Chapter 5

Marcus’s face darkened.

He stormed onto the stage, seized my shoulder, and hurled me aside.

“Alex! You’re a lunatic! You just can’t stand seeing Sophia doing well, can you?”

I crashed into the leg of the piano. A sharp, blinding pain tore through my lower back, cold sweat instantly soaking my clothes.

I didn’t make a sound—only clutched my right hand tightly, as if letting go would kill me.

“Drag her out!”

Marcus pointed at me and roared at the security guards.

“Don’t let her make a spectacle of herself here. Throw her into the lounge!”

The guards rushed over, hoisted me up, and dragged me backstage.

As we passed Sophia, she spoke in a low, venomous whisper.

“See that? In Marcus’s heart, you’re not even fit to shine my shoes.”

“Your hand is ruined. You’re ruined too. Just go die.”

The lounge was dark.

I was tossed onto the floor.

The door opened. The sharp click of Sophia’s high heels echoed across the ground.

She closed the door and looked down at me in the thin strip of light seeping through the crack.

“Alex, do you know?” she said softly. “After that car accident five years ago, your hand could have been saved.”

She lifted my chin, her fingernails biting into my skin.

“But when the doctor asked whether to save the mother or the child, Marcus said your hand wasn’t important.”

“What mattered was getting rid of that burden—so it wouldn’t get in the way of me marrying into the family.”

My whole body trembled.

“You’re lying…”

“Lying?”

Sophia burst out laughing.

“Oh, and one more thing. That night during the blizzard—your unlucky daughter had a fever, didn’t she? You called Marcus, begging for help.”

“I was the one who hung up.”

“I even blocked you afterward. So tell me—was the snow heavy that night?”

“Did that little bastard die thoroughly enough?”

A hoarse scream ripped from my throat as I lunged at her, my left hand clamping around her neck.

“I’ll kill you! I’ll kill you!”

Sophia was knocked to the floor, struggling wildly.

“Help… Marcus… help me…”

The door was kicked open.

Marcus rushed in and drove his foot straight into my chest.

I was sent flying, slammed into the wall, and spat out a mouthful of blood.

Sophia threw herself into Marcus’s arms, sobbing.

“Marcus, she tried to kill me… She said I ruined her hand and wanted to murder me to avenge that bastard child…”

Holding Sophia, Marcus turned to look at me.

“Alex, you’re completely irrational! Just because you don’t want to play the piano, because you can’t stand seeing Sophia with me, you make up lies like this?”

He walked toward me step by step.

“I was going to leave you a shred of dignity. But since you don’t know when to stop, don’t blame me for being ruthless.”

He pulled out his phone and dialed a number right in front of me.

“Go find Alex’s daughter. I don’t care where she’s hiding—send her to the boarding school in the west of the city immediately.”

“Without my permission, the mother and daughter are not to see each other again.”

He hung up and looked at me coldly.

“Alex, this is the price of your madness. In this lifetime, you’ll never see that bastard again.”

A boarding school?

Never see her again?

Lying on the floor, I laughed.

“Ha… hahaha…”

The laughter grew louder, mixed with blood frothing from my lips, echoing through the lounge.

Marcus frowned.

“What are you laughing at? Have you completely lost your mind?”

I laughed as I struggled to push myself up.

“Marcus, you really are a joke.”

“Where do you think you’re sending her?”

“To hell?”

“What do you mean?”

A chill ran through Marcus’s chest.

His phone rang.

It was the assistant he had just called.

Marcus answered and put it on speaker.

“Did you find her?”

“Where is she?”