Chapter 2
655words
After a night of torment, I had a low fever. The glass cuts on my face and my fractured hand bones hurt less than my shattered heart.
I found two fever pills and swallowed them with cold water. My throat burned like I'd drunk acid.
Probably swollen.
This was practically routine for me now. Frederick enjoyed it that way.
I first saw his true cruelty at my father's sixtieth birthday celebration.
By then, Frederick had already forcibly acquired my father's company, turning my father's hair white overnight.
Frederick could force me to marry him, but he couldn't force me to play the adoring wife. Seeing my disgust, his expression darkened.
The tension between us usually kept people at a distance. But that day, one of my father's old friends—drunk on expensive whiskey—stumbled over to us.
"Frederick, my boy! Our Sophie's been a treasure since childhood. Take good care of her, won't you?"
I continued eating as if I'd heard nothing, deliberately ignoring them both—a clear insult to Frederick.
The old man stood awkwardly with his raised glass, unsure what to do.
Frederick's associate tried to ease the tension, but before he could speak, Frederick—face like thunder—broke his silence.
"Sophie," he said icily, "are you deaf to your elders?"
The air froze instantly. Frederick was never a man to cross. I'd been sullen all evening, and he'd finally reached his breaking point.
"I said, are you deaf?" Frederick ripped the chopsticks from my hand.
Though his voice wasn't raised, the bustling banquet hall fell deathly quiet.
I took a deep breath, stood with my wine glass, clinked it against the now-terrified old man's, and drained it in one go.
Then I turned and smashed the empty glass at Frederick's feet. "Anything else?" I asked coldly.
"If not, I'm leaving."
Frederick snorted, not even bothering to stand as he grabbed my arm and yanked me toward him.
I lost my balance and fell to my knees directly onto the shattered glass.
My friend beside me hissed in sympathy, but I remained silent.
"Mr. Fisher… she's a lady, please don't—"
"Out. Now."
My friend's protest died before it could fully form as Frederick cut him off.
The room emptied in seconds.
"Is it so hard to make me look good?" Frederick pressed me down onto the glass, preventing me from rising.
"If you want a toy, you've chosen poorly." I looked up defiantly, my voice steady despite everything.
"I don't need toys," he said. "But I am displeased, and you need to fix that." He forced my face against his crotch.
I fought to pull away.
Frederick wasn't rushed. He released me, watched me stumble to my feet ready to flee, then calmly took out his phone and dialed.
"Warden Zhang? That special care I asked you to provide for Kevin Sullivan? Cancel his medication. Immediately."
After speaking, Frederick settled back in his chair, raising an eyebrow as he watched my reaction.
The blood drained from my face as I stared at him in horror.
"My father's medication doesn't cost you anything! You have no right!"
"Because I'm a Fisher," he smiled coldly. "With one word, not just that prison but every hospital in the capital would refuse to treat your father. You could try to get him released, of course—but he has twenty years left on his sentence, doesn't he?"
"Sophie, I'd prefer your willing participation. But if you insist on refusing…" He shrugged. "I'll take what I want anyway."
I glared at Frederick with pure hatred, each step toward him heavier than the last.
I closed my eyes and knelt.
When it was over, I coughed up blood, my throat raw with pain. My heart, however, felt nothing at all.
I couldn't fight. Couldn't run. Couldn't die. I could only exist as Frederick Fisher's living corpse.
