Chapter 5

"Don't come near me... Please don't..."

The person on the bed shrank into the corner.

She held her head in her hands like a cat traumatized beyond reason, shaking like a leaf.

Her once-beautiful long hair had been hacked off unevenly, and there were even a few bald patches on her scalp.

The face I'd kissed a thousand times was now swollen, with dried purple-black blood crusted at the corner of her mouth.

The oversized hospital gown couldn't hide the purple and blue whip marks covering her entire body.

Her right arm hung limply, secured in a temporary splint.

This was the Aria the Wilsons said they'd hired a nutritionist for, the one who'd gained several pounds!

"Aria..."

I threw down the tray, ripped off my mask, and rushed to the bed.

Her body went rigid. She looked at me timidly through her fingers.

In that moment, I clearly saw the disbelief and extreme fear in her eyes.

"Mom..."

Her lips trembled as she let out a sound as faint as a mosquito.

"Mom! Why did you come? You need to leave! They'll kill you!"

She suddenly pushed at me frantically, though she had no strength at all.

Tears mixed with blood streaked down her face.

"Don't be afraid. I'm here. I'm taking you home."

I pulled her tightly into my arms, feeling her skeletal body trembling violently.

My heart was torn into pieces.

"No... we can't leave..."

Aria clutched desperately at my clothes, her eyes fixed on the door in terror.

"Blake will get angry. If he finds out you came, he'll kill you. He'll kill Adrian!"

"He's insane. He's really insane!"

She sobbed incoherently, clearly suffering from severe psychological trauma.

"Listen to me, Aria."

I cupped her face and looked directly into her frightened eyes.

"Adrian's waiting for us downstairs. That animal Blake—I'll deal with him myself!"

"Right now, we're leaving. Understand?"

I didn't dare delay. I threw back the covers.

Around her ankles were raw, chafed marks from iron shackles!

Animals! Worse than animals!

I gritted my teeth and lifted her onto my back.

She was as light as paper. My tears flooded out again.

I wrapped her tightly in an oversized white coat and put a mask on her.

Head down, I walked quickly out of the observation room.

Mrs. Elena was still in the VIP lounge making an appointment for a manicure.

The nurses in the hallway were busy resuscitating another patient.

No one noticed me carrying a patient toward the fire escape.

The stairwell was long. I carried her down step by step.

My knees ached from the weight, but I felt nothing.

All I felt was the warmth on my back—Aria's silent tears.

I pushed open the ground-floor safety door. A blast of cold morning air hit us.

Adrian's Uber was parked thirty feet away, doors wide open.

"Aria!"

Adrian rushed over and took Aria from my back.

The moment he saw her condition, he dropped to his knees and wailed.

"Aria! How could they... how could they do this to you!"

"Adrian, don't cry..."

Aria weakly lifted her uninjured left hand and touched Adrian's head.

"Get in the car!"

I shoved them both into the back seat.

"To the train station! Fast as you can!"

I threw a stack of cash at the driver. Without a word, he floored it.

After a few blocks, I confirmed we weren't being followed.

I let out a long breath and turned to the back seat.

"Adrian, I booked the next train out. Take Aria to Houston in the south."

"I had an old friend rent us a place there. I've also contacted a discreet private clinic."

"You don't need to worry about anything. Just take care of Aria."

Adrian's head snapped up, staring hard at me.

"What about you?"

"I'm not leaving."

I looked out at the passing streetscape, my voice cold as a knife dipped in ice.

"They tortured Aria like this and think no one will touch them?"

"Mom, don't do anything stupid!"

Aria struggled to sit up, panic written all over her face.

"The Wilsons have connections everywhere. You can't fight them! Can't we just go to the police?"

"The police?"

I turned around and looked at Aria's scarred face, letting out a cold laugh.

"The police would be letting them off too easy."

What I wanted was their ruin.

Their family destroyed.

To see them on their knees, begging like dogs for my forgiveness!

"Adrian, take Aria and go."

I opened the car door, preparing to get out at the red light.

"But—"

"No buts!"

I cut him off sharply, my gaze fierce.

"If you think of me as your mother, take Aria as far away as you can!"

The car door shut. I stood in the cold morning wind and watched the Uber disappear around the corner.

The game was officially beginning.

I was going to make the Wilson family suffer, starting today!

"Just wait, Mrs. Elena," I murmured.

"I told you—if you couldn't be a good mother to Aria, then let me, her adoptive mother, do it."