Chapter 4

The wheelchair flipped over, sending me sprawling to the floor.

I lay there helplessly and watched as Andrew continued to shout at me.

"I know that you hate me. You despise me for taking your childhood sweetheart, your sister, and your lover from you. But Finn is innocent! He's only a child. He wouldn't be able to survive such a bad fall. How cruel can you be? How could you hurt him like that?"

Diana, Elise, and Beverly rushed into the living room from different parts of the manor after hearing the commotion.

Diana swiftly approached us, wearing a steely expression. She crouched down and quickly examined Finn before whipping her head up to shoot me a hateful glare.

"What have you done, Connor Graham?" she roared. "It's barely been two days since you returned, and you're already misbehaving? Do you want me to send you back to the estate?"

Beverly also rushed over, looking between Finn, who was still lying on the floor and wailing at the top of his lungs, and Andrew, who was still berating me. Her eyes burned with rage when she looked at me.

"How could you do such a thing to a child, Connor?" she demanded.

Meanwhile, Elise handed Finn to a medical staff member standing behind her. She didn't say a single word and simply shot an icy and fierce glare at me.

I slowly realized that I was being framed. The circumstances were completely identical to the countless times that I was framed in the past three years.

The steward used to accuse me of stealing. When I told him that I didn't do it, he whipped me even more severely.

One of the household staff members accused me of seducing a maid. When I tried to explain myself, I was stripped of my clothes and humiliated in front of everyone.

When Diana believed the lies that accused me of trying to escape the estate, she locked me in a cell and trapped me in a huge container that was filled with water.

I opened my mouth, wanting to explain myself. I wanted to tell them that they were wrong—that I wasn't the one who dropped Finn.

I had so much to say, but I stayed quiet because I knew that none of them would believe me. If I tried to explain myself, they would just punish me even more severely, just like before.

The only thing that I could do was curl up on the floor and offer weak apologies.

"I'm sorry…" I murmured.

Andrew rushed forward and shouted, "You're sorry? Do you think that you can sweep everything under the rug just by apologizing? I'm going to beat you to death, you damned bastard!"

He then began to rain down blows on me while Diana and the others quietly watched him.

"Don't kick his stomach," someone said. "It's a weak spot."

Diana and the others didn't speak up again. They didn't try to stop Andrew and simply stood on the sidelines, just like before.

Andrew punched and kicked me over and over again, landing blows on my face and body.

I was hurting so much. Pain exploded all over my body.

As I teetered on the edge of unconsciousness, I noticed that the number in my vision was plummeting rapidly.

"24:27:43.

"20:13:05.

"15:39:17."

Andrew finally stopped when someone pulled him away.

The number had stopped at "4:01:25".

Diana slowly approached me. Looking down at me, she asked coldly, "Have you learned your lesson? Why do you insist on misbehaving?"

I choked on the metallic taste of blood in my throat. I didn't answer her questions. Instead, I grabbed the hem of her pants and asked a question of my own.

"Didn't you tell me… that no one will ever hurt me again when I'm here?"

Diana fell silent. She calmly freed the hem of her pants from my grip and answered, "But you made a mistake. You deserve to be punished for it. Those are the rules. You'll be locked in the storage room for now. I'll let you out once we confirm that Finn is fine."

But I didn't want to be locked in the storage room.

I had been trapped in the estate for the last three years. I didn't want to spend the last four hours of my life being locked in a cage like an animal.

I wanted to plead with Diana, but she had already turned away.

I looked at Beverly, but she simply averted her gaze and continued comforting Andrew, who was still in distress, in a low voice.

Elise had already left the living room in a rush to check on Finn's condition.

As expected, nobody was willing to save me.

I stopped struggling and allowed the maids to drag me away and roughly throw me into the storage room.

I counted my heartbeats as I watched the number in my vision tick down.

I didn't know what would happen to me after the countdown reached zero, but considering my current circumstances, death didn't sound all too bad.

At least I would be free after I died.

"00:00:00."

I closed my eyes when the number hit zero. My heart stopped beating as a dark red liquid pooled around my body.

A maid dropped by to deliver food to me about 30 minutes later. She stared at me for a split second before letting out a terrified shriek that echoed through the entire manor.

The maid stumbled over her own two feet as she bolted toward Diana and screamed, "He's dead! Mr. Graham's dead! There's blood all over the floor!"