At eight months pregnant, I went to Everett Ford’s office to deliver some documents. Feeling the sweltering 115-degree heat in the office, I was about to turn on the air conditioning when his female secretary stopped me. “I’m on my period and sensitive to cold. You can’t turn that on.” Worried that heatstroke might harm the baby in my belly, I turned on the AC without a word. That evening, when Everett came home, he immediately interrogated me: “Nina’s on her period. Do you have any idea that by turning on that AC, you caused her so much abdominal pain she ended up in the ICU?” “Everett, she’s just having her period. But I’m eight months pregnant. If I get heatstroke, I could miscarry.” Everett pulled his lips into a smile and nodded. “You’re right.” That night, Everett coaxed me to sleep as usual. But when I woke up, I found myself inside a freezer with glass walls on all sides. Outside the freezer, Everett had his arm around Nina Sutton’s waist as they both smiled at me. “Afraid of heatstroke? Today I’ll make sure you cool off properly!” My heart sank. I calmly pulled out my phone and took photos of them one by one. Then I made a call: “Dad, I don’t want any of these people to see tomorrow’s sunrise!”
When I hung up, the people watching outside first froze. Then they burst into thunderous laughter. “Lana, your dad was thrown into international waters to feed the sharks half a year ago. Have you been frozen stupid, or were you always this delusional?” “Exactly! Still thinking you’re the precious daughter of the West family? Even daydreams aren’t this ridiculous!” Hearing his lackeys mock me, triumph surged in Everett’s eyes. He gently draped his mink coat over Nina’s shoulders, pulled her close, and slowly walked up to the freezer. He extended his index finger and lightly tapped the glass in front of me before speaking slowly: “Lana, are you cold? Do you realize your mistake now?” A large red thermometer indicated that the freezer had been set to negative 58 degrees Fahrenheit. Wrapped only in the thin nightgown I’d worn to bed, I trembled violently from the cold. The skin touching the floor had turned blue-purple and numb, continuously sending sharp, piercing pain through my body. I stumbled toward Everett and Nina, slamming my fist against the glass. “Everett, what did I do wrong?! Isn’t it appropriate to turn on the AC when it’s 115 degrees? Pregnant women are naturally sensitive to heat. If I got heatstroke, both the baby and I could die!” The sudden anger triggered a cramping pain in my lower abdomen. I quickly covered my belly and crouched down, staring at Everett with bloodshot eyes. “Everett, let me out! You know how much I’ve suffered for this baby. I can’t lose him!” A flicker of unreadable emotion crossed Everett’s eyes. He knew better than anyone the heartache of having this child. An accident years ago had left Everett with fertility issues. For eight years, egg retrieval needles as long as my forearm had pierced my body over a thousand times before we finally conceived this child. For eight months, I’d been incredibly careful, preserving this pregnancy day by day. Once, just because a servant brought brown sugar water that wasn’t warm enough, he’d broken the person’s arm. Yet now, just because Nina had menstrual cramps, he’d locked me in a freezer without hesitation. Bitterness welled up inside me. Just as I was about to speak again, Nina yanked off the mink coat Everett had just draped over her. With a pitiful, tearful voice, she said: “Everett, let your wife out. With her delicate constitution, how can she endure this kind of torture? Not like me—I’m from a poor family. Even when I fainted from the freezing AC, I didn’t dare complain…”
Fainted from the cold? I’d only turned on the AC for half an hour. When I left Everett’s office, Nina was still laughing and making plans with her girlfriends to hit the bar that evening! Just as I was about to clarify, Everett’s expression instantly changed, his tone turning ice-cold: “Someone get in there and strip off her coat! She thinks she’s so delicate? Today I’ll make her experience what it’s like to be poor!” He bent down to pick up the coat, gently draping it over Nina while looking at me coldly: “When you admit your mistake, then you can come out! The doctor said my son is perfectly healthy. Don’t think you can use this as an excuse to avoid punishment!” With that, he scooped Nina up in his arms, his voice overflowing with tenderness and affection: “Nina, during your period you can’t let your feet get cold. Today, stay in my arms. Let’s see who dares say anything!” The moment Everett sat down with Nina in his arms, a group of men charged toward me with malicious grins. I clutched my nightgown tightly, shrinking into the corner. But no matter how much I struggled, I was no match for several men. “Riiip…” The thin nightgown tore in half. Instantly, the frigid air crept through every pore into every corner of my body. They gleefully stripped off my nightgown, and as they left, they flashed Everett knowing smiles. “Boss, you’ve got great taste! Your wife’s figure—curves in all the right places!” “Thanks for letting us take care of