Chapter 1

I worshipped Liam Hayes for seven years.

I was less than dust beneath his feet.

And finally, all that devotion paid off.

I became his fiancée.

Until the day his old flame, Mia, fell down a flight of stairs, a fall she blamed on me.

He broke my finger in a rage.

Then he had me committed to a mental hospital that was nothing short of hell.

He said it was the only way I could atone.

Later, when I came back covered in scars, my soul a wasteland of ash, he was the one who fell apart.

"Chloe," he begged, "just stay with me. I'll do anything."

……

It was Liam who picked me up the day I got out of the institution.

The man was leaning against his Bugatti, smoking, his profile sharp and handsome.

Through a cloud of smoke, he shot me a careless glance.

"Get over here."

Before, a single command from him was all it took.

I’d have come running like a dog.

I wouldn't have even waited for him to speak; I would have just clung to him.

Everyone in our circle knew the story.

Chloe Vance, the heiress who acted like a lovesick puppy for Liam Hayes.

But now, hearing that voice sent a chill straight through my bones.

My back went rigid.

I stood there, frozen, like a walking corpse.

When Liam saw me hesitate, his expression cooled instantly.

"What are you doing now?"

"Get in the car."

"I-I'm coming, please don't hit me!"

A phantom pain flared up in my mind.

I practically scrambled toward him, moving as fast as my body would allow.

The Director always said disobedient sluts had to be punished.

The electric shocks were agony, a pain so intense it made my whole body tremble and writhe until I just went numb.

But I'd forgotten about the leg they ruined in that place, and I stumbled, falling hard to the ground.

It was as if I couldn't feel the pain.

I just kept trying to run.

I had to hurry.

It was like an electric cattle prod was pressed against the small of my back.

The moment the Director flipped the switch, my whole body would convulse.

Liam couldn't watch anymore.

He strode over, scooped me up, and practically threw me into the car.

I curled into a ball, my forehead beaded with cold sweat.

When Liam leaned over to fasten my seatbelt, I couldn't stop myself from screaming.

"Don't touch me!"

It hurts, it really hurts, it's over, I touched Liam.

I'm shameless, I'm trash, the Director is going to punish me now.

Six long months of torment in that hospital had conditioned me to immediately brace for unbearable pain.

I could see the Director in her white coat, strapping the electrodes to my head, to my body.

She'd flip a switch.

The current would surge.

I would flop around like a dying fish.

They’d splash high-concentration pepper spray on my open wounds, the sting so bad it made the world spin.

They’d take a small knife to my half-healed scars, carving them open again.

They’d drive needles under my fingernails, one by one, then pry the nails themselves off…

The Director would sit in front of me, playing videos of Liam and Mia being happy together, over and over.

She would grab a fistful of my hair, her voice a vicious warning.

"Mr. Hayes belongs to my niece, Mia. A man like that is not for you to fantasize about, do you understand?"

"They're in love. You're just the slut who got in the way, a disgusting little homewrecker. In the old days, a whore like you would've been run out of town on a rail! You should be grateful we're giving you this chance to reform."

She made me strip naked and get on my hands and knees, begging for forgiveness.

She said it was the only way to cure my "slutty nature" and my "bad habit of seducing men."

But I never understood what I had done wrong.

I was Liam's fiancée, the one he was supposed to marry, yet I was thrown into this hellhole because I’d crossed his precious old flame.

The searing pain in my scalp and the sting of her slaps across my face made me numbly obey.

In the dead of winter, I was naked, prostrated on the cold floor with no dignity left, promising her, "I'll never do it again. Someone as worthless as me doesn't deserve to be near Liam."

A bucket of ice water came down over my head, and the middle-aged woman grabbed my face, her voice cold.

"Are you worthy of saying Mr. Hayes' name? From now on, you will call him Mr. Hayes!"

I was shaking so hard from the cold, my teeth chattering.

"I'm sorry," I stammered, "I… I'll never go near Mr. Hayes again."

Only then was she satisfied.

She laughed, a triumphant, ugly sound, and brought me a bowl of leftover soup and half a stale bread roll.

"Eat up, you bitch," she said, as if granting me a great favor.

Watching me tear into the bread like a wild animal, she clicked her tongue in disgust.

"Looks like she hasn't eaten in a century. Hard to believe she comes from money."

I heard the Director laughing on the phone.

"Don't you worry, Mia, darling. I'll make sure she suffers."

Now, Liam was looking at my terrified state with a deep frown.

"What the hell is wrong with you?"

"Are you still pulling this crap?"

He added, "You never used to be like this."

If he hadn't said it, I would have almost forgotten who I used to be, after nearly half a year of living like something not quite human.

I bit my lip, my mouth opening and closing silently.

A storm was raging inside me.

Whose fault was it that I'm like this now?

But I didn't dare say it.

Just thinking about it brought the pain back.

Seeing my blank stare and empty eyes, Liam clicked his tongue in frustration.

He pulled a tissue from the console and reached toward me.

I immediately threw my arms over my head in a conditioned reflex.

"Chloe's a good girl, please don't hit me. Chloe will listen!" I repeated, my voice trembling.

The man froze for a long moment.

"What kind of game are you playing now?" he asked, his tone unreadable.