CHAPTER ONE HUNDRED FORTY-THREE (04):—Two months earlier, the night after they know about Prikroidrazine.They immediately went home and acted as if nothing happened. Tyler as usual entertained Sheryl while althea silently retreated to their room and thought about something. When Tyler was finally out of the hands of Sheryl, he saw his wife sitting on their bed with a thoughtful expression. He can’t help but probe what was in her mind. And the answer she gave him was completely out of his expectation.She said seriously. “Let’s make a baby.”Tyler was choking. “W-what?“I know it’s sudden, but we have to somehow make her move.”“Who?” He asked foolishly. His mind was still hanging after he dropped it after her request.Althea shifted her position to face him properly “Sheryl.”Tyler was in the middle of processing everything and he answered mindlessly. “Oh, oh… It’s for the plan… Sure…”Althea smiled seeing this. She was mildly amused and she felt silly. Tyler looked like a malfunc
CHAPTER ONE HUNDRED FORTY-FOUR:—“This… This is fucked up.” There are times that one can’t believe what they are seeing. When they see an apparition in the corner of their eyes, when they see someone who is supposedly dead in front of their eyes, or when they see something hideous or things that no one can bear to stomach.Child trafficking, for an instance.Or human torture.Or it could be the supposedly perfect family that the public sees in the media but they were nothing but a bunch of murderers.What’s worst than being a murderer?They torture for pleasure. They torture for greed.Althea’s eyes sank the moment documents were laid on the table. Every word seems to burn their eyes and crave something into their souls. A surge of anger made its way into her heart that it was unbearable. She can hear them.The victims of the hands of the same perpetrator. Monsters! “They deserve a painful death, more than others!” Eddie was practically growling at the documents like a fierce li
CHAPTER ONE HUNDRED FORTY-FIVE: — “I need help.” “... Do you know what time it is now?” Charles asked in annoyance. “And didn’t we tell you to not contact us? Ever again?” Sheryl gritted her teeth and swallowed back her pride. “This will be the last time!” “You failed to do the thing we asked you for the very first time we helped you, and you asked us to help you kill your minion—what was his name again? Ah, it was Dino. You asked us to clean your mess, and now you’re asking us to help you, again?” “I want to take my revenge on Tyler and Althea!” Charles paused and looked at the phone in bewilderment. The woman had the daringness to yell at him? She was the one who wants help and she’s raising her voice to them? Sounds like a dog that will eventually bite the hand that feeds her! “They ruined my family! They ruined my life! Look—look what’s happening to me now! I am alone! My parents left me alone!” It took most of her self-control to not throw the phone on the wall. She was
CHAPTER ONE HUNDRED FORTY-FIVE (02):—Revenge? How funny. If Althea can rememberIt is right, it should be her who must take revenge. Althea glanced at the pot next to the ladder. Under the dim light, something metallic flickered, hitting the retina.Thank goodness she’s near it. She can just grab that anytime and shoot at her. But she can’t. Just not now. She was still holding the baby in her hand.Also, did she come alone? The guards were knocked out outside, even the maids were not there. Surely it was not only a move that a lone person can make, it should be at least five people knocking them out.The way they knocked them was smooth, they heard no noise.Tyler also thinks of that. As he was standing there, he was listening and observing the place for any traces of companions.Unfortunately, he can’t see or sense one. Are they that good at hiding? Or did Sheryl really come alone?“I have to give you a round of applause for what you did to my family.” The two threw their attenti
CHAPTER ONE HUNDRED FORTY-FIVE (03):—*That was a rainy day when Althea finally woke up from her coma state, she still remembered listening to the doctors speak with her about her situation but she was not in her right mind to listen to them.She can't shake the feeling that she was submerged underwater, her ears were plugged with water and all she heard were muffled voices. Everything was hazy, it feels like a dream, where she can’t remember any details but snippets of it. “What happened to you?”“You have been stabilized…”“The man who found you and sent you here already paid for the medical bills…”“When he found you, he said that you were bleeding…”"... We were unable to save your baby..."“We are deeply sorry…”When Althea finally came into it, a month had already passed since she managed to run away from that hell hole. Her mind was slowly working, and the images that were entering her mind were slowly becoming clearer. “Are you ready to tell what happened to you now?” A de
