For five years, I was deep undercover within an enemy intelligence network. When my cover was blown, I did the unthinkable to survive: I betrayed the man I loved, Arthur Vance. He managed to escape the ensuing ambush by the skin of his teeth, dragging a mangled, ruined leg behind him. When he was awarded the Medal of Honor, Arthur hobbled up to the podium on crutches. The commander asked him if he had any final requests the agency could fulfill for him. His eyes were as cold as a frozen lake. His thin, hard lips parted to say: "Bring Chloe back." "And execute her." Consequently, the agency raided the entire enemy compound but found no trace of me. All they found was a single VHS tape, left specifically for Arthur. 1. When Arthur received the tape, he scoffed with pure disgust. "This is just evidence of her crimes." "She will be nailed to the pillar of shame in history." His eyes were dark and cold, the cynical twist of his lips oozing profound mockery. His aide, pushing Arthur’s wheelchair through the park, spoke up cautiously. "General, aren't you going to see what's on it?" After receiving his Medal of Honor, Arthur had been promoted to General. His crippled leg had become a lifelong badge of honor. He let out another cold laugh. "Watch what?" "Watch how she sold out her country? How she wagged her tail and begged the enemy for mercy?" "I'm afraid it would dirty my eyes." The aide choked on his words for a moment, remaining silent for a few seconds before bracing himself to speak again. "But... the envelope the tape was in specifically had your name on it." "For Arthur Vance's Eyes Only." "This tape was meant for you." Arthur paused. His narrow eyes squinted, a sharp, calculating light flashing across them. The enemy network hadn't been completely eradicated; remnants were still out there. Perhaps there were clues hidden within the tape? "Hmph. Fine. I'll see what kind of tricks they're trying to pull." "The main thing is, we still haven't found Chloe." "A despicable traitor like her... public outrage won't be quelled until she's dead." He had to find Chloe, and then watch with his own eyes as she faced the ultimate punishment. 2. December 15, 1986, 3:10 PM. Chloe was stripped completely bare, shivering violently, her body covered in a horrifying mosaic of purple and blue bruises from the cold. A masked man in black stood nearby holding a bucket of freezing water. With a loud splash, he threw the water over Chloe's shivering body. She jerked violently, her hanging hair freezing into icicles almost instantly. "Kill... just kill me!" She gritted her teeth, her lips purple as she growled weakly. But the masked man acted as if he hadn't heard her, throwing bucket after bucket of freezing water over her. Until Chloe completely lost consciousness. Only then did a chilling, sinister voice ring out. "Drag her back. Don't let her freeze to death." A group of men then untied Chloe from the wooden post and dragged her away. The screen went black for a brief moment. Sitting in front of the screen, Arthur's eyes were colder than the frost outside the window. "A sympathy play?" "Heh. This is just another one of their schemes." "A traitor deserves every ounce of torture she gets." Standing beside him, the aide pressed his lips together, his voice low. "General, should I keep playing it?" Arthur leaned back against the soft sofa, saying casually: "Play it." "I want to see how long she can keep this act up." 3. December 16, 1986, 3:10 PM. This time, the recording was in a dark, windowless room. Chloe was still completely exposed, her body now covered in overlapping whip marks. Her delicate, pale face had been ruined. The skin was split open, and blood continuously oozed from the deep gashes. "Are you going to talk?" It was that same sinister voice coming from off-camera. Chloe smirked, her eyes resolute, almost fearless. "Arthur has already wiped out your entire network." "You guys are just grasshoppers at the end of autumn—you can't jump anymore." After saying that, she bared her teeth, letting out a series of wild, trembling laughs. "Keep hitting her." As soon as the vicious command dropped, the whip struck Chloe's body mercilessly again. She shuddered violently, biting down on her teeth so hard they looked like they might shatter. "We have already won!" "You... you all just... wait to die..." She refused to submit, even in the face of death, her beautiful almond eyes flashing with a sharp, ruthless light. Outside the screen, the aide was holding his breath, a look of deep pity crossing his face. "General, could Chloe have been framed..." He frowned as he spoke, his eyes no longer daring to look at Chloe's slowly splitting flesh. Arthur shifted his gaze, giving the aide a look of pure disdain. "Just from this?" "You lack experience. You're too naive." "They're trying to use my past relationship with Chloe to threaten me." "Why would I ever feel sorry for a traitor?" 