He Punished Me for Erasing Her Ink, by Carving His Rage Into My Flesh Chapter 04

He Punished Me for Erasing Her Ink, by Carving His Rage Into My Flesh Chapter 04

I ripped the pendant off my neck.

Tiny beads of blood welled up from my skin at once.

“Take your protection back.”

“Adrian, I was wrong. I never should have trusted your promises.”

He ignored my outburst and told a housekeeper to bring over a bowl.

“You’re still bleeding? Drink your medicine.”

Before I could even react, Adrian gave me a mocking smile.

“Don’t die in my house. I won’t have the ancestral home turned into a haunted ruin because of you.”

It felt as if a thorn had lodged itself in my throat. I shoved his hand away violently.

“Do you know my mother killed herself because of the livestream link you sent her?”

“And you froze my cards. I couldn’t even pay for her cremation.”

His answer was a sharp slap across my face.

“Claire, are you really spinning such a lie just to get money from me?”

Our eyes met.

The boy who had once looked at me with red-rimmed devotion was unrecognizable in the man standing in front of me now, coldly staring at my swollen face.

The air stagnated.

Then a pair of black underwear was thrown at my feet.

It was stained and filthy, and the sight of it burned my eyes.

Isla clung to Adrian’s arm.

“Adrian, can you make Claire wash these for me?” she asked in a sugary voice. “My whole body aches. I can barely lift my arms.”

When I stood there frozen, Adrian rubbed his temple and said sternly, “Go wash Isla’s clothes. A hundred thousand dollars per item.”

“Claire, stop using your mother to manipulate me. If you want money, earn it from me.”

To save enough for my mother’s cremation, I swallowed my tears and bent down to pick up each piece of clothing.

When I came out of the bathroom, Isla was waiting in the doorway.

“I can give you enough money to save your company from being liquidated.”

She waved a document in her hand. “All you have to do is sign these divorce papers.”

I stared at her in disbelief.

“How did you get Adrian’s signature?”

After she entered our marriage, I had been unable to tolerate the betrayal and had demanded a divorce countless times. He had ignored me every time.

Now Isla only shrugged nonchalantly.

“I told him I wanted a waterfront villa in Newport Bay. Two hundred million dollars, and Adrian signed without even reading it.”

Adrian wasn’t oblivious.

Two hundred million dollars would have saved my mother’s company.

But he had chosen to buy Isla a vacation villa instead.

I forced the words out past the bile in my throat.

“Fine. I’ll sign.”

Isla led me toward the garage.

“Get in. I’ll take you to the money.”

A few minutes later, I realized we were not heading to the bank.

I pounded on the window and screamed.

From behind me, a hand pressed a cloth over my mouth.

The world went dark.

When I woke again, pain shot through both my knees as I was forced down onto the floor.

Isla hooked the toe of her heel under my chin.

“Claire, do you have any idea how many people out there are looking for you?”

My heart lurched, and overwhelming fear washed over me.

Isla turned to the men behind her.

“Here she is. The daughter of the CEO.”

“Adrian already signed the divorce papers. She’s not Mrs. Blackwell anymore.”

“You can do whatever you want with her.”

As soon as she finished speaking, the men closed in around me.

They forced me down and made me apologize again and again.

One of them cursed, “It’s all because of your damn mother. The construction site hasn’t paid us in two months.”

My eyes were bloodshot as I screamed, “My mother is dead. Don’t you dare insult her.”

The men chuckled nauseatingly.

“If your mother is dead, then you can pay off the debt with your body.”

Hands with grimy fingernails reached for me, scraping over my skin like blades.

I huddled as tears mixed with blood and ran down my body.

It felt as if I had been thrown back into my childhood, back to the days when everyone treated me like a monster.

Only this time, the hero who used to save me would never come.

They yanked at my dress.

When they saw the tattoos, excitement contorted their faces.

“So she was the woman from the livestream. Come on, boys. Let’s see what Mr. Blackwell’s woman feels like.”

I shook my head desperately as tears and cold sweat streamed down my face.

Just then, my phone vibrated where it had been thrown on the floor.

I crawled frantically, my nails scraping ten bloody marks across the concrete.

Isla snatched it up and ended the call. She looked down at me coldly.

“Give up. Who do you think is coming to save you?”

Then she walked to the door and locked it from the outside.

That night, Adrian called me again.

No one answered.

He opened the location app.

My location was pinned in Harbor City’s most notorious red-light district.

For money, she would even go to a place like that?

Adrian tore off as fast as he could.

When he stepped into the alley, two laborers brushed past him.

Their conversation drifted back to him.

“That girl just now was something else. Those tattoos made me want to shove everything in.”

Adrian stopped in his tracks.

His eyes instantly turned bloodred.