I used to be a skin-grafter. My skill at changing faces was so refined it bordered on the uncanny. After helping my husband, Woodrow, secure his position as Godfather, I quietly returned to my old trade as a skin-grafter. Then my Godfather husband came to me with a woman and demanded that I make her look like me, so she could take my place as the Godfather's wife. In a disguised voice, I asked him, "Does the Godfather understand how brutal a skin-grafting procedure can be?" "Once the original Godfather's wife is stripped of her skin, her flesh will be exposed. She may go blind... she may live in agony worse than death." The Godfather glanced at me, his eyes cold as ice. "I don't care about any of that. Just do it." My heart felt colder than the knife in my hand. Fortunately, the black robe and mask covered me so completely that he could not recognize me. I understood very quickly. He did not want to give up my father's arms support, and he could not bear to wrong the girl he truly loved, so he wanted his mistress to wear my face and impersonate me? In that case, there was no need for me to remember the affection of the past seven years. The only person who would return to his side would be me. Since this Godfather, whom my family had raised to power with our own hands, had become disobedient, I would simply replace him. ... "Fine." I toyed with the skinning knife in front of me, my tone flat. "But if you want a new face, you will have to follow my rules." "During the procedure, this girl and the Godfather's wife must both live here with me. No one is allowed to disturb us." Woodrow nodded. "Woodrow, I..." His mistress, Susanna, nestled in his arms and clung to his sleeve, looking frightened and unable to say more. He immediately soothed her in a gentle voice. "Hedda is the cherished daughter of the Taylor family. Their arms are the key to my standing as Godfather. I cannot fall out with her." "Besides, your identity cannot be brought into the light. This is the best way. Endure it a little longer, and from now on, you will be my Godfather's wife." Expectation rose on Susanna's face, but soon her expression turned worried again. "Then what will happen to Hedda after she becomes crippled?" I was rather curious to know how Woodrow would dispose of me as well, so I lifted my eyes. But Woodrow did not answer. He only dropped a few words of warning, telling me not to breathe a word of this to anyone, then left with Susanna. I called Woodrow back, my tone heavy with meaning. "Godfather, when the Godfather's wife is brought here, her hair and skin must not be damaged." I had to make sure I would not be hurt. Without turning back, he said, "Mm. I will bring her tomorrow." When the door to the hidden chamber closed, I took off my mask and removed the black robe, turning from skin-grafter back into Hedda. I was deeply grateful that I had listened to my father and never told Woodrow that I was the skin-grafter, or that I had family bodyguards of my own. In a cold voice, I instructed my family bodyguard, "Find out who Susanna is. I want to know what sort of girl my husband is protecting so carefully." "Have Una come here. Tomorrow, she will take my place as the skin-grafter and wait for the Godfather to deliver his people." Back at the villa, I had just finished making Woodrow a plate of doctored strawberry cakes. Then Woodrow came in carrying a glass of milk. "Hedda, it's late. Stop working and rest early. I warmed you a glass of milk..." His voice was tender, his gaze lingering, exactly as it had been seven years ago when he asked me to marry him. Back then, he stood beneath the moon with a bouquet of bright red roses and swore that he would never fail me in this life. So I answered that if he never failed me, I would never leave him. Later, when he went on behalf of the family to inspect an out-of-town casino, he accidentally contracted an infectious disease. For five days and nights I did not sleep, studying until I found a cure. Ignoring my family's pleas and the long distance, I traveled more than a thousand kilometers to reach him. After he recovered, he used my treatment to save the entire casino and smoothly ascended to the position of Godfather. But at the height of his glory, I collapsed from exhaustion and days of worry. When I woke, he was holding the diamond ring his dead mother had left behind, his eyes red as he proposed to me. "Hedda, be my wife. I will be good to you for the rest of my life." "Without you, never mind becoming Godfather. I might have died in a foreign land." "As long as you say yes, I will make you the happiest woman in the world, the woman every other woman envies." But now, blinded by his mistress, he had forgotten that I knew medicine. I soon discovered that the milk in his hand had been drugged. It was the poison he meant to use to send me away to be skinned and turned into a faceless cripple. Seeing that I did not speak, Woodrow lifted the glass to my lips. "Hedda, let me feed you." I did not resist. Looking at him, I drank every last drop, then curved my lips slightly and smiled. "Woodrow, you're so good to me." At my words, guilt surfaced in his eyes. I took the opportunity to pick up the strawberry cakes on the table, my eyes full of anticipation. "Ever since you became Godfather, you've been busy with family affairs every day and haven't been eating properly. I made these cakes myself. Try them." He finished them without hesitation and praised them again and again. He had no idea that once he ate those strawberry cakes, his reproductive organs would be ruined. My five-year-old son would become his only descendant.
