1 The year my hatred for Lucian Blackwood was at its purest was the year he destroyed everything I loved. To please his little secretary, he butchered the dog I’d raised for ten years. For my revenge, I put a knife in his little secretary five times, admiring her crazed screams as if they were a work of art. Everyone thought Lucian would kill me for it. Instead, he just threw a set of divorce papers at me, his voice like ice. “You were always just a stray my family took in. If you’re going to be a rabid bitch, then get out.” I vanished that night. Five years passed. Then, I saw her again. I was attending a gala on behalf of my father when I ran into Lucian’s secretary, Evelyn. She deliberately sloshed a glass of red wine down the front of my gown. “Well, look what the cat dragged in. If it isn’t the stray the Blackwoods threw out.” Without a word, I snatched a champagne bottle from a passing tray and brought it down on her head. “Five years, and you still haven’t learned how to act human. I guess it’s up to me to teach you.” 2 Evelyn’s shriek ripped through the air. Her little clique of sycophants immediately swarmed forward, forming a wall in front of her. “Who the hell do you think you are?” “Do you have any idea who you just hit?” “Listen here,” the loudest one snarled, pointing a finger in my face. “She’s the fiancée of Lucian Blackwood, heir to the Blackwood Holdings! You’ve just signed your own death warrant! Mr. Blackwood will destroy you!” Another one stepped forward to block my path, a cruel smirk on his face. “I have to see this. Some nobody with a death wish, daring to touch Mr. Blackwood’s precious darling. Everyone in high society knows how he dotes on her. He’d burn down half the city if she so much as broke a nail, and you just broke her head open!” Evelyn clutched her bleeding forehead, her eyes burning with hatred. “I’m telling you, Scarlett, five years ago I was merciful and let you go. Don’t think for a second I’m still afraid of you! You were nothing but a pet Lucian kept at home! I ruined you once, and now that you’ve dared to show your face again, I’ll ruin you for good!” I took in the new Evelyn. I had to admit, Lucian had polished her well. The woman who once timidly called me “Mrs. Blackwood” was now threatening to have me destroyed in public. Too bad for her, I was never one to back down. Not five years ago. Certainly not now. Surrounded, I glanced at the shattered glass on the floor. I bent down, and under the shocked stares of everyone present, I picked up a jagged shard. A slow smile spread across my face. “Evelyn.” I advanced on her, step by step. “Five years ago,” I said, holding up the blood-stained piece of glass, “I was far too generous with you.” “What.” My eyes dropped to her stomach, and I traced an invisible line from her face downwards with the tip of the shard. “It seems that carving up your insides didn’t teach you a lesson.” “In that case…” My smile turned venomous. Before anyone could react, I raised the shard and lunged, aiming straight for her abdomen. But I never reached her. A hand shot out, clamping around my wrist like a vice. A scream tore through the air, followed by Evelyn’s tearful, trembling voice. “Lucian.” “I’m scared.” It was the same look of terrified fragility she’d worn five years ago as I held her down, plunging the knife in again and again. “Lucian, I’m scared.” The years collapsed. A familiar voice, one I hadn’t heard in half a decade, spoke from right behind me, low and menacing. “Scarlett. It’s been five years.” “And you still,” Lucian’s voice dripped with chilling anger, “haven’t learned your place?” He wrenched my arm back. A sharp pain made me wince, but there was none of the old surrender, none of the defeat I’d felt back then. Instead, it ignited the dormant violence in my blood. I tightened my grip on the shard, feeling its edge bite into my own palm, and just as Lucian was about to rip it from my hand, I whipped my head around and gave him a brilliant smile. “Long time no see.” “Lucian.” I twisted, driving the shard deep into his arm. Blood sprayed, blurring my vision. 3 The scene devolved into chaos. Screams echoed around me, people were yelling for security, and whispers cut through the noise. “Who is that woman? Is she insane? She just stabbed Lucian Blackwood!” “I heard Miss Hale mention five years ago… Wasn’t there some orphan girl the Blackwoods took in? His wife in name only! My God, could that be her?” “It can’t be. They said that girl had no one. Her only friend was a dog, and after she offended Miss Hale, they tortured it to death for a whole night! The video went viral in our circles. They skinned it alive!” “Look! Mr. Blackwood… he’s smiling!” Blood was pouring from Lucian’s arm. “Lucian!” Evelyn screamed. Ignoring her own wound, she threw herself in front of him, shielding him with her body as she shrieked at me. “Scarlett! How dare you hurt him?” “The Blackwood family raised you for twenty years, and this is how you repay them? You ungrateful viper! Apologize to Lucian right now!” The sight of Evelyn playing the part of the grand lady of the Blackwood family was laughable. I met Lucian’s gaze over her shoulder. “You’ve trained her well,” I said coolly. “A loyal little dog to defend you. You must be so proud.” Evelyn’s face went white. Just like he did five years ago, Lucian pushed her behind him. “Scarlett, whatever