your wife!” Left in only my underwear, I curled up on myself. My skin, which had retained some warmth, stuck to the frozen floor. Any movement would tear away a layer of skin. Heart-wrenching pain shot from the torn flesh straight to my core. Blood seeped continuously from the wounds, starkly visible against the blindingly white freezer. Everett clearly noticed. He set Nina down and approached, about to speak as he looked at the blood slowly reaching his feet— But Nina ran up from behind, touching the traces of blood through the glass with a trembling voice: “Lana, just apologize. With all of Everett’s friends watching, if you don’t apologize, he can’t back down…” I stared hard at Nina. “Why should I apologize! That day you were clearly enjoying the AC too, and you were even making plans with your girlfriends to—” Hearing my words, Everett looked at Nina with a hint of barely perceptible doubt. But before I could finish, Nina slapped herself across the face and dropped to her knees with a “thud.” Grabbing Everett’s hand, she said in a trembling voice: “Everett! I just can’t bear to see her suffer like this. If she still won’t apologize, then I’ll kneel out here with her!” Seeing Nina kneel, the doubt in Everett’s eyes instantly vanished. He quickly bent down to help Nina up, then looked at me with utter disgust: “Lana, you’ve been spoiled rotten. All these years Nina has endured your treatment in silence. Now, even though this is clearly your fault, she’s willing to suffer alongside you for my sake. You don’t deserve it!” “Today I’m going to fix that entitled attitude of yours! If you don’t apologize, don’t even think about getting out!” With that, he waved to the people behind him: “Go! Bring in more ice blocks and surround her with them! Then pour water over everything so she sticks to that ice!” The moment Everett finished speaking—
A young woman stepped forward and tugged at his sleeve. “Boss, ice plus water will stick to skin like glue. Any movement will tear off chunks of flesh. She’s about to give birth—something could go seriously wrong…” Everett’s commanding gesture froze mid-air. As he hesitated in silence, a soft whimper came from behind. “Everett, forget it. My time in the ICU wasn’t as terrible as you think…” Nina’s words made Everett’s expression turn instantly severe. He lowered his suspended hand and said coldly: “Do exactly as I said!” The young woman tried to stop him again, but Everett waved her off. “This suffering is nothing compared to what Nina went through. I’ve already got an ambulance on standby outside. What could possibly go wrong?” Hearing Everett’s words, the young woman didn’t dare say more. With Everett’s order given, the group grabbed ice blocks and re-entered the freezer. They yanked me up by my hair and surrounded me tightly with ice, then poured a basin of cold water over my head. The next second, my skin felt glued to the ice blocks. Bone-chilling cold flowed through my pores into my marrow. I glanced at the time—I’d already been in this freezer for at least five hours. My limbs had long since turned dark purple. To protect the baby in my belly, I tried to shift position within this ice-confined space. But every tiny movement tore away a piece of flesh. Yet the movements in my belly were growing increasingly faint. Ignoring the stabbing pain from my torn skin, I moved my body, trying to keep my belly in the warmest possible position. The transparent ice blocks gradually became stained with my crimson blood. By the time I’d adjusted my position, the ice had turned completely blood-red. The people nearby who’d been laughing fell silent at such a gruesome scene. Through the scarlet haze, I roared at Everett outside the freezer: “Everett, if anything happens to this child, you—his biological father—will be his murderer! I’ll kneel before his spirit every day and pray that you die a miserable death!” Everett’s gaze wavered, no longer as resolute as before. He slowly approached, seemingly wanting to check my condition through the blurred blood. In the silence, a cry suddenly came from behind: “Boss! My dad says a plane with the West family’s private aviation signature just appeared on their exclusive route!” Everett’s face changed instantly. He slammed his fist against the glass and roared at me: “Lana, what are you playing at?! Are you planning to use your family to intimidate me for the rest of your life?!” Before I could respond, Nina came forward, constantly soothing Everett’s back while looking at me with accusation mixed with grievance: “Lana, if you don’t want to apologize, fine, but why torture Everett like this? You know how much he suffered when Old Mr. West was alive. Now that he’s dead and the West family fortune has been liquidated, what’s the point of this charade?” Nina then took Everett’s hand and said gently: “Let it go, Everett. Let her out. We don’t want anything to happen to the baby and become sinners. I don’t think she’s ever seen people like us as anything but beneath her…” Nina’s words intensified the fury in Everett’s eyes. He cursed, then barked at the people behind him: “Set the freezer to negative 148 degrees Fahrenheit! Now!”
