Just because I wore Victoria's Secret when we were intimate, my husband, Ethan, flew into a rage. "You tramp! Who told you to wear Chloe’s favorite brand? You think that’ll seduce me?" "Since you’ve forgotten the rules, I’ll teach you a lesson!" He ordered his men to rip my clothes off. He viciously carved "SLUT SUB" into my face. He even forced me to pay him a hundred million dollars as a "physical service fee." To pay off the debt, I worked ten part-time jobs day and night, coughing up blood from exhaustion, but I didn't dare stop. Ethan, however, found me disgraceful and had me suspended in a scalding steam cabinet day and night to repent. My critically ill mother cried her heart out, and in desperation, to save me, she unauthorizedly opened the steam cabinet. Unexpectedly, Ethan severed the tendons in her hands and feet and whipped her until she was covered in wounds. "That'll teach you, you meddling old hag! If you can't control your hands, then they're useless!" Looking at my mother, a bloody mess, my heart shattered. I struggled to kowtow to him, apologizing, begging him for some money for medical expenses. Instead, he threw a massive claim for seven hundred million dollars at me: "You owe me seven hundred million, and you still dare to ask for more money! Absolutely shameless!" "That old hag’s life is worthless! Losing her hands and feet is her own damn fault!" "If I don't get this money in 24 hours, I'll send you and that old hag to hell together!" My heart felt like dead wood. By the time I crawled to the hospital with the money I got from selling a kidney, My mother was already lying in the cold, sterile morgue. At the same time, news of Ethan lavishly spending five billion dollars to set up a foundation for his mistress, Chloe, caused a nationwide sensation. I clutched my mother's ashes tightly, tears streaming down my face. The pain of losing my mother couldn't suppress the overwhelming, bone-deep hatred! 1 My hand trembled as I reached out, trying to touch my mother's face. Horrifying, twisted scars crawled all over her face, making even her features difficult to recognize. The eyes that once gazed at me with love were now wide and empty, devoid of life. I collapsed to the floor, my hoarse cries mixed with the smell of blood. My heart felt like it had been ground into dust. The sound of the TV was particularly jarring. A few nurses gasped, their voices trembling with excitement: "A domineering CEO spending lavishly to win a smile from his beauty! What kind of epic love story is this!" "Handsome man, beautiful woman, childhood sweethearts – they're a match made in heaven!" "A five-billion-dollar foundation! The romance of the rich is truly extravagant!" I clutched the crumpled bills in my pocket. This paltry sum couldn't even buy the cheapest urn. In a suffocating despair, I shakily dialed Ethan’s number. After a long wait, his vicious curses erupted from the receiver: "Sarah, I told you to pay your debt, and you're out there gallivanting? You've utterly disgraced me, and you dare to call me!" "I'm being generous by not having my bodyguards string you up and whip you! Don't push your luck!" "You owe me seven hundred million! Transfer it immediately! Otherwise, I'll make sure that old hag doesn't live to see another night!" He always twisted things like this. Eight years of marriage, and I had long grown numb to such humiliation. But to give my mother a dignified farewell, I could only trample on my pride and beg humbly: "Ethan, just one last time, can you lend me a few thousand? My mom's funer—" "Get lost!" He cut me off coldly: "Why don't you just die, you pathetic mommy's girl! An old whore gives birth to a little whore, always spreading your legs begging for money!" "One last time... This is my last warning to you: if you don't pay up, it'll be much worse than just broken bones and severed tendons!" The call was brutally disconnected. Gently closing my mother's eyes, I slumped to the floor, completely breaking down in tears. Nearby, the nurses were still chattering excitedly. Through my tear-blurred vision, I saw Ethan and Chloe passionately kissing on the red carpet. In that moment, my heart turned completely cold! 2 I handed over the few hundred dollars I had left to the funeral home. I kowtowed until my skin was broken and raw, my knees ulcerated. Only then did they reluctantly agree to cremate my mother. But there was still no urn. Finally, a sympathetic staff member found me a battered cardboard box. The flames roared, incinerating everything to ash. Along with my last shred of attachment, it turned to dust. When I returned home with my mother's ashes, dawn was breaking. The debauched atmosphere in the villa had not yet dissipated. Scattered, snagged stockings and lace bras hung over my wedding photo with Ethan. The lingering, filthy water stains seemed to mock my cowardice. The pain was so intense I almost suffocated, struggling to suppress the urge to wail. I stumbled into the study and found a yellowed old box. Inside, a jade pendant