“Please! Anesthetics! Please… use anestheti—Aaaggrrhhh!”Agony tormented Charlene. She wished to fall unconscious, yet the very thing kept her all too awake—all too lucid. Thus, she was trapped in a prison of pain, feeling everything.As her ordeal continued, a man sitting on a couch across her watched and smiled unsympathetically. “Oh, you’re not getting any drug or way out of this, Charlene. I want you to carve this pain deep into the crevices of your brain. You’ll never forget who pushed you into this hell.”Charlene screamed and finally blacked out.When she opened her eyes again, the man brought her a mirror. Cold light reflected off his ring as he gave her a window to her new self. She took it. She saw a face wrapped completely in bandages, with only bloodshot eyes peeking out to glare back at her. Hate materialized within her and coursed in her veins, boiling more and more until it reached a fever pitch. The man grabbed and tipped her swollen, brutalized chin to meet his

The door to the study was closed. Sam could hardly contain his excitement. “Sir, we’ve got news from the eye specialists!”Brendan’s eyes twinkled in pleasant surprise. “He’s here?”“Not yet. But there’s a young woman who’s close to him. When her grandfather’s eyes were damaged, she brought the specialist to get them cured. She must know how to contact the specialist.”“And who is she?”“Emily Collins.”“Emily Collins?” The name rang a bell. “Oh. The only child of a family of doctors.”“Yes!” Sam nodded excitedly. “She’s been studying abroad for years, right? She returned this week for her father’s funeral. This is our chance to get her to contact that eye specialist.”Brendan mulled over it for two seconds. “Contact her. Arrange our meeting.”Sam immediately went to work. As Brendan looked at the venue and time, he frowned. He had never talked to this Emily Collins before, but he had heard of her prideful nature. The Collins was one of the most elite families in the country, w

Brendan clenched his fists. He was strapped with choices. He nodded. “Fine. You have a deal. When is the excursion?”Emily thought for a moment. “I’ll tell you some other time. My dad just left us, see. We’re all grieving, so there’s no way I’d be in the mood for sightseeing. Still, I’ll make it soon. You can hardly wait too, can you, Mr. Brighthall?”“You’re right. Please tell me as soon as you’re free.”He turned on his heels and left without a second thought. Emily looked at his hurriedly vanishing back and the food on the table. Something glistened in her eyes—a thirst for conquest.He felt nothing about her. That woman, whoever she was, must be very important to him…Now she was curious. She paid the bill and hurried home. Her mother, Madame Collins, was all alone in the living room. Seeing her daughter’s return, she frowned slightly. “Your dad’s only been buried for a few days, young lady! How could you just leave like this? Don’t tell me you’re planning to return overse

Brendan led the way, and Emily's eyes darkened when she saw that the pastries she had given him earlier remained untouched.But soon, she caught up.“Mr. Brighthall, slow down a bit,” said Emily, who reached out to grab Brendan’s arm. But as soon as she touched him, he forcefully shook her off.Brendan didn’t mean it to be that forceful. Slightly furrowing his brows, he demanded, “Don’t touch me.”Emily forced a laugh. “Mr. Brighthall, is it necessary for you to be so guarded? It’s not like I’m going to eat you or kill anyone. I’m just interested in you. Today’s transaction is purely because you need my help. Your attitude is inappropriate, isn’t it?”“Sorry, I don’t like people touching me,” Brendan apologized as his two black eyes narrowed.“It turns out that you have a cleanliness obsession. I’ll keep that in mind,” Emily said with a faint smile. “Let’s go.”Emily was polite and kept a distance.On the other hand, Brendan was rather embarrassed and tried to ignore Emily when

Emily pouted. ‘How boring! Someone has already reported it to him so soon.’Nevertheless, she had to keep up the act.“What’s wrong, Mr. Brighthall? Why are you suddenly looking at me like that?”Brendan showed Emily those reports and said coldly, “Miss Collins, I respect you, but that doesn’t mean you can play these tricks on me.”Following that, he turned and walked away.Emily quickly caught up and grabbed Brendan.“Wait for me, Brendan—”“Don’t touch me!”After being forcefully shaken off, Emily’s hand throbbed with pain, and she gasped. She couldn’t maintain her grip on the bag and released her grasp. But she ignored her bag and ran toward Brendan. “Hold on, Brendan, listen to me. This has nothing to do with me. What benefit do I get from this if it spreads?”Brendan finally grabbed her wrist with a powerful grip and glared at Emily furiously.“If Deirdre finds out, I will definitely ensure that you are held responsible for your action.”After speaking, he walked away