My Son Died, He Saved His Adopted Daughter

Chapter 5

Victor snapped his eyes open and dodged just in time, but the blade still left a jagged red gash across his face.

He touched the wound, his heart hammering in his chest as his expression darkened.

Just as he reached out to wrest the dagger from Julia’s grasp, Chloe’s voice drifted in from the doorway.

"Uncle Victor? I can't sleep..."

Chloe stood there in a nightgown and rabbit slippers, her slender, pale legs exposed.

As she appeared shyly at the study door, she met Julia’s icy, murderous gaze head-on.

She froze.

Before she could even react, Julia lunged, grabbing her by the hair and driving the dagger straight toward her chest.

"Ah!"

Chloe let out a piercing scream, struggling wildly.

In the chaos, Julia’s hand wavered, and the blade buried itself in Chloe's back instead.

Ignoring her frustration, Julia immediately pulled the knife back for a second strike, aiming directly for Chloe’s throat.

"You lunatic! Get away! Don’t you dare touch her!"

Just as the blade was about to pierce Chloe’s throat, Victor threw himself forward with total disregard for his own safety, taking the blow for her.

Blood sprayed from his chest, but as if he were immune to the pain, he only stared at Chloe with bloodshot eyes, checking her injuries.

"Uncle Victor, it hurts so much... am I going to die?"

Chloe lay limp in Victor’s arms, weeping piteously.

Victor spiraled into an immediate panic.

Like a wounded beast, he kicked Julia away and scooped Chloe up. He rushed toward the exit, roaring at the bodyguards who had scrambled toward the commotion.

"Hurry! Save her! If anything happens to Chloe, I’ll have all your heads!"

He turned back to Julia, his usually composed eyes burning with a primal, savage rage.

"The woman has lost her mind. String her up and beat her senseless!"

The dagger was wrenched from Julia’s hand. Her wrists were bound, and she was hoisted up from a ceiling beam.

A whip soaked in chili water lashed across her skin, instantly flaying her open.

The capsaicin seared into the raw meat of her wounds, making every second an agonizing hell. Soon, her entire body was a roadmap of bloody welts.

Julia screamed in agony, cold sweat drenching her clothes like a torrential rain.

She lost track of how long the beating lasted. Just as she felt herself slipping toward death...

Her phone buzzed. A bodyguard answered it—it was a video call from Chloe.

On the screen, Chloe lay pale on a hospital bed, though the malice in her eyes was sharp enough to cut.

"Julia, did you really think killing me would avenge your son? Let me tell you a secret—when those kidnappers were torturing your brat, Uncle Victor was watching the dark web livestream too. Ethan was such a pathetic sight. His face was a mess, and he kept wheezing for his mommy. Uncle Victor didn't even recognize him. He even tipped 200,000 credits himself, which is what finally ended Ethan's life..."

Julia’s head snapped up. She stared at Chloe, an inhuman, guttural wail tearing from her throat.

"Ahhh!"

Seeing Julia’s soul-crushing agony, Chloe finally flashed a satisfied smile.

"Who told you and that little bastard to hog Uncle Victor? I even crawled into his bed in lingerie a dozen times, and he still wouldn’t touch me... I’m going to torment you until he belongs entirely to me!"

She seemed to think of an even crueler game and forwarded the livestream footage of Ethan’s final moments.

Then, she barked an order to the guards.

"Keep her eyes on that screen. Make her watch that video a thousand times! Don’t let her skip a single second!"

The gruesome torture scenes were projected onto the wall, and Ethan’s shrill, agonized screams filled the room.

"Mommy, it hurts! Ethan hurts!"

In an instant, Julia felt herself dragged back to that pitch-black chemical factory.

Just like that day, she was bound and helpless, forced to watch as her precious child was butchered.

Her heart felt as if it were hemorrhaging; every breath tasted of iron and shattered organs.

"Ethan! Ethan! Mommy’s coming! I’ll save you!"

Julia’s mind snapped as she desperately tried to lunge at the wall.

A guard’s whip cracked down on her, making her body jerk violently.

"Stay still! Miss Chloe said you don't get to leave!"

The white-hot pain dragged Julia back to reality. She realized there was only a blank white wall in front of her.

The realization that her son was truly, irrevocably dead hit her like a physical blow.

She suddenly convulsed, spitting out a massive spray of blood.

Before the darkness swallowed her, she caught the guards' hushed voices.

"The Madam looks like she's dying. How the hell do we report this to Mr. Hayes?"

"Just toss her in the river. We'll say she escaped—it's not our problem..."

Her body was swallowed by the cold current.

Julia’s consciousness grew hazy as she sank toward the riverbed.

Then, she seemed to see Ethan.

He was running across a sun-drenched lawn, as free and happy as a little bird.

No—she couldn't die.

She hadn’t avenged him yet. The monsters who slaughtered him hadn't paid their debt in blood.

She absolutely could not die!

Julia’s eyes flew open. Using the very last of her strength, she clawed her way toward the surface.

When she finally dragged herself onto the muddy shore, she coughed up lungfuls of water, greedily gasping for air.

Julia tightened her grip on her phone, closed her eyes, and hit 'send,' uploading the video of her son’s torture and Chloe’s chat logs directly to the police.