Chapter 4 Oaths Burned To Ashes

Ethan tried to fight back, but the security guards wrenched his arms behind him and slammed him against the wall.

A wave of dizziness made Eliana want to retch. She struggled to get up, only for Vivian to slam her back to the ground.

Vivian covered her mouth in mock surprise, "Oops, my bad, Eliana-I didn't see you there."

She bent closer, her voice low and venomous, like a snake hissing, "Did you know, Eliana? Look at you now-you're nothing but a pathetic stray dog. Do you know why Lucien won't even fuck you? He says those scarred legs of yours are so disgusting they make him sick."

Eliana clutched her chest, gasping for breath, then suddenly coughed up a mouthful of dark, clotted blood.

"Oh no!"

Vivian feigned a startled gasp, stepped back, and "accidentally" tugged up Eliana's thin skirt.

Her deepest shame was laid bare for all to see-her once-soft skin now covered in scars and ridges, uglier than withered bark.

Every kind of gaze fell on Eliana-curiosity, pity, fake sympathy, and cruel delight.

None of them were what she needed.

From deep in her throat, Eliana forced out a raw, anguished cry.

She twisted desperately, trying to tug her skirt back into place, but Vivian's stiletto heel pinned her fingers to the floor.

Eliana screamed in pain, while Vivian covered her mouth with a laugh, "Sorry, Eliana, my injured foot has a mind of its own. You won't blame me, right?"

Eliana lifted her head, her eyes blazing red.

Lucien's face was backlit, his expression hidden in the glare.

She had never realized how tall Lucien truly was.

He had always knelt beside her wheelchair, looking her straight in the eyes so she wouldn't strain her neck.

He had once been her most devout believer.

Eliana rasped, her voice raw and hoarse, "Lucien, cripple her hand, and I'll forgive her."

Lucien slowly crouched down.

She finally saw his face clearly-filled with nothing but disgust and mockery.

"Eliana, what makes you think I'd sacrifice the prized hands of the tech expert I paid a fortune for-just for a cripple like you? Without my favor, you're nothing. Now, apologize to Vivian. Don't make me say it again."

Eliana suddenly threw her head back and laughed-wild, manic laughter that brought tears streaming down her face.

"A tech expert? Her?"

When he loved her, a single sneer from a stranger was enough for him to cut out their tongue.

Now that he no longer loved her, he dismissed her as nothing but a cripple.

She had treated him as the love of her life, her closest kin, yet he repaid her trust with wounds that cut to the bone.

Lucien had always been carefree and indulgent, with women beyond counting.

Yet no matter how wild or reckless the night before, he would always appear in the morning with dew-drenched camellias, waiting for Eliana to wake-his lips the first to touch the back of her hand.

But now, for Vivian, he ripped open her wounds in front of everyone and passed the cruelest judgment on her.

Eliana's eyes burned with venom. She twisted her body with effort, seized Vivian's skirt, and yanked hard.

"I, did nothing wrong!"

With a sharp rip, Vivian's skirt fell away, revealing a tattoo at the top of her thigh-the word "slut."

"So that's what you've been up to behind closed doors-"

Before Eliana could finish, Lucien twisted her arm and slammed her to the ground.

"I'll kill you!"

Eliana's old wounds tore open again, blood gushing with every breath.

Her face was pressed into the blood-soaked floor, her nose filled with the metallic stench of blood.

Eliana forced her head up, finding not a shred of pity in Lucien's eyes.

Yes-he was no longer the Lucien who once starved himself with guilt over the smallest scratch she suffered.

"So be it, Lucien."

Eliana's voice was barely more than a whisper, yet her words fell with the weight of stone.

"Between us, it's over. We're finished."

Sirens wailed outside.

"Police! Don't move!"