Chapter 3

In the bedroom, the smell of blood was pungent.

Dr. Oliver, Julian's chief private physician, knelt on the carpet with a medical kit. He shone a powerful flashlight on my feet and gasped.

Glass shards had pierced through the skin, fragments embedded in the bone seams.

Dr. Oliver picked up a pair of tweezers, clamping onto the largest piece.

"Bear with it," he whispered.

As the glass was pulled out, blood welled up. I bit down hard on the pillowcase, cold sweat soaking my nightgown, yet I didn't utter a sound.

Cleaning, disinfecting, applying medicine. The only sound in the room was the sharp clink of tweezers against the tray.

Julian had gone to the office. In the four corners of the bedroom, surveillance cameras blinked red.

I stared at a camera, then suddenly reached out. The water glass by the bed tipped over.

The water streamed down the nightstand, precisely hitting the power strip on the carpet.

Sizzle. The camera screen went black, the red light extinguished. Local power outage.

Dr. Oliver's hand paused, and he looked up sharply.

"Don't be nervous," I said, leaning against the headboard, my voice weak yet chillingly calm. "I tampered with the power strip. The backup power won't switch over for ten minutes. For these ten minutes, Julian is blind and deaf."

Dr. Oliver's brow furrowed. "Ms. Amelia, what are you planning?"

I stared at him, my eyes like knives. "Dr. Oliver, fourteen years ago, at the Southwood Orphanage. If it weren't for my mother anonymously donating that fifty thousand for your overseas tuition, you'd still be working odd jobs in a shady clinic, not serving as Julian's lackey here."

Dr. Oliver's face changed drastically. Clang! The tweezers dropped into the tray.

"How do you know?" He stared intently at me. That money was anonymous; it took him ten years to find out the benefactor's surname was Lin.

"My mom gave me all the donation records before she died." I pushed myself up, closer to Dr. Oliver. "Dr. Oliver, you're a man of loyalty. You've been secretly looking for my mom all these years, haven't you?"

Dr. Oliver's throat moved, speechless.

"My mother was driven to her death by Julian's family," my eyes were bloodshot, my voice laced with ice. "Now, Julian is threatening my brother's life, treating me like a dog."

I held out my left hand, my ring finger right in front of Dr. Oliver.

Beneath the skin, the bio-chip pulsed with a faint glow.

"If my heart beats too fast, or if I leave the designated range, this thing will discharge electricity," I sneered. "Dr. Oliver, you're a skilled physician; you must know that prolonged exposure to this kind of bio-electrical stimulation can lead to a nervous breakdown."

Dr. Oliver stared at the chip, then at my feet, deep enough to see the bone, his eyes filled with shock and internal struggle.

"What do you want me to do?" Dr. Oliver whispered. "Help you remove it? No, once it's removed, Julian will receive an immediate alert."

"I'm not removing it." My eyes hardened. "I want him dead."

Dr. Oliver shot up. "Ms. Amelia, you're insane! Julian's security is airtight, and all his food is checked. You can't kill him!"

"I'm not killing him." I stared coldly at Dr. Oliver. "I want him utterly disgraced, to become a complete madman. Dr. Oliver, help me. Consider it repaying my mother for saving your life."

Dr. Oliver fell silent. Looking at the woman before him, battered yet fierce as a wolf, the scales in his heart finally tipped.

He knelt down again, reaching into the bottom compartment of his medical kit, and pulled out a thumb-sized transparent glass vial.

A colorless, odorless liquid.

"New-type neuro-hallucinogen," Dr. Oliver pressed the vial into my hand. "One drop each time. Regular blood and urine tests won't detect it, I guarantee."

"What are the effects?" I clutched the vial.

"It slowly erodes the central nervous system," Dr. Oliver's expression was grave. "Initially, severe insomnia, irritability, paranoia. Long-term use will induce extremely realistic, terrifying hallucinations, eventually leading to severe mania. By then, not even a miracle could save his mind."

I looked at the vial, a cruel smile playing on my lips.

"Good. This is perfect."

Dr. Oliver continued to explain, "It must be taken continuously for at least half a month. No interruptions. You'll have to find a way to mix it into something he consumes daily. Ms. Amelia, once the arrow is shot, there's no turning back. If we're exposed, we both die."

I hid the vial against my body, under my clothes, my eyes showing no trace of hesitation.

"Don't worry. I'm not even afraid to die, why would I be afraid of him finding out?"

Dr. Oliver quickly bandaged my foot wounds and packed up his medical kit.

"The backup power is about to activate," Dr. Oliver instantly reverted to his cold demeanor. "Don't let the wounds get wet, change the dressing regularly."

Just as he finished speaking, the lights flickered. The red lights on the surveillance cameras came back on.

Heavy footsteps sounded from the corridor. The door opened. Julian walked in, bringing with him a chill, his gaze sweeping the room like a hawk.

"What happened? Why did the monitoring cut out?" Julian walked to the bed, looking down at me.

Dr. Oliver lowered his head. "Mr. Julian, I accidentally knocked over a water glass earlier, short-circuiting the power strip. It's all cleaned up now."

Julian scoffed, his gaze falling on my foot. The thick bandage was oozing glaring blood.

"Are the injuries taken care of?"

"Yes, they are. No bone damage, but she needs rest," Dr. Oliver replied flawlessly.

Julian waved his hand, dismissing Dr. Oliver.

The door closed. Julian took off his jacket and sat on the edge of the bed. He reached out and touched my pale face, his fingers deliberately brushing my chapped lips.

"Were you scared when the power went out?" His voice had reverted to that sickening tenderness.

I suppressed the churning in my stomach, submissively pressing my face into his palm, like a bird completely tamed.

"No. I knew you'd protect me, Julian."

Julian smiled, satisfied. He leaned down and pressed a kiss on my forehead.

"Good girl."

I closed my eyes. The glass vial pressed against my chest was cool, yet it felt like a burning fire of revenge.