That night, my biological parents finally found me. Isabelle’s fiancé, Caleb Blackwood, had gone out to battle. He returned with his legs shredded by zombies, leaving him paralyzed. Doctors had delivered a grim verdict: he’d never stand again. My parents, utterly devoted to Isabelle, forced me into a proxy marriage, tying me up and dragging me to the altar. But Isabelle wasn’t one to give up easily. She caused a dramatic scene on our wedding night, crying to Caleb that I had usurped her place as his fiancée. Caleb, swayed by her poisonous whispers, gripped my chin. “A useless nobody with no abilities? You think you’re fit to be my wife?” After injecting me with a potent zombie virus strain, he ordered me to be thrown out to the zombie dogs. From then on, torturing me became his twisted pleasure. He claimed his legs were useless, yet his thirst for thrill drove him to force me to leap into deep ravines to dig for zombie cores with my bare hands, or throw me into clusters of mutated flora to retrieve antidotes. He’d only crack a faint smile when he saw me, battered and bruised, collapsing to my knees. Isabelle would feign concern, “Sister, don’t blame Caleb. His legs hurt, that’s why he’s so irritable.” But still, I stayed by his side, unafraid of death. All because I’d signed a secret pact. Until one day, ignoring my desperate pleas, he tied me to an armored vehicle and careened through a raging zombie horde. After a barrage of reckless, bone-jarring maneuvers, I collapsed, unconscious, my body already betraying the life within. I found Eleanor Blackwood, Caleb’s grandmother, my voice flat, empty. “The term is up. Please, let me live.”
“Eleanor Blackwood, you promised that if my life were ever threatened, you would let me go.” My face was a ghostly white, my body desperately weak after the miscarriage. My voice was barely a whisper, a fragile thread of sound. Eleanor, still unaware of the full truth, couldn’t hide her dismay at Caleb’s increasingly deranged behavior. Her tone was filled with a mix of helplessness and an attempt to soothe me: “Seraphina, deep down, Caleb isn’t a bad boy. It’s just losing his parents so young, and now his legs… it’s made him bitter and volatile. We’ve been so fortunate to have you by his side all these years.” As she spoke, she rose and walked to a strongbox, retrieving a metallic case. Inside, a single energy core glowed with a pure, high-purity blue luminescence. “Seraphina, this miscarriage has taken a heavy toll on your body. I’ve cultivated this core for ten years. Consider it compensation.” I stood my ground, silent, then simply held out my phone to her, playing a secretly recorded video. Caleb’s chilling conversation with Captain Rex echoed clearly from the device. “Warlord, all your orders have been carried out. As you saw from the surveillance, the armored vehicle’s brutal impact and jostling in the wasteland caused the lady to bleed uncontrollably. The baby inside her certainly couldn’t have survived.” Caleb’s icy voice responded: “Well done. Her terrified, near-death expression was incredibly satisfying to watch. And the child inside her was never meant to be. This outcome is nothing less than she deserves!” Isabelle nestled against Caleb, her voice barely concealing a triumphant laugh: “Does that mean you didn’t want this baby, Caleb dearest?” Caleb sneered: “I only want *our* child. No other woman is worthy of bearing my offspring.” Immediately after, the two embraced, entangled in a frantic, sickening kiss. Their sounds were utterly unbearable. Eleanor Blackwood’s face flushed with fury. The hand gripping her cane trembled as she took several deep breaths, trying to compose herself. “Caleb… how could he become like this? This is simply outrageous!” Her voice was laced with an incredulous, heartbreaking pain. “Even the most savage beast doesn’t turn on its own offspring! How could he do something so monstrous?” I closed my eyes, my heart aching so fiercely I could barely breathe. That nightmare was etched deep into my mind, refusing to fade. After Caleb’s injury, with hordes of zombies amassed outside the city, panic had gripped everyone. That day, Captain Rex had unveiled his new, heavily modified armored vehicle, a true engineering marvel. Caleb pulled me into his arms, whispering in my ear: “With danger looming, the Warlord’s wife must stand united with her husband, and selflessly serve the people in their time of need.” I had no time to react, a potent wave of unease washing over me. A cruel smile twisted his lips, and then he announced to the gathered crowd: “My leg injury hasn’t healed, so my wife has bravely volunteered to personally accompany the armored vehicle out of the city to scout the dangers ahead.” Panic seized me. I frantically tried to refuse: “I can’t. I’m pregnant. This mission is too dangerous, I can’t risk it.” Hearing my refusal, his face instantly turned cold. His hands clamped down on me, pinning me, making it impossible to move. I struggled with all my might, but he still dragged me towards the armored vehicle. His men held me down in the passenger seat, my hands tied behind my back. Caleb then cinched my seatbelt impossibly tight. I shook my head violently, pleading with Caleb, desperately hoping he wouldn’t completely disregard the child in my womb. “Caleb, please, let me down. The baby… something terrible will happen.”
