Scars of Your Betrayal: Her Late Regret

The hemp rope cut brutally into the back of my neck, the stinging pain finally bringing me back to reality.

My former fiance, the woman who once swore she would marry no one but me, had tied me up in an underground VIP gambling parlor. She was using me as a living dartboard target, all for the sake of her precious childhood sweetheart.

Ten razor-sharp throwing knives grazed my skin and slammed into the hardwood board behind me. Blood slowly seeped down the wood grain.

She stood right beside the dartboard, looking down at me. Her voice was as cold as poison.

"Ethan Reed, you owe this to Christian. Your mother stole his fathers life-saving donor heart back then. Its only fair you pay it back with your life."

I grit my teeth, refusing to make a sound. She had promised me that if I survived these ten knives, she would pay the overdue medical bills for my little sister in the ICU.

She had no idea that when the truth finally came out, it would completely break her.

Back then, it was my mother who had willingly signed the donor agreement to save Christian's father.

My mother didn't steal anything. In fact, she was framed by the Cole family while trying to protect the original agreement, and she died miserably in a prison cell.

Years later, Serena found my sisters grave. She knelt before the tombstone, slapping her own face repeatedly until her cheeks bled.

I stood by the roadside, glanced at her coldly for a brief second, and turned around to link arms with the person beside me.

I wouldnt give her even a shred of forgiveness.

The air in the underground gambling parlor was thick with the sickening stench of copper blood and cheap cigars.

I was bound tightly to a massive wooden spinning wheel.

"Ms. Vance, are we really going this far?" a rich playboy next to her asked, rubbing his hands together with a cruel, excited gleam in his eyes.

Serena Vance sat in the center of the room on a plush leather sofa.

Her long legs were crossed, and she was casually flipping a gleaming, silver throwing knife in her hand.

Christian Cole sat right beside her. His face was pale, but a smug, barely noticeable smirk played at the corner of his lips.

"Serena, lets forget it. Ethan looks like hes already hurt pretty badly. Itd be bad if something actually happened to him."

Serena let out a cold laugh, her gaze sweeping over my face like a blade.

"A killer's son? Since when does he deserve pity?"

She stood up and walked to a spot about fifteen feet away from me.

"Ten knives, Ethan. As long as they dont hit your vitals, Ill give you a hundred thousand dollars for each one."

"Finish all ten, and you get a million. That should be enough to cover your sick little sisters surgery and ICU bills."

My dry, cracked lips parted.

"Deal."

No hesitation. No begging.

A flash of sheer violence crossed Serena's eyes.

Three years ago, I was the pampered young heir of the Reed family whom she held in the palm of her hand.

Now, I was just a broken piece of trash who would discard his life for money.

She flicked her wrist.

*Whoosh*

The first knife grazed my cheek, slicing off a few strands of my hair before thudding deeply into the wooden board right next to my ear.

The coldness of the blade sent a shiver down my spine.

I didn't blink.

"One hundred thousand," I said, my voice completely flat.

Serena clenched her jaw so hard her facial muscles tensed.

The second knife grazed my neck.

The third knife brushed past my waist.

Each throw carried the sound of tearing wind, packed with her desire to tear me into a thousand pieces.

The crowd around us erupted into cheers.

I kept my eyes locked onto Serena's.

Those eyes, which used to be filled with deep affection, now held nothing but disgust and sadistic pleasure.

As the eighth knife was about to fly, Christian suddenly gasped. Pretending to lose his balance, he bumped hard against Serena's arm.

The trajectory of the knife shifted.

*Squelch.*

The blade sank straight into my left shoulder.

Blood erupted instantly, soaking through my faded, washed-out white shirt.

An agonizing pain ripped through my nerves. I let out a muffled groan, cold sweat immediately drenching my back.

"Oh my god! Im so sorry, Ethan! It was an accident!" Christian gasped, covering his mouth, but his eyes were dripping with pure malice.

Serena froze. Looking at the blood gushing from my shoulder, the hand holding the remaining two knives trembled slightly.

But she quickly masked her reaction, looking at me coldly.

"Does it hurt?"

"When your mother bribed the doctor and snatched the heart meant for Christian's father, Christian felt ten thousand times worse than this."

"Sins of the mother, paid by the son. You deserve every bit of this."

I looked at her and forced a pale, blood-stained smile.

"Ms. Vance, does this knife count? If it does, that makes it eight hundred thousand."

Serena stared at the smirk on my lips, the rims of her eyes turning a furious red.

She suddenly slammed the remaining two knives onto the floor.

"Ethan Reed! Do you get off on degrading yourself like this?!"

Tied to the board, my blood dripped slowly from my fingertips onto the floor.

"Ms. Vance, if I don't degrade myself, my sister dies."

"Give me the money."

The air in the private lounge froze instantly.

Serena stared at me, her chest heaving violently.

She strode over and grabbed my collar, pulling it so hard she nearly ripped my shirt apart.

"Are you really that desperate for money? To the point of throwing away your dignity?"

Forced to look up, I met her furious gaze.

"Can dignity pay for my sister's life?"

"If it can, Ms. Vance, give me a price. Ill sell it to you by the pound."

Serenas pupils dilated.

She let go of me instantly, as if she had been burned.

"Get him down," she ordered the bodyguards, her voice sounding raspy.

The moment the ropes were untied, my legs gave out, and I collapsed onto the floor.

The wound on my left shoulder was still bleeding, staining the expensive carpet.

