“Open your eyes, you ungrateful child!”
The pain throbbing around her right temple forced Sofia’s eyelids open. Fresh blood streamed warmly through her eyebrow, dripping onto the white fur rug in the living room of the Vaeloria Central Penthouse. The sharp, metallic smell of blood clashed with the pungent scents of antiseptic and perfume. The digital wall clock in the corner read 2:00 a.m.
Sofia groaned as she tried to move. Her pink silk nightgown was already torn at the shoulder, exposing the skin of her neck, reddened and covered in grip marks. In front of her, shards of a porcelain flower vase lay scattered across the marble floor.
“Mom... what happened?” Sofia’s voice caught, hoarse and trembling.
Emilia stood before her, her face flushed crimson. Her hand, covered in expensive jewelry, shook violently as she pointed behind Sofia. Her eyes blazed with wild fury.
“You still dare call me Mom after what you did in that bed?” Emilia shrieked. “You slept with my own ex-husband in this penthouse!”
Sofia turned with difficulty. Beside the sofa, Gallas stood tall, bare-chested. The broad chest of the thirty-eight-year-old man was covered in bloodstains and scratch marks. His right hand gripped a gleaming stainless-steel scalpel, illuminated by the crystal lights.
The neurosurgeon stepped forward and positioned himself between Emilia and Sofia. His steel-gray eyes were ice-cold, completely devoid of remorse.
“Stop your hysterics, Emilia. You have no right to touch her again in my home,” Gallas said in a flat yet forceful tone.
“She’s my daughter, Gallas! And you’re my ex-husband!” Emilia screamed, slamming her hand against the glass table and knocking over a wineglass. “Did you force her, or did this damned girl actually seduce you?”
Sofia tried to remember what had happened several hours earlier. She had come to this penthouse only to deliver her mother’s medical records. But Gallas had locked the door, intimidated her, and subjected her to forced sexual release that Sofia had been unable to resist until she collapsed, utterly limp.
“I didn’t seduce him... Mom, believe me...” Sofia whispered, tears beginning to mingle with the blood on her cheek.
“Shut your mouth!” Emilia snapped. She pulled a phone from her luxury handbag and aimed the camera at Sofia and Gallas. “These photos will destroy both of you tomorrow morning.”
Gallas did not retreat even an inch. Instead, he shifted the scalpel to his left hand and stepped toward Emilia with a murderous stare.
“Go ahead and spread those photos, Emilia,” Gallas threatened softly. “I’ll make sure your beauty business license is revoked and all your debts at Vaeloria Bank are called in tomorrow morning.”
Emilia let out a discordant laugh, though she took one fearful step backward at the sight of the scalpel in Gallas’s hand.
“So you’re defending your new kept woman, the honorable Doctor Gallas?” Emilia said sarcastically. “She’s nothing but a woman you just forced into your bed to satisfy your lust!”
Sofia clutched her constricted chest. The pain in her head intensified, making her vision suddenly blur and go dark.
“Gallas... please...” Sofia murmured before her body crumpled onto the marble floor.
Gallas immediately turned and dropped to one knee, catching Sofia’s body before her head could strike the floor again. He lifted her slender body into his arms, ignoring Emilia as she continued to curse at him.
“Leave my penthouse right now, Emilia,” Gallas ordered coldly without looking at his ex-wife.
“This isn’t over! I’ll make you both pay dearly for this filthy scandal!” Emilia shouted before slamming the penthouse’s front door shut.
The room suddenly fell silent, leaving only Sofia’s ragged breathing and Gallas’s racing heartbeat. Gallas stared at Sofia’s pale, bloodied face with an unreadable expression.
The man carried Sofia out through a private elevator to the basement. He placed her in his black sedan and sped through the deserted streets of Vaeloria City in the middle of the night.
Thirty minutes later, the car stopped in front of a private three-story building on the outskirts of the city. Gallas carried Sofia inside his private medical facility, sealed off from public access.
Gallas laid Sofia on a sterile examination table. He took out medical sutures, cotton, and alcohol solution. His thick fingers moved quickly yet carefully as he cleaned the wound on Sofia’s head.
Sofia groaned softly when the alcohol stung her injured skin. Her eyes opened slightly, gazing at Gallas’s face only a few inches from hers.
“Why... why did you bring me here?” Sofia asked weakly.
Gallas did not answer at once. He finished the last stitch in Sofia’s wound, then pressed both of Sofia’s shoulders against the examination table, his gaze possessive.
“Because starting tonight, you’re not allowed to go anywhere without my permission,” Gallas whispered directly in front of Sofia’s lips.