“Shut up! Who are you putting on this pathetic act for? What could possibly happen?” Caleb’s face showed not a flicker of concern. Instead, he watched my distress with open contempt. “Let’s roll out!” Captain Rex, hearing the command, slammed his foot on the accelerator. A powerful jolt threw me back. I felt as if I were flying. My tied hands were useless, and my voice, broken and fragmented by the speed, tried to cry out: “Please, slow down…” The zombies lurking outside the city, drawn by the noise, surged towards the armored vehicle from all directions. Captain Rex, visibly thrilled, accelerated further, utterly ignoring my pleas. The world spun around me. The vehicle’s full-throttle charge transformed the zombies into a mangled pile of flesh and bone. Then, with an abrupt screech, it reversed dozens of meters, only for Captain Rex to drive it forward again, like a madman possessed. My fear intensified, rendering my pleas unspoken. My heart hammered against my ribs, lodged in my throat. As the vehicle climbed over the zombie pile, the violently jolting chassis suddenly launched into the air, landing with a deafening crash on an open patch of ground ten meters away, kicking up a storm of dust. At that exact moment, a heavy, dragging sensation tore through my lower abdomen. A gush of warm liquid spilled from beneath me. My brows furrowed, my face instantly draining of color, pale as parchment. I looked at the remote camera mounted in the cockpit, shaking my head violently, begging for mercy. I knew Caleb was watching my pathetic, tortured state, taking it all in. But the armored vehicle continued its wild rampage, circling again and again, showing no signs of stopping. My throat burned from screaming, my cries for help torn apart by the wind. The tearing pain in my lower abdomen sapped every ounce of my strength. On the other end of the surveillance feed, Isabelle had appeared beside Caleb. They were both laughing, watching me transition from frantic screams to a deathly pale silence, until I finally succumbed, collapsing into unconsciousness. When I was carried out, my lower body was a bloody mess. “Barely lasted this long? Useless.” Caleb didn’t spare me a single second of his gaze. “Oh, Caleb dearest, that armored vehicle is amazing! Isabelle hasn’t had enough fun yet!” Isabelle cooed, playfully fawning over him. Caleb looked at Isabelle with doting affection, leaning in to whisper in her ear: “I’ll show you some real fun later.” His eyes briefly swept over me, then he gave a cold command: “Drag this dead woman away. Don’t let her taint everyone.” I completely lost consciousness. Under the dim surgical lights, blurry images of the past flickered before my eyes. Three years ago, I was nothing more than a nameless, lowly slave in this city. When my biological parents found me, I was already bruised and battered, barely clinging to life in an iron cage. It turned out I was the real destined one, swapped at birth. My biological father was Reverend Silas Sterling, the Patriarch of the Purity Doctrine, revered by the people of this ravaged world. I appeared before them, trembling, hoping I’d finally found loving parents, a warm home. Instead, I saw my mother gently soothing Isabelle, who was weeping inconsolably in her arms: “Don’t cry, Isabelle, darling. How could you not be your father’s and my daughter? You’re our only precious one, our treasure.” My father sat silently at the head of the table. Everyone else cast unfriendly, sidelong glances at me, whispering amongst themselves. I stood there, enduring their stares, my hands twisting the blood-stained fabric of my clothes, utterly an outsider. Finally, my father slowly spoke: “Seraphina, we brought you into this world. Now that you’re grown, it’s time you repaid us.” They weaponized the fact of my birth, twisting it into an inescapable obligation, commanding me to marry Warlord Caleb Blackwood in Isabelle’s place. This was because Caleb had been severely wounded in battle, and Isabelle, in a dramatic display, declared she’d rather die than marry a cripple. It became painfully clear: my parents’ search for their lost child was merely a cynical ploy to mask their sinister agenda. I wiped away a humble tear from the corner of my eye and said: “I agree. But first, delete my slave genetic coding.” “From this day forward, we will have no further ties.” They agreed. And so, I married Warlord Caleb Blackwood. Standing before Caleb, he never once looked at me directly. After the wedding, I learned of his isolated upbringing, devoid of parental love, and I felt a pang of pity for him. In public, he used a mask of cold detachment to uphold his pride. But when I caught him alone, in despair, impotently striking his own useless legs, my heart inexplicably ached for him. I foolishly believed that two people starved of love could find solace in each other. I wanted to heal his scarred soul, to pull us both from the shadows that had defined our miserable lives. I poured every ounce of my effort into being a dutiful wife. But the deeper I went, the more I lost myself. Until, tragically, I couldn’t even protect myself, letting the life within me be cruelly extinguished before it even had a chance to breathe.
