My Birth Parents and Husband Chose the Adopted Daughter, So I Vanished Chapter 03

My Birth Parents and Husband Chose the Adopted Daughter, So I Vanished Chapter 03

“No!”

Someone suddenly lunged forwards.

Serena threw herself in front of Adrian.

The whip cut through the air and struck her shoulder.

She screamed and went limp.

Adrian caught her immediately.

When he looked up at me again, his gaze had turned ice-cold.

“Evelyn, you’ve gone too far this time.”

With that, he lifted Serena into his arms and walked out.

The hospital room door slammed shut behind them.

I stood there, my hand trembling so badly I could barely hold on to the whip.

Late that night, the nurse had just finished making her rounds when the door opened again.

A hand suddenly clamped over my mouth and nose.

A sharp, acrid smell flooded my senses.

Within seconds, I lost consciousness.

When I woke again, everything was pitch-black.

I had been blindfolded, and my wrists were bound behind the chair.

Crack!

The first lash struck across my chest.

Pain spread from my collarbone through my chest, stealing the breath from my lungs.

A stranger stood in front of me.

“You crossed the wrong people. This is how things are done.”

Then the whip came down again.

Once.

Then again.

I lost count of how many times he hit me.

My skin burned relentlessly.

Gritting my teeth, I asked, “This is because of Serena, isn’t it?”

The whipping stopped for a few seconds.

Then the next blow landed even harder.

As my consciousness began to fade, the man finally stopped.

I heard a call connect.

“Mr and Mrs Carter, it’s done. Just as you asked.”

My mother’s voice came through from the other end.

“Good. I’ll explain things to Adrian. Take her back to the hospital. Just don’t actually kill her.”

In that instant, my entire body went cold.

My mother.

All because I’d accidentally struck Serena with one lash.

They’d had someone repay that single accidental lash under the guise of family rules, one vicious blow after another.

I had no idea how many times they hit me.

The last thing I remembered before blacking out was the System calling to me over and over inside my head.

[Host, hold on. I’m preparing a forced extraction.]

I was unconscious for two weeks.

The doctors said Adrian and my parents had kept vigil at the hospital almost every day.

They brought in the best surgeons and psychiatrists they could find.

Adrian had even submitted to the same whipping.

The day I woke up, he reached over to press the nurse call button, and his sleeve slipped back.

There were old wounds on his wrist and forearm, along with several fresh ones.

He looked deeply remorseful.

“Evelyn, I’m sorry. I failed you. Someone took you from the hospital, and I’ve already ordered a full investigation. I had them give me the same number of lashes. I need to remember what they did to you, so I never let anyone touch you again.”

I wanted to laugh.

Instead, tears slipped down my face.

Weren’t the people who dragged me out of the hospital working for the Carter family?

Would the Carters have dared lay a hand on me if Adrian hadn’t tacitly allowed it?

He had arranged the first fake kidnapping.

He had ordered ten fake paternity tests.

And now he sat beside my bed, pretending to be a husband who knew nothing.

I turned my face away.

I didn’t want to say a single word to him.

Adrian assumed I was simply still angry with him.

Over the next few days, he had new custom holsters, communication gear, and ballistic vests delivered to me every day.

My parents also sent expensive protective equipment.

To anyone in our world, equipment like that was priceless.

But every time they left, an anonymous message would arrive on my phone right on cue.

The first photo showed Serena sitting in the middle of the Moretti estate’s private armoury.

An entire wall behind her was lined with custom equipment.

Everything Adrian had given me was identical to the gear Serena had casually piled at the corner of her desk.

Everything my parents sent me was nothing more than outdated equipment she’d already cast aside.

The message contained only one sentence.

[Just as I thought. All you’re good for is my leftovers.]

Another message appeared immediately after.

[If I were you, I’d have realised ages ago that I had no place in our world.]

I stared at the screen for a long time.

I didn’t reply.

Because soon enough, I really would be gone.