Chapter 9%
Damien quietly shut off the recording.
Then, he turned and walked slowly toward Veronica.}
Panic crept into her voice. “Damien, please, listen to me. It’s not what you think. Damien, please… Ah!“}
Damien had lost all reason. He beat Veronica with all the strength he had.”
She collapsed in the corner, bloodied and broken, a pathetic shell of herself.
Her hands and feet were twisted at unnatural angles, obviously fractured.}
When it was over, Damien stood over her. Emotionally and physically shattered, he turned to me.”
He dropped to his knees.
“Vivian… I’m sorry.”
I looked at him with hollow, lifeless eyes. I said nothing.
From that moment on, I never spoke again. I had become mute.
It took a psychiatrist an entire year to bring me back from the edge.}
And the day I finally came to, I cried but made no sound.}
All this time, I thought I was the one protecting my daughter, fighting desperately to save her.
But in the end, it was she who had been protecting me.”
She endured everything, held on through the pain, just to try and get me out of that hell they called the Women’s Virtue Class. We had been trying to save each other.
I bought a bouquet of flowers and walked quietly to the cemetery.
Slowly, I laid them gently on my daughter’s grave.}
Then I wrapped my arms around the cold stone marker, holding it as if I were holding her.”
But the tombstone was icy and hard, nothing like my daughter’s soft, warm little body.
Just then, I heard footsteps behind me.
It was Damien.
He spoke in a low voice. “Dear, come with me. There’s a place I want to show you. Maybe it will help ease your heart.“}
I said nothing, only followed him silently to the car.
The place he brought me to turned out to be the old Women’s Virtue Class.
But now, it stood abandoned with only a few people around.}
Damien then said, “I’ve had everyone from this place arrested.”
“I shipped them overseas and punished them all in kind.“}
“Don’t worry, my love. The pain you and Elise suffered… I’ve repaid them a thousandfold.“}
“Half of them have already taken their own lives. As for the rest, even if they beg for death, I won’t allow it. I’ll make sure they live out every day in torment worse than death.“}
I still said nothing.”
My eyes wandered over the familiar buildings and cages.
One by one, the painful memories returned, curling around my heart like thoms.
At last, Damien led me to a cage at the far end.”
Inside, hunched low like a frightened animal, was a woman.
It was Veronica.
After a year without seeing her, she was gaunt, her hair disheveled, reeking with a foul stench. She seemed like a deranged beggar. Seeing us coming, Veronica hid in the corner of the cage in panic.
Damien turned on the power switch next to him.”
Veronica screamed, her body convulsing violently under the electric current.
Only when she passed out did he flip the switch off
He turned to me. “Whenever I miss our daughter, I come here and torture her.”
“Watching her suffer dulls the pain a little.”
I still said nothing.
Damien stepped forward and wrapped his arms around me gently. “Vivian, my love, can you forgive me?”
“Sending you to that Women’s Virtue Class is the worst mistake of my life.”
“Please, give me another chance. Let’s go back to how things were. Let’s have another child… someone as sweet and lovely as our precious Elise.“%
The moment he spoke my daughter’s name, a coldness crept through me like frost down my spine.}}
(had made a decision.
nd a soft warm emila onto my face and Innkert un at him “Namien ran vollen this rane for a moment?”
C
11:06 AM
I forced a soft, warm smile onto my face and looked up at him. “Damien, can you open this cage for a moment?“>
Damien noticed that I had finally spoken and immediately nodded hurriedly. “Yes, okay.“}
He was so desperate for my forgiveness that he did not stop a second to think.
With that, he opened the cage in a flattering manner.
D
11:06 AM