Eleanor Blackwood sighed deeply, her eyes filled with regret. “Seraphina, our family has wronged you terribly. I will handle all the divorce proceedings. However, I have one last, difficult request.” “Could you… wait until Caleb’s surgery is done before leaving?” She seemed to realize the unfairness of her plea and quickly added: “Just three days. I’m afraid if he wakes up and finds you gone, he’ll become unstable and refuse the surgery.” I looked at her pleading expression, silent for a long moment. In the end, my soft heart prevailed, and I nodded. “I was wrong. You are a good girl, and I shouldn’t have forced you to endure more suffering by Caleb’s side.” As she spoke, Eleanor took off her necklace and placed it in my palm. The rose-shaped pendant glowed with a faint pink luminescence as it touched my skin. “This is the only untainted seed from the ravaged world, infused with half a lifetime of my own abilities. With it, you can cultivate your own powers and nurture many plants now thought extinct. I believe in your hands, it will unleash its true value.” “In three days, I will send people to escort you to a safe place. Go far away this time, where no one can ever harm you again.” Eleanor caressed the back of my hand. My nose stung, and tears welled in my eyes. It was like a child, long enduring pain in silence, finally breaking down. Without anyone to care, they bite their lip and hold on. But once someone shows concern, the brave facade crumbles, and a torrent of suppressed sorrow overwhelms them. Exhausted from crying, I drifted into sleep. Somewhere in the hazy depths of my slumber, a powerful force yanked at my wrist. Caleb’s furious voice ripped through my ears: “Seraphina Sterling, you dared to complain to Grandmother? You truly never learn, do you? Did you forget how I warned you last time?!” Caleb violently dragged me from the bed, throwing me onto the cold floor. My stomach slammed against the sharp corner of a chair, and a soft groan escaped my lips. Caleb, consumed by his rage, simply pointed a furious finger at me: “No one is allowed to bring her food! Spend these next few days reflecting on what you’ve done!” In the past, I would have meekly obeyed, apologizing and trying to explain. But now, I felt like a still pool of water, my voice utterly devoid of emotion: “Do with me what you will.” Caleb’s eyes suddenly darkened. My attitude had clearly enraged him. He then scoffed, a cold sneer on his face: “You really think acting like this will make me go easy on you?” No one knew Caleb’s methods of torment better than I did. The first time, Isabelle had deliberately provoked me at a dinner party. I lost my temper, spilling wine over her head. Before she could lunge, I slapped her hard across the face. The next second, Caleb’s face went cold. He barked at me to kneel, then grabbed my neck, slamming my head against the nearby fish tank. Water streamed over me, soaking my clothes, and a large shard of glass lodged itself deep in my thigh. I was a pathetic, trembling mess. Caleb stood by, watching with cold indifference, refusing to let anyone approach me. I struggled in the pile of broken glass for what felt like an eternity, unable to move. Finally, biting back a scream, I ripped the glass from my flesh, slowly pushing myself upright. Blood gushed from the wound. The zombie fish on the floor, driven into a frenzy by the scent of blood, thrashed and snapped at me. In my panic, I tried to swat them away, only to stumble and fall heavily back onto the shattered glass. Caleb and Isabelle’s mocking laughter echoed in my ears. From that day forward, no matter how Isabelle humiliated me, I endured it in silence. Caleb’s face loomed closer, that familiar, cruel smile close enough to touch. His cold breath ghosted my neck. “Your pain is my stimulant.” “From now on, you’d better pray hard. My legs will be restored after surgery, and then we can continue our little games.” He spoke with a tone of smug triumph and eager anticipation. His smile twisted into something increasingly sinister as he stared at my eyes, expecting to see the fearful, cowering look he so enjoyed. Instead, my expression was lifeless, my eyes vacant. This clearly bored him. He dropped his smile, turned his wheelchair, and left. As his silhouette vanished through the doorway, I softly uttered: “Caleb, there will be no ‘after’ for us.”
