Chapter 4

Before darkness swallowed me, my final thought was that I would never love her again.

Seven years of marriage. When I was at my lowest, she had extended her hand to me.

But that hand, from the very beginning, was meant to push me into a deeper abyss.

When I woke again, the uncontrollable subtle tremor in my right hand became my only sensation.

Despair, like icy seawater, instantly submerged me.

Polka had actually done it. She had once been my most capable assistant, but now she'd destroyed my hands.

Tears fell silently, yet the hatred in my heart burned hot.

The aftereffects of the neurotoxin began several hours later—an aching numbness and stabbing pain that seemed to drill out from within my bones, more tormenting than the burns.

I was drenched in sweat from the pain, biting my lip hard, staring blankly at the ceiling. At one point, I even considered ending it all.

"Well, well, you're awake?"

A familiar voice shattered the deathly silence of the hospital room. I slowly turned my head.

Maurice walked in, looking me up and down before shaking his head, his face wearing fake sympathy while his eyes held nothing but a victor's arrogance.

"Benjamin, look at yourself now."

"Seven years, and you couldn't even keep one woman. Now you're just a cripple."

"In love, you lost to me. In business, same thing! For the rest of your life, you'll never beat me."

"What did you say?"

I spoke hoarsely. It took a while for my numb brain to process his words.

The next moment, fury destroyed my reason.

"Get out! Get out! Don't let me see you again! You bastards! I won't let you get away with this! Get out! All of you!"

My hysteria clearly pleased Maurice. He even laughed out loud.

"See, Benjamin? Your wife would do anything for me. Though in your current state, you probably can't comprehend my happiness anymore."

"Get out!"

I used my left hand to pull out the IV needle from the back of my hand, grabbing everything I could reach from the bedside table and hurling it at him.

Water cups, fruit plates, books, one after another.

But I'd overestimated my broken body. After just a few throws, I'd exhausted all my strength and collapsed on the bed, the excruciating pain in my right hand rendering me speechless.

Maurice continued his taunts, but as he spoke, the fury in my heart gradually extinguished, leaving only dead numbness.

Yes, I'd already lost completely. What chance did I have to turn things around?

"Why aren't you talking?! Benjamin! Say something! Weren't you always so arrogant? Didn't they call you a business genius? Why so quiet now?!"

Maurice froze. My sudden calm denied him the sense of superiority he'd expected. Frustrated, he tried to provoke me again.

"Why aren't you talking, you trembling cripple?! Weren't you just throwing things at me? Now you're playing dead?"

I weakly threw a pillow at him with my left hand, barely managing to force out "Get out!"

That feather-light pillow landed at his feet, but Maurice acted as if he'd found the perfect excuse.

He suddenly stepped back exaggeratedly, as if struck by tremendous force, looking at me in shock.

"Benjamin?! How could you do this! I just came to check on you out of kindness!"

Just then, the sound of high heels came from outside. Hearing his shout, the footsteps immediately quickened.

Audrey pushed open the door. Seeing the mess on the floor, she immediately glared at me viciously.

Polka, who entered a step behind, also froze. "Maurice?! He dared to lay hands on you?!"

Watching the two of them fuss over Maurice, I twisted my lips into a hoarse, miserable laugh.

"Benjamin! Have you lost your mind?! Get on your knees and apologize to Maurice right now!"

Infuriated by my laughter, Polka rushed forward, grabbed my shoulder, and dragged me from the bed, disregarding my injuries.

"Kneel down and apologize to Maurice right now!"

Audrey helped Maurice up at this point. She walked over and stepped on my still-bleeding left hand, saying simply: "Kneel!"

I fell onto the cold floor, the pain in my hand and the nerve pain in my right hand intertwining, the agony turning my vision black.

Seeing my silence, Audrey bent down, grabbed my hair, and forced me to look up at them.

"Can't you understand human speech?! Kneel before my man right now!"

They humiliated me in the cruelest way possible, until I was covered in cold sweat, lying weakly on the floor, my breathing becoming faint. Only then did this farce end.

I wasn't sure if it was my imagination, but for a brief moment, I seemed to see reluctance and wavering in Polka's eyes.

But it no longer mattered.

At this point, whatever I'd done in the past, I'd received my punishment.

Right now, I just wanted to leave them, to leave this hell!

When I woke again, the hospital room had been cleaned up and my hands had been re-treated.

Sunlight through the window warmed my face, but I only felt a sense of disorientation, as if everything before had been nothing but an absurd dream.

I thought this was my chance to escape, but Polka soon returned.

She carried a bag containing several brand-new devices.

"Awake? Try these."