Seeing Everett’s rage, the others didn’t dare say another word. They immediately set the freezer to negative 148 degrees. Instantly, a bone-piercing wind rushed through the vents and struck me. I was frozen to the point where I couldn’t speak coherently, my teeth chattering uncontrollably. In my fading consciousness, a sudden piercing pain shot through my lower abdomen. I forced myself to look down. Bright red blood flowed from beneath me like a small stream, releasing crimson steam in the freezing environment. Soon, the fresh blood melted the surrounding ice and seeped through the cracks. I finally realized what was happening. Clutching my belly, I screamed frantically at Everett outside the freezer: “Everett! Let me out now! The baby! Save my baby!” Everett had been glaring at me with anger until he saw the blood—now melting ice—flowing to his feet. He completely panicked. He grabbed the person beside him and roared like a madman: “Quick! Get the freezer key! Didn’t you ask the doctor before we put her in? Didn’t they say it would be fine?! How did this happen?!” The person handed the key to Everett. Everett’s hands shook so badly he dropped it. The key fell at Nina’s feet. Everett gripped Nina’s arm: “Nina, quick! Open the door! Get Lana out! Hurry!” Frightened by Everett’s state, Nina didn’t even bother putting on her shoes properly and ran toward the freezer door. She glanced at Everett, took the key with her back to him, and inserted it into the lock. The moment she turned around, I caught a glimpse of a smile filled with hatred and triumph in Nina’s eyes. Sure enough—”Snap!” A crisp sound rang out. Nina turned back and dropped to her knees toward Everett: “Everett, the key… the key broke…” Everett’s face turned deathly pale. He stumbled to the door and demanded harshly: “What happened?! How did the key break?! Get a locksmith here now!” By now, warm blood had covered the entire freezer floor. The pain had me moaning uncontrollably. “Everett! Lana still hasn’t admitted her mistake! You said you’d use this opportunity to fix her arrogant personality. So many friends are watching…” “And my suffering in the ICU—are we just letting that go? You promised you’d give me an explanation…” Hearing this, Everett stopped the person going for a locksmith. He turned around, pounding on the freezer door and shouting at me with a hint of pleading in his voice: “Lana, just apologize, okay? For our child’s sake, please?” “Once you admit your mistake, I’ll let you out immediately. You don’t want anything to happen to our baby, right? Please, Lana, what’s the harm in being a little flexible?” The massive blood loss was making my consciousness fade. I lay in the pool of blood, looking at Everett outside and said in a trembling voice: “Everett! Let me out! Or my dad will kill you…” Nina looked at me with a barely concealed savage smile, though her voice still carried a pitiful, tearful tone: “Lana, are you really confused? Mr. West died half a year ago. The West family collapsed half a year ago! Apologize quickly, or no one can save you!” The people outside also began mocking me: “Miss West, stop dreaming! Kill Boss? Your dad is probably still a tormented ghost in hell! And you think he can kill anyone?!”
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