Chapter 2

On Serpent Island, I had been tortured to the brink of death.

Olivia kicked me contemptuously, her face full of disgust:

"Lucas, stop pretending. Hurry up and beg Ethan for forgiveness! He's kind enough to forgive you for poisoning his mother. What more do you want?"

The venom had long since seeped into my bones. Every movement felt like a thousand arrows piercing my heart.

I struggled to my feet, instantly drenched in cold sweat. Gritting my teeth, I said:

"I'm not pretending! After being bitten by thousands of venomous snakes for three days and nights, it's a miracle I'm not dead..."

Olivia was momentarily stunned.

Just as I foolishly hoped she might feel a shred of sympathy,

She suddenly let out a light chuckle, her face utterly indifferent:

"It's good you're not dead. We need to keep you alive so you can atone to Ethan!"

At that moment, her bodyguard opened a tablet.

On the screen were horrific images of my research colleagues toiling in African mines.

Their legs had been crippled. They could only crawl painfully, dragging their useless lower limbs.

Their backs were covered in bloody wounds from repeated whippings.

Seeing my friends suffer such injustice because of me,

My heart felt like it was being sliced to pieces. Tears streamed uncontrollably down my face.

Olivia's eyes flashed with cruelty as she sneered:

"If you had known they would be implicated, you shouldn't have tried to murder Ethan's mother!

Everything today is the consequence of your own actions. It's all because of your vicious heart!"

My heart was in agony. No matter how many times I explained, she refused to believe I hadn't poisoned anyone.

Ethan was a boy she had rescued two years ago.

At first, she found him weak and clingy.

But later, she made him her personal assistant and often scolded me:

"He's just an innocent boy from the countryside. Stop bullying him all the time!"

But it was clearly Ethan who deliberately provoked my beloved snake, then threw himself into her arms crying and slandering me.

He even took advantage of Olivia's favor to destroy the research results my team and I had worked on for years.

But in Olivia's eyes, I became the jealous one secretly bullying him.

My voice choked with sobs, tinged with a hint of pleading:

"Didn't you promise me that if I survived three days on Serpent Island, you would let them go?"

Before Olivia could respond, Ethan emerged from her arms, his face timid and scared:

"Brother Lucas, they're already crippled for life. At least mining gives them three meals a day. If we release them, who knows if they'll starve to death."

I laughed bitterly, tears flowing uncontrollably.

They were top researchers who could have made huge contributions to society.

Now they could only eke out a miserable existence in dark mine shafts, like useless invalids.

Seeing them like this was more painful than death!

I gritted my teeth and spat out each word:

"Olivia, don't make me hate you."

Olivia's expression flickered. She was about to speak.

Ethan's tears fell on cue, his voice full of grievance:

"Brother Lucas, are you blaming me? Fine, it's all my fault!

I should have died from your poison like my mom, so I'll never bother Sister Olivia again."

Olivia's eyes filled with heartache as she wiped away his tears. Her gaze turned icy cold when she looked at me:

"Lucas, I see you have no intention of repenting at all!

Is this how you beg for mercy?"

She dialed a number on her phone:

"Cut their arms too! Tell them it's because Lucas wouldn't cooperate!"

My blood surged in an instant. I coughed up mouthfuls of black blood, frantically begging:

"No, please don't—

I'll do anything you want, just let them go!"

Ignoring the excruciating pain wracking my body, I crawled to her feet.

A flash of satisfaction crossed Ethan's eyes. He pretended to be considerate and spoke up:

"Sister Olivia, doesn't the company need a human test subject?

It's a critical time now. Why not let Brother Lucas try?"

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