Chapter 3This Time, I'll Just Watch

He swayed as he approached, grabbing me by the collar of my shirt.

“Don’t you worry, my sweet Joy. I’ll teach this greedy little bitch a lesson for you. I’ll get you justice.”

He shoved my face into the still-bubbling pot. Scalding broth seared my skin, flooding my nose and mouth, down into my lungs. The agony and suffocation were so intense I almost blacked out. I thrashed wildly, finally breaking free, but my struggle sent the entire pot tipping over, drenching my body until the pain became a white-hot nothingness.

When I woke up, I was in a hospital bed, wrapped head to toe in bandages. The heat had destroyed my vocal cords. I could barely force my eyes open.

A nurse looked at me with pity.

“What are we going to do with her? She’s been in a coma for a month. Her parents paid once when they dropped her off, but now they won’t authorize any more treatment or pay the bills. We can’t just keep her here.”

The final payment deadline came and went. My parents never answered the hospital’s calls.

That night, a masked figure wheeled me out of the hospital. We were almost home when the car turned abruptly, and I was thrown into the darkness beneath a nearby bridge.

“Now, no one will ever compete with me again.”

The wind blew the mask aside. It was Joy.

The stray dogs, drawn by the scent of cooked flesh, rejoiced at their unexpected feast. Devoid of pain, I watched them tear me apart, my unblinking eyes staring into the void, unwilling to close even in death.

Back at the dinner table, I closed my eyes and took a deep breath, burying the hatred deep inside.

I had waited so long for this day, for this second chance.

This time, I would escape this living hell. This time, I would write a different ending.