Half an hour later, the drug made my whole body limp. Woodrow carried me to the bed. "Hedda, don't blame me." "Your family's arms partners only recognize the Taylor family. Behind my back, many people say I became Godfather only because of you and the Taylors." "But you know that I also secured this position through my own ability." "Susanna is gentler than you, and more obedient. I found a skin-grafter. Susanna will take on your face, and from now on, she will wear your face and take your identity." "But don't worry. Even without a face, I will support you and care for you for the rest of your life. Nothing will happen to you..." He held me and repeated, "Nothing will happen to you," as if trying to convince himself. Using all my strength, I let out a scornful laugh. "Woodrow, I, Hedda, have been married to you for seven years. I exhausted every effort to help you secure your position, and you want to skin me?" "My family searched for suitable arms for you, and you want to move against them?" "You found someone to replace my identity. Your real purpose is to wipe out the Taylor family, isn't it?" He clenched his fists but did not turn around. "You should know there is no room in my eyes for any threat." With that, he strode away. I did not dare imagine what would have happened if I had only been Hedda and not the skin-grafter. A taste of blood surged into my throat. Footsteps sounded outside again, and Susanna, exquisitely dressed, walked in. "Hedda, none of your people are here. No one is coming to save you." "The Godfather originally said you should disappear forever. I was the one who told him to spare your life." "Even if you become a cripple, you must live well. Watch me become you and take everything from you." "Once I have a child of my own, I'll have your son killed. How does that feel? Despairing enough?" Her seductive face twisted with malice. I closed my eyes, too tired to bother with her. Tomorrow Once we reached the hidden chamber, I would make sure she could not die even if she wanted to. "Mother." The next second, my five-year-old son, Kyle, called to me from the doorway. "Father said you were ill. I came to see you." Susanna immediately bent close to me. "Keep lying there. I'll go deal with your son first." I snapped my eyes open and shouted toward the door, "Kyle, go back! Don't worry about me!" But the sound I made was almost inaudible. Susanna went out and deliberately raised her voice. "Kyle? The Godfather said the Godfather's wife is ill and forbade you from coming near. How dare you disobey?" "Since you find it so uncomfortable to stay in your room, then get down to the basement and kneel there. Beg God to let your mother die quickly." "You lot, drag him to the basement. Do not turn on the lights!" Kyle had been afraid of the dark since he was little. My heart burned with panic. I used all my strength to crawl up, but the moment I got off the bed, I fell flat onto the floor. Outside, Kyle roared, "You are an outsider, and you dare stop me? You dare shout in my mother's room? I'll go find my grandfather right now and have him deal with you!" Kyle's voice was childish, but every word rang firm. After speaking, he turned and ran. I smiled in relief, while Susanna's voice trembled with rage as she ordered the servants beside her. "Quick! Go tell the Godfather!" Then she turned back to look at me, sprawled on the floor. "Oh my, Hedda, what are you doing? Crawling on the floor like a dog. How ugly." "To tell you the truth, that little thing won't be seeing the old Godfather." "Ever since Woodrow became Godfather, he has slowly replaced everyone around the old Godfather." I clenched my fists. Let them enjoy their triumph for now. After tonight, I would be the only one playing with them.