4. December 17, 1986, 3:10 PM. Chloe's teeth were gone. Her soft pink lips parted to reveal nothing but bloody, raw gums. "Are you going to talk?" Still the same cold voice, not a trace of change from yesterday. Like a repetitive machine. Chloe's head hung low. Blood mixed with saliva slowly dripped from her mouth. "I will never betray my country." Her eyes were stubborn. Even without teeth, her pronunciation was incredibly clear. "Do you regret letting Arthur go?" That voice finally showed a hint of emotion. Chloe froze. The cold, hard look in her eyes finally softened into something warmer. "No. I don't... regret it." "He definitely hates me now. That's okay. As long as he's alive." With that, she closed her eyes, two streams of clear tears rolling down her cheeks, washing away some of the blood on her face. The screen went dark again. The aide's face was looking pale. "General, there must be more to this story." Arthur frowned, but his sharp, falcon-like eyes remained utterly unfeeling. "She was undercover for five years before being discovered, after all." "They wouldn't just let her go." "A fence-sitter like her... neither side would let her off easily." As he spoke, a flash of contempt crossed his eyes. He leaned back against the sofa again, watching the tape. 5. December 18, 1986, 3:10 PM. Chloe was missing a hand. Blood was everywhere. Her face was as pale as a sheet of paper. "General!" The aide finally couldn't hold back a gasp of horror. "They chopped off her hand!" His eyes turned red, and even his voice was trembling. As Arthur's aide, he naturally knew the story of Arthur and Chloe. They grew up together, childhood sweethearts who were supposed to get married. Then, she received an urgent mission to go undercover, and vanished for five whole years. To everyone in their unit, Arthur and Chloe were the quintessential heroic, patriotic couple. He didn't believe Arthur had absolutely no feelings left for her! On the sofa, Arthur's hand resting on his knee tightened slightly. His knuckles turned white. A faint redness crept into the eyes staring at the screen. After a long while, he stretched his rigid body and let out a heavy breath. "It's too fake." "Where did they find this actress?" "Someone as terrified of dying as Chloe would have definitely given up all the agency's secrets. Why would they chop off her hand?" "Ridiculous." Despite his words, his gaze involuntarily drifted back to Chloe's severed hand. The empty forearm ended abruptly. The blindingly red blood soaked through the gauze, dripping onto the floor, pooling into a mirror-like puddle. He frowned unconsciously, a dull ache throbbing somewhere deep in his chest. But quickly, the memory of her betraying him flashed in his mind, and that sliver of softness completely vanished. He exhaled, his eyes clearly conveying his thoughts: "Chloe, if you knew this was how it would end, why did you do it in the first place?" 6. December 19, 1986, 3:10 PM. Arthur finally believed that this tape was the enemy's revenge against him. In the video, a naked man wearing a black hood climbed off Chloe. Then, another one climbed on. And it was still that same question: "Are you going to talk?" Chloe screamed in agony, biting down hard on the man's ear. But without teeth, it caused him no pain. "Animals!" "I'm going to kill you all!" With a mouth full of blood, her screams cracked and broke. The hatred exploding in her eyes was like a raging fire, ready to burn the entire world to ash. Sitting on the sofa, Arthur violently tried to stand up, but his body tipped over, and he crashed onto the floor. "General!" The aide rushed over to help him. Arthur was shaking all over, his face even paler than Chloe's. "It has to be fake! It's fake!" "Chloe already surrendered! How could they still treat her like this?!" He gripped the aide's sleeve tightly, tears pouring down his face. It felt like someone had violently seized his heart, suffocating him. He could only gasp desperately for air. The tape hadn't stopped. Chloe's screams continued. "Arthur! Save me!" "Save me!" "Arthur... waaah..." Her helpless cries were like a knife, slicing his heart apart piece by piece. He crawled all the way to the screen, his hands tightly shielding Chloe's body, sobbing uncontrollably. "Chloe, where are you?! Where are you?!" "I forgive you! I forgive you! I'm coming to save you!" "Wait for me..." He pounded fiercely on the screen, hating himself for not being able to reach through it. No matter how much he screamed, those animals wouldn't stop. Not until they had tortured Chloe half to death did they finally relent. And by then, Arthur had completely passed out in front of the screen. 