lay quietly. It was my mother's only dowry. Now, it was her only remaining memento. When I got married, my mother gave the jade pendant to Ethan. But he despised it, finding the jade coarse and looking at it with disdain. I smiled sadly, pressing the wooden box and the ashes tightly to my chest. As if I were holding my mother. Just as I was about to leave, a sharp, familiar voice suddenly rang out. "What are you stealing? Hand it over, now!" Chloe, wearing a loose silk nightgown, was eyeing me with contempt. A fresh, glaringly red hickey adorned her collarbone. My gaze froze, my voice unconsciously hardening: "What's it to you?" Chloe sneered: "Every blade of grass, every brick in this villa belongs to me. The cars, the money, even your CEO husband – he only wants to serve me!" "If I were you, I would have died of shame long ago!" Her tone was arrogant, filled with provocation and disdain. In the past, I would have gone mad, confronting Ethan. But now, I just wanted to lay my mother to rest properly. I numbly walked past her, towards the door. But Chloe suddenly lunged, kicking me hard in the lower back. She grabbed my hair, violently snatching the box away. She kicked the box, and it flew open. "You dead bitch, you think you're worthy of touching my things!" The moment the lid popped open, the grayish-white ashes spewed out like a blizzard. "No!!" I let out a heart-wrenching scream, scrambling and crawling to gather the ashes. But a leather shoe stomped hard on my fingers. "Sarah, you look absolutely disgusting groveling like that!" Ethan's undisguised disgust echoed from above me. My blood ran cold. I trembled with pain, but couldn't make a sound. In front of me, Chloe clung to Ethan, complaining pitifully: "I was just worried sis took the wrong thing. I didn't expect her to be so fierce with me." "It's my fault for speaking out of turn. After all, sis is the lady of this house. It's only right for her to hit me..." Ethan snorted, picking up the scratched jade pendant from the box, his voice dripping with contempt: "Only a worthless piece of trash like you would go to such lengths to steal this garbage." The next second. He smiled cruelly and slammed the jade pendant onto the floor. "Don't!" My eyes were bloodshot as I screamed in despair. The jade pendant shattered into pieces, the fragments hitting me and drawing countless bloody scratches. I didn't even feel it, frantically trying to pick up the broken pieces. Ethan grabbed my hair, forcing me to look at him: "Is a broken piece of jade worth risking your life for?" "This was mine to begin with!" I gritted my teeth, the hatred in my eyes almost burning through Ethan. "This is the last memento my mom left me! What right do you have to destroy it!" A flicker of surprise crossed Ethan's eyes: "Memento?" I pushed his arm away, gathering the ashes and jade fragments together. I smiled miserably: "Thanks to you, my mom is dead!" 3 In the dead silence, I thought I would see a flicker of remorse or sadness on Ethan’s face. Even a tiny bit. Instead, he prodded the ashes on the floor with the toe of his shoe and sneered: "That old bitch is dead? What great news!" "Should I set off some fireworks to celebrate?" His mocking laughter was like a sharp knife, cutting my heart into a thousand pieces. My blood instantly surged backward, and my ears buzzed. Ethan, however, continued his baseless, cruel speculations: "That old bitch loved to put on a show when she was alive. She isn't faking her death, is she?" "Where's the body? Get a medical examiner to cut her open and see, just in case she comes back as a zombie!" A massive roar exploded in my head. My teeth chattered violently. The last glimmer of light in my heart finally extinguished completely. The man I had shared a bed with for eight years. Turned out to be such a venomous, despicable wolf! My mother was dead, and not only did he feel no guilt, he was even gloating about it. I lunged at him like a madwoman, grabbing his wrist, my voice so hoarse it was barely human: "My mom looked after you for eight whole years! For eight years, she treated you like her own son!" "What did she do wrong for you to insult her like this?!" "Ethan, you're worse than an animal!" Before I could finish, a heavy slap landed on my face. "Shut up! Your mom’s biggest mistake was giving birth to a seductive slut like you!" "You and your mother ate my food, used my things! Even if she knelt and served me, it was what she deserved!" I clutched my bleeding lip, my cheek swollen and red. Beside us, Chloe, having enjoyed the show, finally offered a hypocritical apology: "Sorry, sis, I really didn't know Auntie had passed." "But she's gone now. Cheap stuff like this is just trash if you keep it around!" With that, she suddenly snatched the remaining ashes from my arms. I burned with rage, lunging at her like a maniac. But Ethan kicked me hard in the stomach, making me vomit a mouthful of blood. The blood splattered on the white floor, a stark, tragic sight. Ethan, however, was busy shielding