He Punished Me For Her

Chapter 4

Nora.

My Nora.

She still found out.

I lay on the filthy carpet, glimpsing Nora's tiny silhouette faintly through the c***k in the door.

At that moment, I wished I were already dead.

"Nora... go... hurry and go..." I forced the words out in a breathless whisper.

I wasn't afraid of death, nor of being violated.

But I couldn't let Nora hear this, couldn't let her see the mother she worshiped most, lying there like a stray dog with its spine snapped.

Nora threw herself from the taxi and stumbled to her knees before Adrian.

"Dad! Please, let Mom out!"

The 12-year-old girl's voice had gone hoarse from crying. She struck her forehead against the tiled floor, and blood streamed down her face.

"Mom has been sick for a long time. The doctor said her organs are failing... Dad, how could you send her into a place like this? Please, let me take her place. Please!"

Hearing the words "her organs are failing," Adrian staggered as if physically struck.

He instinctively looked toward the tightly shut private room door.

From inside came the dull thud of something hitting the floor, followed by my own shrill scream twisted beyond recognition.

A flicker of pain crossed Adrian's eyes, and his foot involuntarily stepped forward.

Sabrina suddenly spoke up impatiently.

"Are you done yet? Mother and daughter staging a little act together—who are you performing for? How boring.

"Adrian, you're not actually falling for this, are you? It's the same old hysterical routine—crying, screaming, and threatening suicide. Old pros."

Adrian's feet rooted to the spot. He frowned. "Evelyn, if you're trying to win me back with this stunt, I advise you to give up that notion right now."

He turned to look at Nora kneeling on the ground.

"Get Nora out of here! She shouldn't have to hear any of this filth!"

"No, Dad!" Nora fought the bodyguards in a panic. "Mom is going to die! She really is!"

The bodyguards forcibly dragged Nora away.

Before Nora was dragged off, her scream reverberated off the hallway walls: "Dad, you'll regret this! You'll regret this for the rest of your life!

"Mom, don't be afraid. I'll go find Grandpa, I'll definitely find someone to save you..."

I lay on the ground, tears and blood mingling together, desperately crawling toward the door.

But the next second, a foot stomped heavily on my back, pressing my entire body back to the floor.

The buzz-cut thug heard the commotion outside and laughed even more wildly than before.

"You heard that, Mrs. Prescott? Your husband says enjoy yourself!"

He suddenly grabbed my hair and smashed my head viciously against the corner of the coffee table.

"This little 'service'— we guarantee you'll remember it till your dying day!"

By the time my father knelt in the club corridor, more than an hour had dragged by.

My father, retired General Robert Brooks—the man who had never flinched under gunfire—now bent a back that had never bowed to anyone before Adrian.

"Mr. Prescott... Evelyn has been frail since she was a child. She is my whole world. Please show mercy and let me take her home. When you had nothing, I gave you every cent of my retirement savings to start your company. In all her years with the Prescott family, Evelyn has never wronged you. For the sake of everything we once shared, please spare her life."

My mother kept fainting from crying.

"Mr. Prescott, please have mercy and let Evelyn out! Her body can't survive this!"

My fingers suddenly clenched tight, nails digging into the carpet fibers.

The thing I feared most was letting them see me like this.

Adrian seemed to flinch as if stung by the words "everything we once shared," his voice faltering.

"Mr. Brooks, I only..."

Before he could finish, Sabrina burst out laughing.

"What, using that pocket change to guilt-trip him?

"And here I thought the general had some backbone. Turns out he was just clinging to old favors to force his hand. No wonder Evelyn only knows how to play the martyr—the whole family uses the same tired routine."

"Shut the f**k up!"

My father snapped his head up, glaring daggers at her.

"You destroyed my daughter's marriage and made her suffer. Even if it costs me my life today, I will make you answer for it!"

My father braced his hands against his knees and pushed himself to his feet.

Adrian's expression changed. He stepped in front of Sabrina. "Robert Brooks, touch her and see what happens!"