On the day I was discharged, the doctor repeatedly stressed the importance of rest and recovery. After much hesitation, I returned to the Blackwood estate. Stepping through the front door, I saw Caleb with Isabelle in his arms, his cold, mocking eyes filled with a tender affection I had never known. “Sister is out of the hospital! Caleb dearest and I should have gone to pick you up!” Caleb frowned in annoyance at her words. “Don’t mention that wretched woman and spoil our mood.” Then he playfully tapped Isabelle’s nose, and their poison-laced lips met in a passionate, wild kiss. I felt no anger, no sadness. And certainly no desire to witness their intense display. I simply quietly took off my shoes, walked upstairs, and burrowed into the blankets, wanting nothing more than to sleep. Three days left. Soon, everything would be over. When I woke, the empty rooms echoed with their unrestrained laughter from the living room. Their laughter, sharp as fangs, betrayed the endless malice festering within them. Seeing me emerge, Caleb’s lips curved into a playful smirk. He beckoned me over with a flick of his wrist. I calmly walked towards Caleb, then looked up at the large screen on the wall. It was playing videos from years past: Caleb forcing me to dig for zombie cores with my bare hands, throwing me into clusters of mutated flora for antidotes, leaving me suspended over a thousand-foot cliff while zombies gnawed at me. My screams, my terror, my frantic struggle for survival, my desperate pleas—they had always been nothing more than entertainment in their eyes. In the video, a thick rope bit into my waist. I clung desperately to Caleb’s wheelchair, my legs like jelly. Suffering from severe acrophobia, I was ghostly pale, staring at the bottomless abyss before me: “Caleb, please, let me go!” Caleb glanced at me indifferently: “Then kneel. Kneel and apologize to Isabelle, tell her your deceitful schemes prevented her from marrying me.” I didn’t hesitate. I instantly dropped to my knees, begging humbly, apologizing frantically: “I was wrong. I shouldn’t have married you. I’m shameless, I’m despicable.” Caleb’s lips curved in satisfaction. He pushed his wheelchair closer and extended a hand. My tear-streaked face was covered in wild strands of hair. A flicker of hope ignited within me, and I quickly reached out, allowing his hand to help me up. Before I could even discern the expression on his face, I felt a violent shove. I looked at Caleb in shock. He was smiling as he personally pushed me off the cliff. In those fleeting seconds, I finally saw his treacherous, true nature. The sensation of freefall threatened to drag me straight to hell. My screams echoed through the valley, disturbing the zombies lurking in the darkness. Their agitated roars grew closer, more numerous. I could already picture myself being torn apart, not even bones left. The rope suddenly went taut, leaving me dangling precariously over that valley of death. I gripped the rope tightly, swallowing my fear. The rumbling of the earth below reminded me to hold onto this lifeline and escape immediately. My feet scrambled against the loose, crumbling earth of the cliff face. The rope chafed my hands raw, turning them bloody. When I finally reached the ground, I collapsed, utterly drained, my face devoid of color. I lay at Isabelle’s feet, too weak to struggle, watching her double over with laughter: “Sister, you’re so resilient! I can’t believe we’re seeing you alive again. Come and see how scared you were, your mouth was wide open!” I clenched my fists tight, the biting pain of my nails digging into my palms was the only thing keeping me from screaming, keeping me from collapsing into tears. If my suffering brought them such joy, then I would absolutely deny them that satisfaction!
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