Part 3The Four Targets

Seraphina dragged herself toward me, her leg bleeding and bent at an unnatural angle, and seized my collar.

“Who are you trying to impress with this death wish, Ethan? Do you think this makes me feel sorry for you?!”

At the same time, the System’s voice chimed in.

【Host, detecting a rise in Seraphina Beaumont’s affection score. Do you wish to resume the mission?】

I stared at her in shock. She was already on her phone, telling her assistant to cancel the rest of the wedding ceremony. She felt my gaze and looked up, her expression unreadable. I calmly looked away.

“No.”

All I want now is to go home.

A driver took me back to my small apartment. It was only then that I noticed the scrapes and bruises covering my body, caked with a mixture of grime and dried blood. I found a first-aid kit and was about to clean the wounds when the door was kicked open.

Lily stormed in, her face contorted with rage, and kicked me squarely in the stomach.

“Where did you take Adrian? If anything happens to him, I’ll make you wish you were never born!”

Seraphina and Clarissa followed her in, their expressions just as menacing.

“So that’s what this was all about,” Clarissa sneered. “All those pathetic suicide attempts were just a distraction to cover your tracks. I’m telling you, Ethan, if Adrian is harmed in any way, I will kill you myself.”

I had no idea where he was. But their words sparked a dark, desperate thought.

If they cared about him that much… maybe his disappearance would finally push them over the edge.

Maybe they would finally kill me.

Seeing my silence, a flicker of pure hatred crossed Seraphina’s face.

“It seems you won’t talk unless we give you a reason to.”

She grabbed a bottle of rubbing alcohol from the first-aid kit and poured it directly onto my open wounds.

The sharp, searing pain made my body seize. A cold sweat broke out across my forehead. But they weren’t finished. Bodyguards pinned my arms and legs to the floor. Lily returned with a pair of fire tongs, glowing red-hot from the stove, while Seraphina continued to douse my cuts with alcohol.

I was terrified.

I wanted to die, but not like this, not tortured to death!

I thrashed wildly, but a heavy blow to the back of my head silenced my struggles. Blood streamed down my face, and the strength drained from my limbs. I could barely whisper.

“Just… kill me…”

My defiance only seemed to fuel Seraphina’s rage. She grabbed a fruit knife from the kitchen counter and knelt over me. The tip of the blade, gleaming with cold light, hovered less than an inch from my left eye.

“Do you really think this will make us feel pity? I’ll ask you one last time. Where is Adrian?!”

My face was ashen, but I forced my lips into a triumphant, mocking smile.

“Adrian? Oh, I killed him,” I rasped. “I threw his body into the sea for the sharks!”

I looked at each of them, my voice rising with a delirious, final burst of energy. “You all loved him so much, didn’t you? You all wanted to marry him! Too bad that will never happen now.”

“So go on! Kill me! Avenge your precious Adrian!”

Seraphina’s eyes blazed. With a guttural scream of pure fury, she plunged the knife deep into my chest.

My body went limp. As the world faded to black, a cheerful, familiar voice drifted in from the courtyard.

“Hey, what’s everyone doing here? I brought snacks! Ah! Why is there so much blood?”