Serena pulled out a checkbook, quickly scribbled a check for one million dollars, and walked over to me.

She didn't hand it to me.

Instead, she let it go. The check fluttered down, landing right in an ashtray filled with sharp, broken glass shards.

"Get it yourself," she said, looking down at me from above.

I didn't say a word.

Pushing myself up from the floor, I reached out my right hand and shoved it directly into the ashtray.

The sharp glass sliced into my fingers. Blood and ash mixed together instantly.

But I felt the paper.

I gripped the check tightly in my fist.

"Thank you for the charity, Ms. Vance."

Struggling to stay upright, I clutched my bleeding shoulder and took slow steps toward the exit.

"Hold on," Christian suddenly spoke up.

He stood up and walked over to block my path, a sneer on his face.

"Ethan, you got your dirty blood all over Serena's carpet. Do you really think you can just walk away?"

"Get on your knees and clean the carpet."

I stopped and looked back at Serena.

She stood in the shadows, making no attempt to stop him.

She was allowing it.

I looked down at the blood-stained check in my hand.

One million dollars.

My sister Lily was waiting for this money in the ICU to stay alive.

I closed my eyes, and my knees slowly began to bend.

Just as my knees were about to hit the floor, the heavy door of the VIP lounge was kicked open with a loud bang.

Fiona Sterling strode in, wearing a long black trench coat, carrying the cold wind of the storm with her.

She immediately saw me swaying on my feet, and the shocking amount of blood on my shoulder.

"Ethan!"

Fiona rushed over, catching me before I fell, and pressed her trench coat against my bleeding shoulder to stop the bleeding.

She spun around, glaring at Serena with eyes like daggers.

"Serena Vance, do you even have a soul?!"

Seeing Fiona holding me, Serena's eyes turned to ice instantly.

"Fiona, this is a private matter between Ethan and me. It's none of your business."

"Private?" Fiona sneered. "You mutilated him! This is aggravated assault! Ethan, lets go. Were calling the cops."

I grabbed Fionas arm and shook my head weakly.

"Fiona, please... take me to the hospital."

"My sister is waiting."

I couldn't call the police.

If the police got involved, Serena had a hundred ways to make sure that check got frozen, and I would never see a single dime.

Fiona looked at my pale face, a flash of deep heartache in her eyes.

She wrapped my arm around her shoulder and helped me walk out.

"Ethan Reed! If you walk out that door with her tonight, you wont get a single penny of this money!" Serenas furious voice roared from behind us.

Leaning against Fiona, I didnt look back.

"Ms. Vance, I already have the check."

"The transaction is complete. We owe each other nothing."

It was pouring rain outside.

Fiona helped me into her car, slammed her foot on the gas, and sped toward the municipal hospital.

The heater was blasting, but I was still shivering violently, my body freezing.

The wound on my left shoulder had gone completely numb.

I gripped the check like it was my sisters very last breath.

"Ethan, are you insane? She wanted to use you as a dartboard and you just let her?" Fiona yelled as she drove, her voice trembling with suppressed tears.

I stared out the window at the blurred city lights.

"Fiona, I had no choice."

"The hospital gave me a final ultimatum. If I didn't pay the overdue bills tonight, they would take Lily off the ventilator."

"My mother already died in prison. I can't lose Lily too."

Fiona slammed her hand against the steering wheel, her eyes rimmed with red.

"I told you I was getting the money together! Why won't you just take my money?!"

"Because I can never pay you back," I said softly.

Three years ago, when the Reed family went bankrupt and my mother was imprisoned, everyone avoided me like the plague.

Only Fiona, a poor student I had once sponsored who was now a brilliant elite lawyer, braved Serenas heavy suppression to help me in any way she could.

I already owed her far too much.

The car screeched to a halt in front of the hospital lobby.

I pushed the door open and stumbled inside.

"Nurse! I have the money! One million! Set up my sister's surgery right now!"

I rushed to the billing window and slammed the blood-stained check against the glass.

The night nurse took one look at the check, then at my bloody clothes, and gasped in shock.

She quickly took the check to verify it.

A few minutes later, she walked back, her expression incredibly grim.

"Mr. Reed... this check has been frozen."

My brain went completely blank.

"What? That's impossible! That's a Vance Corporation corporate check!"

"The bank just notified us. The issuer has canceled the payment order," the nurse said, looking at me with pity.

Serena Vance.

It was her.

She really was never going to let me go.

All the strength left my body in an instant. I slid down the cold wall, collapsing onto the floor.

"Ethan!" Fiona rushed over to support me.

I grabbed Fionas arm, my teeth clattering.

"Fiona... she stopped the payment... she stopped the check..."

"What about Lily? What is going to happen to Lily?!"

Just then, my phone buzzed.

It was a voice message on Snapchat from Christian.

With trembling fingers, I tapped it.

"Ethan, Serena says if you want the money, crawl back to the Vance mansion."

"Start from the front gates, and beg on your knees all the way to the living room."

"If you beg loud enough, shell release the million dollars immediately."

In the background of the voice message, I could hear Serenas cold, uncaring chuckle.

I gripped my phone so hard my knuckles turned white.

"Ethan, don't go! I'll call some people right now to get a loan!" Fiona tried to snatch the phone from my hand.

I pushed her away gently and stood up, leaning against the wall.

"There's no time."

"Fiona, watch over Lily for me."

I turned and ran straight into the pouring rain.