Chapter 3 You Disrespectful Child!

As Corinna stood resolute, ready to face whatever came her way, Brad found his own confidence wavering for a moment.

His wife, Monica, walked up to him and said, "Brad, how can you be so harsh with Corinna? Even if she studied medicine in secret, she's just continuing her mother's legacy. Remember, Rachael was indeed a respected doctor until that surgical mistake because of her illness."

Mentioning this only made Brad's anger surge.

He lifted his hand and struck Corinna again. "Will you speak the truth?"

With another lash, Corinna's face turned completely pale.

Yet, her eyes showed no sign of giving in. She looked at Monica with increasing defiance. "How dare you speak of my mother? She was one of the top medical professionals in the world. And you both know very well what caused her illness!"

She didn't know all the details, but she was aware of this much.

Her mother's health had deteriorated after she found out about Brad's affair with Monica.

How could these two even dare to speak of her mother in her presence?

The hatred in Corinna's eyes sent a shiver down Brad's spine as he recalled the day Rachael caught him with Monica.

Rachael didn't show any signs of losing her sanity. She just looked at them, calm and scornful, as if they were nothing more than dirt under her shoes.

She had looked down on them.

That expression was something Brad could never erase from his memory.

Rachael had always been distinguished, always the superior one. Next to her, he always felt diminished.

To everyone else, he was simply Dr. Brown's husband.

He hated that feeling.

That night had been his proudest, for he felt he had crushed Rachael's pride.

Yet, it was also his most shameful, as Rachael had completely dismissed them, treating them as if they were mere fools.

Corinna's mocking words and defiant stare reminded Brad of the feelings of inferiority he often felt around Rachael.

His frustration quickly boiled over into rage, and he lashed out at Corinna with unrestrained force.

"Who taught you to talk like that?" Brad shouted, his voice filled with fury. Each strike of his whip seemed aimed to end her life.

Despite the trembling of her body, Corinna did not lower her head. Instead, she retorted sarcastically, "What goes around comes around. It's only a matter of time."

"You disrespectful child!" Blinded by his anger, Brad's strikes grew even more ruthless.

In the silent hall, the sound of the whip hitting flesh echoed loudly.

The Hudson siblings watched with cold detachment, some even taking pleasure in Corinna's suffering, secretly hoping she might not survive the ordeal.

Brad, exhausted from the whipping, had lost count of the blows he had inflicted.

Corinna lay curled up on the cold floor, covered in blood from head to toe.

It was then that Monica stepped forward and intervened. "What are you doing? Corinna is just a kid. She may be blunt, but I'm sure she just studied medicine in secret to follow in her mother's footsteps."

To follow in her mother's footsteps.

That very idea fueled the bitterness swelling inside Brad.

Rachael had been the ghost that haunted his whole life, and now he saw her legacy in the daughter who continually reminded him of his own inadequacies and failures.

"Fine! She wants to be a real doctor! We don't need a doctor here for her then. Let her heal herself!" Brad exclaimed, his voice laced with sarcasm.