Chloe, his voice seething with anger: "Get away from her! You worthless slut!" "You dare bully Chloe? I think you're looking to die!" I writhed on the floor, my vision completely blurring: "Ethan, let's get a divorce!" "You want a divorce without paying your debt? You think you're worthy?" Hearing this, Ethan’s lips curled into a smirk, looking at me as if I were a ridiculous clown: "Until you've paid off your debt, don't even think about leaving the Blackwood estate!" I trembled, clutching my wounds, and with all my strength, reached for the fruit knife on the table. Ethan looked down at me, his eyes like he was looking at a pile of stinking mud. His gaze was laced with ice, so unfamiliar it made me shiver. I suddenly remembered that rainy night eight years ago. We were huddled in a damp basement, his eyes shining: "When we have money, I'll buy you a big house, and let your mom live comfortably." In the steam of instant ramen, his smile was so warm. How ridiculous. Just ten minutes ago, I actually still fantasized. That he would, for the sake of those eight years, feel some remorse for me and my mother. "Fine, I'll pay you back right now!" I gripped the fruit knife tightly and, with savage force, plunged it into my abdomen. The sharp blade tore through flesh with a sickening thud. But it was nothing compared to the agonizing despair in my heart. Ten bleeding gashes bloomed open, and I staggered, collapsing to the floor. A sticky pool of blood spread beneath me, staining the floor red. I pulled back my bloodstained lips, smiling at him: "Is this enough?" Ethan’s pupils constricted, his voice trembling with disbelief: "Are you insane?!" "Don't think this kind of self-pity act will make me forgive you!" The intense pain burned through my organs like wildfire, yet it couldn't match the despair of my shattered heart. I slowly tightened my grip on the knife, my knuckles white from the force, and raised my hand again. My voice was calm, yet pierced with bone-chilling sorrow: "Not enough? Then I'll pay you back with my life too!" Before the words left my mouth, I thrust the tip of the knife violently towards my neck! 4 Ethan lunged forward, snatching the knife from me and throwing it hard onto the floor. "Trying to pay your debt with death? I wouldn't even look at your worthless life!" "Seven hundred million, not a penny less! Don't you dare try to threaten me with your pathetic life!" Blood trickled down from his palm. Combined with his grim, furious expression, it was terrifying. Chloe cowered behind him, timidly tugging at his sleeve. Ethan quickly turned, comforting her softly. When he turned back to me, He suddenly kicked me hard in the shoulder, his voice vicious: "If you're going to die, die far away! Don't scare Chloe!" "Get out!" Blood soaked through my clothes. My face was deathly pale as I gathered the last of the ashes into the wooden box. Clutching my bleeding abdomen, I stumbled out the door: "I will pay back the money, and then we will divorce." But Ethan reacted as if he’d heard the funniest joke in the world: "You think you can survive without me?" "A worthless tramp who couldn't even protect her own mother? You could lie naked on the street, and no one would want you! I'll be waiting for you to come crawling back, begging me!" I didn't respond, nor did I look back. Clutching the small box to my chest, I endured the excruciating pain and left this prison-like villa. As I closed the door, I heard Chloe’s feigned concern: "Will sis be okay?" Ethan scoffed, his tone disdainful: "Don't worry. That kind of life-clinging, cowardly bitch values her life more than anything." The cold wind whipped into my collar but couldn't dispel the piercing laughter ringing in my ears. I bit down hard on my teeth until my mouth filled with the taste of rust. "I'm sorry, Mom... It's all my fault for being useless..." I stumbled along. Finally, I reached my destination—the organ transplant center. The cold light of the operating table stung my eyes. I clutched the ashes in my arms, my consciousness slowly fading. Mom, I'm sorry I couldn't take care of you. Let me use this broken body to send you on your final journey. … A few days later. The five-billion-dollar foundation finally officially began operations. As Ethan was showing Chloe around, a sharp pain suddenly exploded in his chest. He instinctively clutched his chest, his face turning deathly white. Chloe quickly grasped his cold hand, concerned: "What's wrong? Are you not feeling well?" Ethan, rubbing his inexplicably tight chest, forced a smile: "It's nothing, just had a nightmare, didn't sleep well…" Before he could finish, last night’s nightmare flashed before his eyes. Sarah, covered in blood, raising a knife, her eyes staring at him, fierce and desperate. Ding— His phone notification sounded abruptly. Ethan’s heart leaped, his fingertips trembling as he pulled out his phone. A seven-hundred-million-dollar transfer notification lay silently on the screen.
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