Madeline let Ryan throttle her as he wished as her gaze remained unfazed. “Kill me. I might as well die if I can never see Jeremy again. There’s no difference between the two anyway.”She smiled bitterly. Ryan had already sanded her sharp edges away over the past few days, so she no longer had the strength to fight back. Ryan could not bear to accept such words coming from Madeline at such a time. “Why must you force me, Eveline? Why do you have to force me?” A look so angry it seemed wretched and horrifying overtook Ryan’s handsome’s features. He pressed Madeline against the cold floorboards and pounced on her like an unrestrained tiger, ripping her clothes apart brutally. “F*ck off!” Madeline resisted with all her might. Yet Madeline’s hands were in a deadlock in Ryan’s hold and one of his hands was forcing Madeline’s head to meet his thin lips as he leaned down to kiss her. Madeline turned her head to avoid it but was not completely successful. Ryan’s lips touched h
Ryan stared at Madeline with displeasure for a few seconds before he suddenly yelled for a maid, “Have Doctor Brown get here, quick!” The maid nodded and acknowledged, then frantically looked for Adam who was currently in the underground lab. Upon entering the room, Adam was met with Madeline bleeding from her hands and legs as she sat on the corner of the bed. There was a large patch of blood on the mattress. The sight of it was bone-chilling. “Dress her wounds.” Ryan pressed a hand on his forehead and left the room with an exasperated expression. Adam immediately reached for his medical kit and frowned as he stared at Madeline who was mentally exhausted but also taut. “I told you to stop acting so rashly, didn’t I?” Adam deliberately lowered his voice and glanced at the door from the corners of his eyes. “Why can’t you and your husband just stop being so stubborn?” Madeline’s gaze shifted as she looked at Adam’s indifferent expression. She did not know who this ‘husband’
Unease crept into Jeremy’s heart at the sight of Ryan’s malicious smile through his phone screen.He could tell that whatever Ryan wanted to tell him through the video call was definitely related to Madeline. “What did you do to Linnie, Ryan?” Jeremy found it hard to keep his calm. He questioned fiercely only for the man to reply with a chuckle. Ryan then turned the camera to the floor. “Talk, Ryan!” Jeremy grew frustrated. Ryan watched Jeremy’s reaction in satisfaction. The more distressed Jeremy was, the better he felt. Ryan ignored Jeremy and walked toward the room Madeline stayed in. Then, he pointed the camera at the bloodied mattress. Jeremy felt his heart being torn into pieces at the sight of the large pool of blood-red. The color of his irises seemed to be dyed the same color now.“Do you see this, Jeremy Whitman? Don’t you think the bright red on this mattress looks absolutely stunning?” Ryan provoked Jeremy. “It’s all blood from your beloved woman.” He watche
Jeremy returned to the study table and continued to scan through the surveillance footage, but he found himself unable to focus.His mind kept feeding him images of Madeline being forced to a corner and fighting back against Ryan with all that she had. She would always end up with wounds and be drenched with blood before Ryan would let her go.“Linnie.”Jeremy paced before the French windows with unease as he wore the ground below him down with his maddening frustration.He left the house and stopped his car where the surveillance footage showed Ryan’s last known location.Jeremy was about to survey the area when he suddenly received an anonymous text with a simple sentence: [Rest assured, she’s alright for now.]There was no doubt that the ‘she’ in the text referred to Madeline.Jeremy’s frantic heartbeat slowly settled. Still, he was confused as to who had sent the text. Was it the same person who did emergency aid on him and sent him to the hospital from the warehouse?…
Hearing the voice she had been dreaming about for every moment of every day, Madeline looked up to stare at the phone in Ryan’s hand. Her eyes widened in shock as she tried to look for the source of Jeremy’s voice. However, Ryan had turned the phone and Madeline was met with the back of the phone. ‘Is it you, Jeremy? ‘Is this your voice?’Madeline got up to her feet and walked over to check, but Ryan grabbed her by the wrist before she could make it any further. He pulled her toward him.He turned Madeline around so that her back was against his chest. Then, he grabbed her jaw to force her to stare into the phone screen.Madeline struggled frightfully to escape Ryan’s grasp, but Jeremy’s features suddenly entered her line of vision.“Jeremy…” “Linnie!” Jeremy’s voice echoed clearly into Madeline’s ears. Madeline stared at the frantic and unsettled man. She felt the corners of her eyes beginning to grow hot. She knew why Jeremy seemed moments away from going mad. She tri
Madeline summed up all her strength to avoid it, but she still could not as she had not eaten anything for an entire day. Furthermore, she sustained all sorts of torture from Ryan. “F*ck off!”Madeline roared, but Ryan was gripping the back of her head to prevent her from running away. Ryan got away with planting his lips on Madeline’s cheek in the end.The act pierced a thousand arrows through Jeremy’s heart as it broke.Strands of Madeline’s short hair ended up covering her face amidst her struggle, yet it did not stop Jeremy from seeing that his beloved was crying.“It hurts, doesn’t it, Jeremy? If you don’t want Eveline to suffer anymore, then transfer all of Whitman Corporation’s stocks to my name and publicly announce that Whitman Corporation has gone bankrupt.”Ryan’s eyes were filled with aggressiveness as he demanded.Madeline’s wet and tear-stricken face snapped up, her gaze looking firm. “Don’t listen to him, Jeremy! He won’t let me go even if you fulfill all of his
Jeremy felt his body grow cold at Madeline’s words.He watched through the swaying camera as Madeline harshly pressed the sharp end of the clip against her wrist.The clip was hardly a lethal weapon, but Madeline was using all her strength.A red line quickly marred her left wrist as bright red began to trickle out of the wound frightfully.“Linnie!” Jeremy yelled heart-wrenchingly as the pain of having his skin peeled alive spread to every inch of his body. He knew that Madeline must have been tortured to the point of hopelessness or she would never do such a thing. Ryan was taken aback by Madeline’s actions. He stared dazedly at Madeline as the woman faltered. His heart ached, but at the same time, anger bled into his eyes. “Why? Am I so incomparable to Jeremy?” Like a ragdoll, Madeline looked pitiful with her messy hair and clothes. However, her eyes were still clear and untainted. “You’ll never compare to him.” A light smile graced Madeline’s lips as she spoke weakl
Jeremy watched Adam ready the syringe and inject the substance into Madeline’s bloodstream. The next few seconds felt like an entire century to him. Madeline remained unconscious the entire time. Unable to do anything but watch, Jeremy’s consciousness began to fade. He felt the unforgettable stab of pain spreading through his senses once again. “Will she be in life-threatening danger?” Ryan asked plainly. Jeremy was waiting for such a reply as well. He watched Adam who was squatting by the floor. He started to keep his medical kit before he started to speak, “Her major arteries are fine. Or I wouldn’t be able to do anything at all otherwise.” Ryan then turned the camera to himself. “You heard him, didn’t you, Jeremy? Follow my demands earlier or you’ll never get to see Eveline again.” Ryan then hung up the call. Seeing the screen change, Jeremy’s mind immediately replayed the piece of information he had just hurriedly glimpsed of just now.He turned around franticall