7. When he woke up again, Arthur couldn't bring himself to hate Chloe anymore. He would rather be betrayed by her a hundred times over if it meant she was alive and well. "Where is the tape?" He lay in the hospital bed, his voice hoarse as he spoke. The aide looked at him with heartbreaking pity, trying to dissuade him. "General, don't watch it anymore." "I think... Chloe must have perished." "Today is already December 30th." It had been over ten days. Chloe's chances of survival were practically zero. Arthur's chest clenched in pain, his eyes turning red. He tried desperately to hold back his tears, but they broke through anyway. "Show it to me." He commanded, masochistically. "General..." The aide tried to protest again, but Arthur cut him off fiercely. "Show it to me!" "Chloe is definitely still alive!" His eyes were wide, filled with a stubborn, desperate obsession. The aide sighed and finally continued playing the tape for Arthur. 8. December 20, 1986, 3:10 PM. Covered in wounds, the light in Chloe's eyes was completely gone. She was like a lifeless slab of meat, tied to the wooden post, entirely at their mercy. "Are you going to talk?" That voice sounded again. Chloe didn't speak. Her shriveled, bloodstained lips moved, but in the end, no sound came out. "Suffering all this just so you don't implicate Arthur... is it worth it?" "He escaped. He's going to get promoted, get rich, and live a life of luxury." "And you?" This was the classic interrogation tactic—using the soft approach when the hard approach failed. Arthur's grip on the bedsheets tightened, his breathing stalling. In the video, Chloe's eyes stared blankly at the ground, but the corners of her mouth twitched up into a relaxed smile. "If my cover was blown, how could Arthur possibly survive?" "It's better that I play the villain, sever his attachments, and win him a sliver of a chance to live..." After saying that, she closed her eyes, tears mixing with blood as they rolled down her face. Lying in the bed, Arthur wept a river of tears. He raised his hand and slapped himself viciously across the face. "Arthur Vance! You bastard!" "Why were you so stupid?!" "Why didn't you take Chloe with you?!" "The one who should be tortured is you! IT'S YOU!" Arthur sobbed until he passed out again. 9. In his dreams, Arthur returned to the time before they went undercover. On the training grounds of the military base, he was sweating profusely under the blazing sun. Under the large tree bordering the field, Chloe, her hair in two thick, shiny black braids, was fanning herself while holding a piece of watermelon, waiting for him. Whenever this happened, his comrades would always tease him. "Arthur, hurry up and get over there! Don't make your little wife wait too long." "Yeah, the sun is so hot, what if she gets a sunburn?" "You'd be heartbroken." They threw comments back and forth, and Arthur felt an incredible sweetness in his heart. He could always catch the hints of envy in his comrades' words. He wiped the sweat from his forehead and grinned at them. "Stop joking around. When you guys settle down, you'll have someone to care for you too!" His words brought a wave of laughter. "Look at him, he's already treating her like his wife." "Everyone on the base knows Arthur is going to marry Chloe eventually. It's just a matter of time..." As they ran off, Arthur quickly sprinted toward Chloe. "Were you waiting long?" "You silly girl, it's so hot. Why did you come out here?" Arthur wiped the sweat from Chloe's forehead with an aching heart, then snatched the fan from her hand to fan her himself. Chloe's eyes curved into a gentle smile, handing the watermelon to Arthur. "Arthur, you must be thirsty, right? Hurry and eat this, I just took it out of the fridge." "It's still cold." She offered the watermelon to Arthur like it was the most precious treasure in the world. Arthur took it, snapped it cleanly in half, and handed one half back to Chloe. "Let's eat it together." Chloe took her half. They shared a smile, and before even taking a bite, the sweetness had already reached their hearts. That day, under the shade of the tree by the training field, they ate watermelon, laughed, and played, happy as if they had fallen into a jar of honey. But happy days are always fleeting. And dreams, eventually, must end. In his sleep, tears unconsciously fell from Arthur's eyes. Oh, how he wished he could live in this dream forever, and never, ever wake up.
? Continue the story here ?? ? Download the "MotoNovel" app ? search for "391725", and watch the full series ✨! #MotoNovel