But Susanna had no intention of letting me off. She walked toward my most treasured wooden chest. "I hear this is the wedding dress you wore back then?" "How beautiful. I heard your dead mother made it by hand and spent three years sewing it." She draped the wedding dress over herself and turned once in front of the mirror. "Hedda, do you think the Godfather will like it if I wear this to see him?" The pearls on the dress shimmered under the light. My mother had made it with the last breath of strength left in her body. At the time, she was gravely ill and about to pass away. She said she could not watch me get married, but this wedding dress would accompany me toward happiness in her place. Through gritted teeth, I said, "Put it down!" At some point, Woodrow had appeared in the doorway. He shouted at the same time I did, "Stop!" Susanna's eyes instantly reddened. "Godfather, from now on I have to wear Hedda's face and live Hedda's life. I will never be able to marry you in glory." "I only wanted to wear Hedda's wedding dress once. You won't even allow that?" Woodrow glanced at me lying on the floor. His brows tightened, then loosened, and he gave Susanna a helpless sigh. "Once you take her place as the Godfather's wife, you will naturally have countless gowns to choose from. A worn wedding dress is not worth your concern." Susanna let her tears fall pitifully. Woodrow changed his mind again. "Forget it. Hedda won't have any use for it after this. If you like it, take it." But Susanna grabbed a pair of scissors and pouted. "I don't like it now! I want to ruin it, so I won't feel sad every time I think about not being able to wear a wedding dress." In the end, Woodrow said only one thing. "As you wish." The wedding dress split with the sound. Pearls scattered, bouncing and rolling to my feet with bright little clinks. I seemed to see my gravely ill mother working day and night, leaning against the bed, gritting her teeth as she sewed each pearl on stitch by stitch... Tears fell from my eyes. I hated only myself for being unable to protect the last thing my mother had left me. "Why are you crying?" Susanna crouched down and shoved the wedding dress, now cut into pieces, toward me. "I'm giving it back to you, aren't I?" Woodrow stood beside her, watching without expression. I remembered our wedding day, when he lifted my veil and looked at me with burning eyes. "Hedda, you are so beautiful, and so is the dress." "When we are old, wear it for me again." Only seven years had passed, and he had forgotten it completely. He had also forgotten how he swore before my mother's grave that he would never let me suffer even the smallest grievance. I reached out and gathered the dress into my arms piece by piece, murderous intent churning in my heart. Susanna ran excitedly back to the chest and rummaged through it. The bracelet my mother left me, the gold necklace my father made, the jewels my brother gave me, all were taken out one by one. Finally, she held up a diamond ring flecked with impurities. "Hedda, you're the daughter of the biggest arms dealer. Why would you keep something so cheap?" I squeezed out a sound like air through a broken bellows. "Heh... Before Woodrow married me, the Godfather barely remembered he had this son. This cheap thing was all he could give me as a proposal ring. It was our token of love." My voice was very soft. But I bit hard on the words "cheap" and "token of love." Woodrow snatched the ring, his face changing several times. Perhaps he was unwilling to admit that only because my father and I used all the resources of the Taylor family did he ever have the chance to stand before the old Godfather. Even less was he willing to remember that, when he pledged his love to me, he had nothing of value on him at all. Only this diamond ring his mother had left behind. "Woodrow." Susanna whined unhappily, "You're holding that ring so tightly. Are you still thinking about your old feelings for Hedda? Do you think I'm in the way now?" Woodrow looked down at me from above and stuffed the ring into Susanna's hand. "I only thought of my mother. It was something she left behind. Keep it for me." "Let's go. Tomorrow, she has to be delivered to the skin-grafter without a scratch. Let her spend her last night properly." I was carried back to the bed again. Susanna took Woodrow's arm and walked to the door, then turned back and smiled at me. "Hedda, after tomorrow, your face will be mine." I carved that smile into my heart. I hoped she would still be able to smile after enduring the pain of being skinned.
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