Chapter2

Damian took a step back. "Open the door."

The bodyguards stormed in. One pinned my back to the floor, grabbed a handful of the newly grafted dog fur on my thigh, and violently ripped it out. A clump of bloody flesh and hair was tossed at his feet. He casually kicked it into a stagnant puddle in the corner.

"Fetch it. With your mouth."

I clenched my jaw and didn't move.

He leaned down. "I just texted your mother from your phone, telling her you were sick. If you stay on this floor for one more second, she'll be the next one brought in to keep you company."

I crawled over. I clamped my teeth down on that clump of dog fur, tasting the disgusting mix of dirty water and my own flesh.

The crisp sound of high heels echoed on the stairs.

"Damian? I've been looking everywhere for you."

Vivienne. She was wearing that white chiffon dress. Damian immediately walked over and pulled her into his arms. "It's filthy and reeks down here. Why did you come down?"

"I was worried about you." She leaned against his chest and held up her right hand. "I scraped myself cutting fruit just now. It hurts."

I froze.

On the middle finger of her right hand sat a ring—a mother-of-pearl base, set with a blue diamond.

It was the engagement ring passed down from Damian's grandmother. The very one he had slipped onto my hand at the banquet.

In the chaos, the ring had slipped off. Right before I blacked out, it was still there on the floor.

She had stolen it. Not only did she lace the poison, but she had also stolen the ring, completely usurping my identity.

"Let's hurry upstairs. The stench of blood is too heavy down here." Vivienne cast a disgusted look at me.

Damian wrapped his arm around her waist, and they left.

Midnight. I gnawed open the rusted iron mesh and crawled up to the second floor.

Vivienne's door was left ajar. The ring sat right there on the nightstand.

I held my breath, slowly reaching out with my deformed claws—

My fingertips had just brushed the edge of the ring.

The lights flicked on.

Vivienne was leaning against the headboard, arms crossed, a cold sneer hanging on her lips. "Finally crawled your way up?"

I lunged violently toward the ring.

She snatched the bedside lamp and smashed it against her own temple, simultaneously letting out a blood-curdling shriek: "Help! The monster is trying to kill me!"

Damian burst into the room.

"Damian, save me!" Vivienne trembled, clutching her bleeding forehead.

Clutching the ring in a death grip, I turned to look at him—look here! Our initials are engraved inside the band!

But all he saw was the image of me lunging at her.

A brutal kick slammed into my chest. I coughed up mouthfuls of blood as the ring rolled right out of my palm.

He picked it up and gently slid it back onto Vivienne's middle finger.

"Beat her," he issued the cold command. "Shatter every single bone in her body."

Fists and boots rained down. A heavy leather shoe brutally crushed my newly healed hand bones. Right before my consciousness faded, I saw Vivienne resting safely against his chest, smiling down at me in absolute silence.

Freezing water shocked me awake. I was back in the basement's iron cage.

The rough sounds of dragging and a woman's terrified screams echoed from outside the door.

"Let go of me! This is kidnapping! Where is my daughter? What did you do to Lysa?!"

My blood completely froze.

Two bodyguards dragged a gaunt woman down the concrete steps. She was still wearing those old house slippers on her feet.

Using every last ounce of my strength, I painfully twisted my head to peer out from the bottom of the iron bars.

My mother's gaze fell into the iron cage. She saw me—four canine legs, a body completely covered in coarse fur, sprawling helplessly in the gore and filth.

Her pupils violently contracted.

"...Lysa?"

Her voice morphed from righteous outrage into a terrified tremor.

I opened my blood-filled mouth, but no matter how hard I tried, I just couldn't scream out that word.