When I Lost My Emotions, He Lost Me Forever

Chapter 9

Outside the emergency room, Sebastian flew into a rage and grabbed Elara by the collar.

"You vicious b***h! How could you hurt your own son? Do you hate him that much? Because he didn't recognize you back then? Because he called Vivienne 'Mom'? You're not fit to be anyone's mother! You heartless monster!"

Elara's face was wrapped in bandages, with only her eyes exposed.

They looked straight through him with a chilling calm, utterly devoid of emotion.

Vivienne stood nearby, tears glistening in her eyes as she held back the furious Sebastian. "Honey, calm down. Maybe there's more to this?"

Sebastian's eyes burned red with fury. "Vivienne, stop defending her. I asked Lucas before they took him in. He identified Elara. She did this!"

Elara blinked slowly. "Then call the police."

Sebastian's rage seemed to hit a wall before flaring even harder. "You know damn well I can't call the police. Is that your game? You think there's nothing I can do to you?"

Vivienne's eyes flashed. "Actually, I know a doctor who specializes in... behavioral correction. Why not send Elara to him? Let him teach her a lesson. We can bring her back once she's learned to behave."

Breathing hard, Sebastian glanced at the ER doors and then at Elara's disfigured face. He hesitated.

Vivienne lowered her voice. "My friend promised it'd be completely safe. There won't be any risk."

At that, Sebastian gave a grim nod. "Do it."

The moment Lucas was out of danger, they took Elara to a converted factory that reeked of bleach and acid.

When the man in the white coat stepped out, his face twisted into a web of scars, Elara's whole body began to shake violently.

It was N.V.

He had survived the explosion she set after all.

Only now he was disfigured, skulking in the filth like a sewer rat.

N.V. twisted his mouth at Elara, revealing a warped, horrifying smile.

Elara shuddered involuntarily.

Memories of captivity, forced injections, and watching her companions die horrific deaths came crashing back like a tidal wave.

Almost on instinct, she turned to Sebastian, her voice raw with desperation.

"No... Don't! Sebastian... take me home! Please... get me out of here! He's the one who kidn*pped me! He'll kill me!"

Sebastian frowned, his eyes filled with nothing but impatience.

"What kind of nonsense are you spewing now? You'd make up something like this just to avoid punishment?"

He didn't recognize N.V. at all.

He had no idea who N.V. was.

To him, Elara only looked even more disgusting, and he despised her all the more for it.

N.V. grinned as he took in the scene with obvious delight.

"Mr. Blackwood, the patient appears to be in a severe state of distress. Perhaps you'd like to observe the treatment process for yourself. Just so you can feel at ease."

Sebastian hesitated for a moment, but he didn't refuse.

He was led into an adjoining observation room, where he watched through a one-way mirror as N.V. walked toward Elara, who had been strapped to a chair, holding a syringe filled with some unknown liquid.

The moment the cold needle pierced her skin, unbearable pain detonated through Elara's nerves.

Her body convulsed violently, and a guttural scream ripped from her throat.

Within seconds, her clothes were soaked through with sweat, and her cries began to weaken.

N.V. injected another dose.

Elara let out a piercing scream and toppled to the floor with the chair.

Warm urine spread through her clothes.

She had lost control of her bladder.

Standing outside the glass, Sebastian watched with a barely perceptible twitch of his brow.

Just then, Vivienne slipped her hand around his arm.

"Elara is so fragile, isn't she? Making this much of a scene over a little nerve agent. She even wet herself... How pathetic... Think about Lucas. Think about how he suffered when he could barely breathe from that allergic reaction."

Sebastian's body stiffened slightly as the image of Lucas lying weak and barely conscious in that hospital bed flashed through his mind. The faint flicker of pity in his eyes was swallowed by icy darkness.

Yes, that vicious woman had nearly killed his son. The pain was exactly what she deserved.

Without another glance at the figure writhing in agony behind the glass, he turned and strode away. "Leave her here. In seven days, we'll decide whether to take her back depending on how she behaves."

With that, he walked out of the suffocating hellhole without looking back.

Elara lay on her side, her eyes bloodshot.

As she watched his retreating back, her lips moved stiffly.

"Seven, six..."

N.V. leaned closer, grinning. "What's that, Doctor?"

Elara seemed neither to see him nor hear him.

Her eyes remained fixed on Sebastian's receding figure.

"Three, two, one."

As the countdown ended, Sebastian turned the corner and disappeared.

Tears slipped from Elara's eyes, yet her lips curved into a smile of bleak relief.

In seven days? Nope.

Those final seven seconds between them were the end.