Chapter 4After My Diagnosis, My Cruel Wife Went Crazy

The basement was dark. There were no windows, only the faint scratching and squeaking of mice.

I huddled in a corner, licking the wound on my hand. The blood had dried into a sticky, metallic crust.

I was so hungry. I missed my sister, Lily.

Suddenly, a loud crash echoed from outside.

BANG! The iron door rattled in its frame as someone kicked it. It was followed by the angry shouts of guards and the sounds of a struggle.

"Get out of my way! Let me in!"

That voice... it was Lily!

My head shot up, a flicker of light in my eyes. "Sister!"

I stumbled toward the door, tripping over my own feet. The door burst open.

Lily stood there, brandishing a blood-stained iron pipe. She was covered in scrapes and bruises, her clothes torn, but her eyes blazed with a terrifying fire.

"Asher!"

Her gaze fell on my bloody hand, and her eyes instantly turned red. "Those bastards!"

She threw the pipe aside and rushed to me, pulling me into a fierce hug. "Don't be afraid. I'm here to take you home."

Her embrace was warm. It smelled faintly of stale bread, but it was the safest smell in the world.

But we couldn't leave.

Seraphina blocked the doorway, flanked by more guards. She was dressed in a silk robe, looking down on us like a queen surveying her filthiest subjects.

"So this is your little stray?" Seraphina's eyes locked onto Lily's hands holding me, and her expression filled with murderous intent. "A garbage picker?"

Lily subtly moved me behind her. "Seraphina, are you even human? He has the mind of a six-year-old! You're torturing a child!"

Seraphina let out a cold laugh. "A child? He's a better actor than anyone I know."

She gestured with her hand, and the guards swarmed forward, pinning Lily to the ground. Seraphina sauntered over, the heel of her shoe pressing down hard on Lily's hand.

"Agh!" Lily grunted in pain but bit her lip, refusing to cry out.

"Since this hand dared to touch my man," Seraphina said softly, "then it doesn't need to exist."

She took a golf club from a guard and raised it high above her head.

"No!" I screamed, a primal roar tearing from my throat.