheek before pressing the tip right against my chest.

He leaned in, his voice a whisper meant only for me.

"Let me tell you a secret. I'm the one who pulled my dad's oxygen tube. The old bastard was standing in my way."

My pupils dilated violently.

He chuckled softly.

"Too bad no one will ever know."

"Game over, Doctor."

Without a shred of hesitation, he plunged the blade straight into my heart.