Chapter 5
“Yes, I’m very serious.” Elena’s voice was soft, yet every word rang clear.
Robin’s gaze darkened. Then, Paul abruptly cut in just as he was about to speak, his face plastered with a flattering smile.
“Mr. Marsh, don’t listen to her nonsense! She’s just acting out of spite—there’s no way she’d actually want to leave you and Kaney!
“She’s only jealous because you’ve been getting close to Ms. Beck lately! Just coax her a little. There’s no way she’d really walk away.”
The chill in Robin’s eyes eased slightly when he heard this. He looked back at Elena. “As I expected, you’re doing all this just because of Constance.”
Elena opened her mouth and was about to argue, but Robin had already continued, “You’re nothing if you walk away from us. But if you stay and behave, I promise Constance will never affect your position. That should be enough for you, shouldn’t it?”
Her fingertips dug into her palm. She was just about to refuse when Paul suddenly slammed the table with a loud smack, his voice sharp with authority.
“Elena! You’re my daughter. You’ll do as I say!”
Then, he put on another ingratiating smile and pulled a contract from his briefcase just as quickly, offering it to Robin with both hands.
“Mr. Marsh, here. This project still needs your signature…”
Robin glanced at the document, then looked over at Elena. He picked up the pen and signed after a moment’s pause.
“Stop making trouble,” he said coldly before turning around and walking out.
The door had barely clicked shut when Kane burst into the room. His small frame stood in the doorway, but his eyes were filled with hostility.
“I heard everything! Dad wants you to stay—but I don’t!”
Elena looked at him, and her mind drifted back to the Kane from before he turned three. He used to call her “Mommy” in a soft voice, and he’d stretch out his arms for her to hold him.
But then… someone must’ve told him the truth that she wasn’t his biological mother and even told him that she was the one who killed her. And from that moment on, everything changed.
“Constance is gentler and kinder than you, and she treats me well!” Kane’s young voice trembled with hatred as he gritted his teeth.
“I’d rather she marry Dad and take care of me than have you a murderer like you around!”
Elena closed her eyes for a moment, her voice hoarse as she said, “Kane, I’ve told you so many times—your mother was already gone when I married your father…”
“You liar!” Kane screamed, cutting her off.
“Constance told me everything! You killed my mom! You’re just a gold-digger who wanted to climb your way up! Don’t think I’ll forgive you just because you lied to me!”
A jolt shot through Elena’s heart.
Constance? Had she truly gone as far as slandering her in front of Kane?
Before Elena could even explain, Kane had already barked an order at the bodyguards. “Throw her into the morgue! Let her think about what she’s done!”
The bodyguards hesitated. “Mr. Kane, that’s…”
“What, are you all not going to listen to me?” Kane pulled out his phone.
“Then I’ll call my father right now and tell him you’re disobeying me!”
The guards dared not delay any longer. They wheeled Elena away, heading straight for the coldest, darkest corner of the hospital—the morgue.
The chill cut through bone. The morgue was as cold as a freezer. Elena wore only a thin hospital gown, and her entire body shivered uncontrollably.
She tried to push the wheelchair, but her right leg, which was bound in a heavy cast, made any movement impossible.
“Kane! Kane! Let me out!”
She screamed his name again and again, but all she got in return was the slam of the iron door and the cold, mechanical turn of the lock.
Darkness swallowed her. The silence was suffocating as only the low hum of the refrigeration units echoed around her.
Elena’s desperation reached its peak. She pounded on the door until her hands were sore and numb, but no one came to her rescue. Eventually, her hand slipped from the metal, sliding down the surface in defeat.
The cold seeped into her bones, and her consciousness began to fade. Everything went black at last.
