Chapter 1
The dark, damp space reeked of blood. They dragged Tamara Saunders’s mother in, her head covered.
Behind her, a giant iron cage held three beasts.
A tiger. A fierce dog. A massive python. All of them glared, hungry, waiting for the gate to open, and ready to devour their prey.
“Tamara, pick one.”
Three wooden sticks appeared in Darwin’s slender hand, his tone laced with a faint, mocking smile.
A few steps away, her frail, trembling mother couldn’t make a sound—her mouth was gagged tight.
Tamara instantly realized what Darwin was planning. Her heart pounded, blood surging backward. She stared at him, shaken. Even her voice trembled.
“She’s my mom. She’s my only family in this world. Please don’t hurt her… I beg you…‘
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Darwin, the son of a mafia kingpin, had learned cruelty from a young age. Tamara knew–this wasn’t a bluff.
“What if I have to hurt her?”
He lifted her chin, his eyes smiling but hiding a dangerous intent
underneath.
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“Tamara, how many times have I told you? Bella’s dying. She won’t last a month. Why must you keep fighting her?”
Grief surged through Tamara.
She swallowed the bitterness in her throat, her voice hoarse. “There won’t be a next time. My mom’s on the edge. I had no choice…”
“Hmph!”
Darwin snorted coldly. “And yet Bella fainted because of you. You make a mistake, you pay.”
Once again, he held the wooden sticks out to her, eyes impatient.
“Pick one, Tamara. Don’t make me say it a third time.
“You’ve got three seconds. If you don’t choose, I’ll choose for you. Three…
“Two…
“One!”
Her heart leaped to her throat. She dropped to her knees with a thud.
“No!”
Too late. Darwin made the choice for her.
The cage opened. Her mother was thrown inside like a rag doll.
The beasts pounced instantly. The tiger and dog roared, jaws wide open. In a flash, one tore off her arm, and the other went for her neck.
Blood gushed, staining Tamara’s vision red.
“No-!”
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Frantic, she lunged forward, only to find herself pinned to the ground by the guards, unable to move.
Three hours earlier, she had barely made it home alive. The butler told her that her mother had suffered a heart attack and was critical.
Ignoring the gunshot wound on her shoulder, Tamara rushed her mother to the hospital, only to be told that Bella had accidentally cut the quick while trimming her cat’s nails–and got scratched.
Every expert in the hospital had been pulled for Bella’s emergency.
Furious, Tamara shoved a gun into Bella’s head, which made her faint on the spot.
Thanks to that, her mother was saved.
But it didn’t take long for Darwin to hear about it.
He simply smiled, unreadable, and drove her straight to the Xavier’s residence underground torture chamber.
Tamara never imagined things would come to this.
Tears blurred her vision. She didn’t understand. After eight years together, how could Darwin do this to her?
The first time they met, she was just a poor student, waiting tables at a bar to survive. She accidentally spilled a drink on an important guest. Furious, the man shouted he’d cut off her hand. Darwin showed up in time and shot the man’s right hand uselessly, but got ambushed later and was bedridden for a month.
The second time, her mother fell sick. Afraid her daughter couldn’t afford the surgery, her mother climbed to the hospital rooftop, ready to jump. Darwin caught her just in time, his wrist torn and bleeding against the
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rough stone–but he never let go.
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The third time, she had just joined the Xavier family. Inexperienced, she fell into a rival’s trap during a delivery. She was moments from death when Darwin appeared like an angel, pulling her back from the brink. He took a bullet to the chest that almost killed him.
For eight years of marriage, every month, Darwin secretly hid a love letter under her pillow.
One day, she accidentally spilled water on one of the letters. As the ink bled, she noticed–beneath her name, another name was hidden.
Ninety–six letters–all exactly the same.
She was just a pathetic stand–in.
Even so, she never believed Darwin had no feelings for her. She still wanted to give him a chance.
She thought if she tried hard enough, she could take that woman’s place
in his heart.
Then, two months ago, Bella came back.
Darwin changed overnight.
Especially after hearing Bella didn’t have much time left.
He went insane trying to make her happy. Smothered her with attention. Spent more and more nights away from home. The scent of another woman clung to him. Red marks began appearing on his neck.
He kept holding her, explaining softly, “Honey, she won’t last much
longer. Once I help her through these final days, I’ll be with you for life. Just wait a little longer, okay?”
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She believed him.
128544–chars
Tamara had always been a little too proud. She bet that she still held a place in Darwin’s heart.
Only now did she realize how terribly wrong she was.
And she paid a price she could never bear.
Just days ago, her mother had reminded her to eat well. Now, her mother was gone in the cruelest way imaginable.
Tamara broke down, sobbing. She fought with everything she had, finally breaking free from the bodyguards. Stumbling to her mother’s side, she grabbed a gun with trembling hands and shot the snarling beast dead. Then collapsed beside her mother.
The cloth over the face had been torn apart. She froze.
It wasn’t her mother. It was the surgeon who operated on her mother yesterday.
Satisfied with her reaction, Darwin finally walked over. He bent down in front of her, slowly reached out, and wiped her tears. His thumb lightly touched his lips.
“Such a pity.
“Tamara, next time, I won’t play around.”
Tamara stared at him, stunned.
Darwin pulled her into his arms, hard.
“Honey, I told you. Bella doesn’t have much time left. I just want her to be happy every single day. You know I like you. So can you give in? Don’t
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make this hard for me.”
Tamara said nothing. She didn’t move.
Even after Darwin left, she never looked at him.
She admitted defeat in this battle with Bella.
With trembling hands, Tamara called Darwin’s father, George Xavier.
“I’ve made up my mind. I’m willing to leave your son.”
There was a soft chuckle on the other end.
“Smart choice. You’ll leave in a month.”
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