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My grudge has nothing to do with Marco, and I had no intention of dragging him into my revenge. I pinched Ellen’s trembling face and looked down at her.
“I won’t do anything to you,” I said softly. “After all, I raised you and Marco. I know exactly what’s in that little mind of yours. I won’t tell him what you did–there’s no need for Marco and I to fall out.”
“But if you get in my way again…” My voice dropped to a whisper, cold and sharp. “I won’t hesitate to deal with you. I’m not the old Geneva anymore. I’ve gone mad, completely. If you provoke me, you won’t live to regret it. Do you understand?“}
Ellen nodded frantically, eyes wide with terror. She knew I meant every word.
The warehouse door creaked open. I slipped into the shadows and vanished before Marco saw me.
From the distance, I heard her crying into Marco’s chest. No doubt she would spin her story perfectly. I didn’t care–I had what I needed. It was time for me to leave.
I returned to the place that had swallowed five years of my life: the mental hospital.
Dr. Leander White, my attending physician, spotted me immediately. He adjusted his glasses with that same cold indifference and said, “I’m not issuing you a certificate. Save yourself the effort.”
I’d expected that answer.
I smiled at him. “Aren’t you afraid I’ll kill you?“}
“You’re welcome to try,” he said coolly. “But without me, you’ll never prove you’re sane. Isn’t that what you want?“>
I fell silent.
Premembered the day Andrew had me dragged here. Back then, Dr. White had tried to stop it. He’d stood his ground.
f she’s
“She’s not mentally ill. I refuse to admit her. I don’t care if she’s from the Weber Family or the another family–I only treat patients.“}
At first, they placed me in a general ward. But when certain unstable patients began targeting me, my mind began to fracture. Bit by bit, Leander had been forced to treat me as one of his own.§
He’d always been stubborn. I knew I couldn’t convince him now, not with words.
I stood up to leave–but the injuries from my recent beating hadn’t healed. A sharp pain shot through me, and everything went black as I collapsed.”
I didn’t know how long I was out.
But when I opened my eyes, I realized I’d slept–truly slept–for the first time in ten years.
I was lying in a clean bedroom in a high–rise apartment. The calendar on the wall showed I’d been unconscious for two days.
Someone had changed my clothes. I peeled back my collar and saw that every wound had been carefully bandaged.”
The door opened, and Leander stepped in. He coughed, avoiding eye contact. “It wasn’t me. I had a female nurse do the bandaging.”
I nodded and climbed out of bed.
As I passed him, heading toward the door, he suddenly said, “I’ll give you the mental health certificate. In three days.”
I paused, surprised. Just days ago, he’d refused outright. Why the sudden change?}
But I didn’t ask. The result was all that mattered.}
As I reached the hallway, he added behind me, quietly, “Do whatever you need to do.“}
He watched me leave, sighing deeply.
Leander had treated countless patients over the years, but never had he seen a girl with so many scars–so many wounds without a single patch of unbroken skin.
What kind of life had she lived these past ten years??
After settling what needed to be done, I returned to the Weber Family estate.
I lied and said I had escaped, fell off a cliff, and was rescued by a mountain villager. That’s how I’d survived.
Andrew didn’t ask for details. As long as my eyes were intact, nothing else mattered to him.
But Diane… her face twisted in fury.”
She and Ellen had sworn I would never return alive–and yet, here I was, perfectly fine.
She called Ellen in secret. The reply was short and sharp:
“Take care of yourself.”
After that, there was silence.
“Sp useless,” Diane spat. “Can’t even handle one woman. Looks like I’ll have to do it myself.“}
She narrowed her eyes, voice cold with venom. “Geneva, just wait. Your wedding day will be the day you die.”
Outwardly, she was calm. She didn’t stir up trouble. Instead, she threw herself into helping prepare for the wedding, even convincing Andrew to make it grand and livestream it for the whole city.”
Andrew, pleased with her ‘sincerity, agreed and promised to take her on a world tour after her eyesight was restored.
But I wasn’t fooled.
Behind her smiling face was a deadly scheme.}}
According to their plan, the wedding would proceed as scheduled. Once I had walked through the ceremony, once the cameras were gone and the applause faded, they would drag me into the operating room.}
They would take my eyes.}
After that, Geneva would cease to exist.”
I sat quietly, listening to them arrange my fate as if I were a doll–an object to be discarded once its purpose was served.
The old Geneva might’ve accepted it.
But not the Geneva born in the madness of a mental ward.}
Fate played its hand cruelly. It made me a lunatic–and I learned to survive as one.
That day, I tore the last page from the calendar.
The wedding day had finally arrived.}