CHAPTER ONE HUNDRED FORTY-SIX:—There was no time to escape.“It’s her!” Sheryl squinted her eyes when the light of the flashlight hit her eyes. She turned her heels to escape but someone held her arm and yanked her back.She cursed in her head. Her mood was getting sour every minute and she felt like exploding. Sheryl held the knife in her hand tightly and swung it to the person who captured her arm, while warm blood sprayed on her arm, the man screamed at the loss of his fingers, he stepped back and clutched his severed hand while seething in agony. This gave Sheryl a way to escape, like an eel, she slipped from their grasp.“Catch her!” A man shouted through his gritted teeth. The other immediately went to his words and ran for her. Sheryl was fast on her feet. She already memorized the blueprint of his house, she knows the twists and turns.But no matter how fast and how she committed it to her memory, she’ll never outrun someone who was built for chasing people.Before he kne
CHAPTER ONE HUNDRED FORTY-SIX (02):—“Let them have their goodbyes,” Althea grabbed her hair on the back and tied it. Her reflection in the mirror was showing a light-hearted woman, smiling as she fixed her hair. “I don’t want to be like Sheryl who didn’t give me a chance to say my last words to my parents… I told myself that I don’t want to step that low.”Lies.Althea knows that the three of them won’t have a peaceful and heartwarming goodbye to each other. She could guess the horror of the two right now when they realized that they were raising a terrible monster all along.Althea paused, the smile on her lips stretched a little bit more—ops, she fixed herself. She should not be like this even if she can already taste their despair.“... Copy ma’am,” Eddie answered, he can’t help the weird feeling that was arising in his chest. He called Tyler to ask for instructions because he noticed that Sheryl—their new capture, was already awake. But he didn’t expect that it was his wife who
CHAPTER ONE HUNDRED FORTY-SIX (03):—“Hey! Get us out of here, quick!” Diana impatiently demanded from the man that was guiding them. “These doors are freaking me out! Do they keep people here to torture?!”The man in front hissed and glared at her. Diana choked and shut her mouth. The man was satisfied, but there was still a frown on his face. “Yes. We do.”Diana’s face was pale. Sure enough! But she didn’t think that Tyler is like that at all! She didn’t even know that he had people in the underground! She didn’t think that he was hiding his true self from them and they didn’t even notice it!Of course, the way of her thinking is off course. Tyler had no people underground until now. They are not his in the first place. “But don’t get the wrong idea.” Suddenly the man added, turning his head to look in front. “The boss is not an animal like you three. He might even give you a painless death rather than torture you for everything that you’ve than to his wife.”The husband and wife’
---I did what I was ordered to, and when I finally got to the bottom of it…What the fuck?“I knew things would be interesting if I keep him by my side.” Startled, I looked at my sister who suddenly appeared out of nowhere. She was looking at the photo with interest in her eyes. She looked at me. “Erase every record the police had or anything within Victoria’s reach, we can’t have her figuring out everything before I can have my fun of them destroying each other.”“Hmmm,” I glanced at her. “Isn’t she your friend?”“Friend?” She smiled, appearing innocent. “I don’t have anything like that. Father banned that word to us, brother.”“... If that’s what you say.”“Good!” She turned and stretched her body. “Ahh, I can’t wait to see Sheryl get destroyed by the man she loves. Or maybe, it would be mutual destruct
—“Is that your fiance?” I asked as soon as I sneaked at her back, wanting to scare her.“Stop doing that!” She yelled at me. I laughed at her, telling her sorry. She clicked her tongue before nodding. “He is. Handsome, right?”“Hmm?” I pretended to think about it. “Not really.”She scoffed. “Really.”She turned her back on me and continued her work, facing the paper works that were piled on her table. She was 15.I stood behind her, looking at the man on her table.From the day I knew that all along, she was the leader, I decided to stay and look after her. When I told her about my decision, the pause she had was short but eye-catching. Before I could register the pause and understand the meaning behind it, she answered my words with a smile.‘I will be glad to have you under me.’ Her smile was pretty chilling, more bone-numbing than our father’s s
—I am older than her by 5 years, and I remember her looking at me from behind. Normally, one should feel happy to know that someone was looking at their back, admiring them, but that’s not the case with me.Every time I look back, turn to look at her over my shoulder, every time I caught her eyes, I can’t help but shudder:She feels the same as our father.We were only half-siblings. We have the same father, but that’s not the case with mothers.My mother died when I was four, then our father brought another woman into the house after that. That woman was Charlotte’s mother. She was warm and kind. I remember her talking to me a few times.‘Charles, even though you don’t have my blood, please think of me as your mother too.’ She said one time when I tried avoiding her in fear that she wanted me dead. That was what most people who wanted to seize my father’s power would do if they were in her position