was between us ended five years ago,” he said, his voice cold and flat. “I’ve told you before, my heart belongs to Evelyn. I will never love you. I could never even like you.” He stared at me with contempt. “I don’t care what you’ve been doing for the last five years, or how you managed to scam an invitation to this gala.” “But I will not allow you to come back to the Blackwood estate. I will not let you harm Evelyn again.” He looked down his nose at me. “Normally, I would have just ignored your presence here tonight. But you hurt Evelyn, and for that, there’s a price,” he said, then clapped his hands. A group of security guards closed in. “You can do this yourself, or I can do it for you.” One of the guards offered him a knife. Lucian took it, waiting for my answer. I just laughed. “Lucian, do you really think the world revolves around you?” I gestured to the knife in his hand. “If you have the guts, you’d better finish me today,” I said, taking a step closer. “Because when it’s my turn to finish you…” I leaned in, my voice a whisper. “Don’t you dare get on your knees and beg.” “Hahaha.” My laughter echoed through the silent ballroom. Lucian’s face was a thundercloud. Seeing him tremble with rage reminded me of that day, five years ago. He had used my dog, Goldie, to force me to my knees. He’d locked Goldie in a steel cage, his muzzle bound shut. For every second I refused to beg, a knife would slice into his body. My pride was shattered. Watching Goldie’s agony, I collapsed, begging. “Lucian!” I had cried, sobbing. “Please, don’t hurt him. I’ll admit I was wrong!” I slammed my forehead against the floor. “I was wrong! I know I was wrong!” Goldie was all I had. My only dream was to take him and leave the Blackwood house forever. “Let him go,” I pleaded, “please, just let him go!” I will never forget the look of pain in Goldie’s eyes. And I will never forget the bone-deep hatred that look carved into my soul. Looking at Lucian now, all that was left was the smoldering embers of that hate. “Lucian, you’re nothing but a puppet on Evelyn’s strings,” I said, enunciating every word. “If the old Patriarch knew you were running his legacy into the ground, he’d claw his way out of his coffin to throttle you himself.” “After all, Blackwood Holdings is finished.” 4 His hand clamped around my throat. My breath was stolen. As the oxygen faded, I met Lucian’s bloodshot eyes and heard his voice, crazed and vicious. “Scarlett, don’t think for a second I won’t kill you!” “You’re just a dog of this family,” he snarled, slamming me to the ground. Shards of champagne glass embedded themselves in my skin, a thousand tiny cuts that made me flinch. He grabbed my hair. “When I tell you to kneel, you kneel!” “When I tell you to die, you die!” A cruel smile twisted his lips. “But today, I don’t think I want you to die.” He patted my cheek. “After all, such an amusing plaything shouldn’t be broken so easily. Don’t you agree?” I stared at his face, inches from mine. I remembered that day, when Evelyn sent me the video, her voice dripping with triumph. “I just told Lucian that your dog scared me. And look! He skinned him alive for me.” “I wonder… if I tell him that you scare me too, do you think he’ll skin you next?” “It’s so funny, isn’t it? You’re Mrs. Blackwood in name, but you’re worth less than the servants.” Now, looking at him, a metallic taste filled my mouth. As his hand came up to pat my cheek again, I spat a mouthful of bloody phlegm right in his face. I watched the shock morph into disgust, and I smiled. “You’re right, Lucian,” I purred, mimicking his tone. “How could you die so quickly? A game this fun has to be played to the very end.” If I was back, I had no intention of letting the Blackwood family off the hook. Every person responsible for Goldie’s death would pay. His end was brutal; their end would be worse. Seeing my defiance, Lucian’s grip on my hair loosened. He wiped the blood from his face. “Yes,” he whispered. “Some things are best savored slowly.” “Since you’re back,” he looked at me, a dangerous glint in his eyes, “let’s play.” He turned away from me and gave an order to the guards. “Watch her. Don’t let her escape.” Then, his entire demeanor shifted. He turned to Evelyn, his voice gentle and concerned. “Does it hurt?” He softly wiped away her tears. “I’ll take you to a private room.” She collapsed into his arms. “With you here, it doesn’t hurt.” “With you here,” she sobbed, “I’m not afraid of anything.” I watched as Lucian swept her into his arms and carried her away. I sat on the floor, the cuts on my body stinging with every small movement. The sycophants who had surrounded me before now found their voices again. “Some piece of trash comes out of nowhere and dares to hurt Mr. Blackwood. The fact that he didn’t kill you on the spot is a blessing. Get lost.” “Exactly! I heard the stories. You’re just an orphan the old Patriarch picked up off the street. He took you in, and you repaid his kindness by attacking Miss Hale. You deserved to be thrown out.” “Speaking of which,” one of them laughed, pulling out his phone. “I still have the video of that dog.” He opened his gallery and found the file. The others crowded around. “Let me see.” “I want to see it too.”
? Continue the story here ?? ? Download the "MotoNovel" app ? search for "394102", and watch the full series ✨! #MotoNovel