SPECIAL CHAPTER ONE: A Victim of Jealousy (10)“He is so cute…!”Days had passed since the birth of her son. Althea was peeking at him with a glass wall between them. She still has IVs in her hand, and she hasn’t recovered most of her energy yet, but she seems like she was overflowing with one.She had her palms against the glass, Althea feels like looking from where she was is not enough, she wanted to slip through the wall and hold him. But it was still not safe, so she held the urge in.A bracelet on her son, the letters were a little bit incomprehensible, but she can read them. It was the name of her son:Alexander Kai GrahamAlthea felt giddy, she can’t wait to hold him in her arms soon.“He’s your son?”“Yes,” Althea responded without thought. When she realized what she had
SPECIAL CHAPTER ONE: A Victim of Jealousy (09)—Blood was trickling down.Plop, plop, plop.Bead-shaped blood fell from her private area continuously. It seems like someone pressed the pause button of the world; Althea felt everyone in the supermarket stopped moving.‘No.’ She thought to herself as she watched the blood slowly forming into a puddle beneath her feet. She can feel the hot liquid trailing down her legs. ‘This can’t be!’This day is supposedly like the normal days she had. Strolling around and buying things she thinks she wants. But in the middle of it, she just suddenly felt it come down.She’s only six months pregnant.“Oh my god!” A lady came to her, holding her shoulders in worry. Her eyes were on the blood, aghast. “You are bleeding!”
SPECIAL CHAPTER ONE: A Victim of Jealousy (08)—She didn't think of it anymore and immediately set an appointment for the abortion.The next day, she went to the center and waited in line.Althea was all covered up, afraid that someone might recognize her in this hospital. She was pale, she had to deal with the morning sickness alone, and she had no idea what to do the whole time because, in her previous pregnancy, her mother was there.Now she was alone, dealing with everything she doesn’t want to.Althea wants to sob and to get everything over with. She can’t believe she committed a grievous sin to her friend. If only she didn’t get tempted with the money, things would not escalate like this.‘It’s all his fault,’ she galed at the entrance of the hospital where few people were going in and out. ‘He fooled me!’
SPECIAL CHAPTER ONE: A Victim of Jealousy (07)—“A brothel?” Althea asked as soon as she entered the place. Her eyes wandered around and she felt overwhelmed by the red hue of the place. The lights, the atmosphere, the people. Everything here was new to her. She doesn’t know what to feel.“First time here?” The lady in heels asked. She gestured to someone far away by her hand and the other nodded before leaving their sight. “Don’t be nervous, you will only be entertaining guests… Why you don’t want to? It’s money, you know.”Selling myself. If it was her in the past, she would strongly disagree and storms off from here. But now, she has nothing but emptiness, she abandoned her pride and morals. She doesn’t have any desire to live anyway. This much won’t hurt her.“Anything’s fine,” Althea said, her
SPECIAL CHAPTER ONE: A Victim of Jealousy (06)“What happened to you?” Altheaopened her eyes and saw a fuzzy scene. There were heads in front of her peeking at her from above. Althea could not recognize the features of the faces, but she knew they were medical workers because of their uniforms. It was the uniforms that the nurses and the doctors wear that she sees every time she goes to the hospital for check-ups and visits to her father.“You have been stabilized…” She heard muffled voices as if she was submerged in an ocean, waters entering her ear canals. She tried to move, but her body was too heavy like lead. She gave up and remained still, still unable to do anything, not even talk.“The man who found you and sent you here already paid for the medical bills…”‘What are they talking about?’ Althea had no clue. ‘It seems important.
SPECIAL CHAPTER ONE: A Victim of Jealousy (05)“Do you like it?” The man asked Althea who was silent with her head bowed. “Do you like it?”“...” She had no response.His eyebrows twitched. He dislikes being ignored despite ignoring people.He bends down and held her chin to look at him forcefully. “Hey, little mouse, I am asking you a question. Do you like it?”“...” She still had no response.With eyebrows raised, he stood up and stretched his arms. “Sigh! After all, we did to repaint the wall, that blood only amounted to that much. It wasn’t even able to cover one-fourth of the wall. So regrettable! Now, the little fierce rat is not fierce anymore…”He glanced down, his cold eyes looking at the woman who was sitting on the cold ground motionlessly. “She can’t even appreciate our