"Ahhh—!" Serena screamed in agonizing pain.
Victoria smiled coldly. "When you were trying to allure my Julian in the garden, your tears looked so soft and pitiful. Since that’s the case, let’s destroy this face so you can never lure another man again."
"Besides..."
Victoria’s dark gaze then shifted down to Serena’s hands.
"Your right hand—the one that tried to touch my Julian—is completely useless now."
Without a flicker of hesitation, Victoria used the blade to sever Serena’s fingers one by one.
Tick-tock. Tick-tock.
Fresh blood dripped continuously onto the concrete floor.
"Aaaaaahhhhhh—!"
The subterranean room filled with Serena’s deafening, agonizing shrieks.
"My face... my hands..." Serena’s body violently trembled against her steel restraints.
Standing behind Victoria, Butler Chen instinctively reached up to rub his arm. Miss Sterling had always maintained an icy, composed demeanor; this was the first time he had ever seen her act with such raw, terrifying brutality.
It seems Serena truly crossed every single line this time.
Victoria’s blade slid further down, coming to a stop right over Serena’s chest. "Also, these clothes you wore today... so form-fitting, specifically tailored to show off your figure to my Julian?"
"You won’t be needing any of it anymore."
Realizing Victoria’s intent, raw horror washed over Serena. "Victoria! I know I was wrong!" she began to beg frantically, tears mixing with blood on her face. "I’ll never go near Julian Vance again! Please let me go! Please, I’m begging you!"
"That won’t do."
Victoria’s eyes remained dead and hollow. She would never show mercy to any woman who dared lay eyes on her man.
She forcefully plunged the scalpel straight down.
"Aaaaaah—!" Serena shrieked in even greater agony as Victoria slowly dragged the tip across her skin.
Butler Chen shook his head in silence, sighing inwardly. Tsk, tsk, tsk. How pitiful... Of all the men in the world to target, she just had to choose Master Vance. Isn’t that explicitly asking for death?
Eventually, Serena blacked out from the sheer intensity of the pain.
"Douse her," Victoria ordered coldly.
Splash!
A bucket of ice-cold water was dumped directly over Serena’s head, shocking her back into consciousness. She looked up at Victoria, her eyes filled with pure terror.
Victoria was a complete monster. She should have never provoked her.
The cold edge of the scalpel hovered directly over Serena’s bloodshot eyes. Serena froze, not daring to move a millimeter.
"Your eyes were locked onto my Julian the entire time," Victoria murmured softly. "I shouldn’t let you keep them. But... I want you to watch every single moment of my happiness with Julian. So I’ll spare them for now."
Victoria turned around and casually opened her hand.
Clang!
The bloodstained scalpel hit the floor with a crisp, echoing metal ring. A personal guard stepped forward and respectfully presented a white silk handkerchief.
Victoria slowly and meticulously wiped every trace of blood from her fingers.
"Torture her day and night. Keep a constant watch on her, and hire top medical staff to monitor her vitals. Do not let her die," Victoria instructed flatly.
Butler Chen looked at Serena with a trace of pity. Now, Serena was truly trapped in a living hell—living a life far worse than death.
"Victoria Sterling!" Serena screamed hysterically from behind her as she was led away. "I curse you! I curse you to never find true love in your life! I curse you to end up miserable and alone forever!"
Victoria’s fists clenched tightly. Without a word, she stepped out of the sub-basement.
She didn’t return to the master bedroom. Instead, she retreated into a private, soundproofed chamber on the third floor.
Her mind was consumed by Serena’s screaming curses.
He’s just acting with you... He’ll abandon you the second he gets the chance... You’re destined to live in darkness...
"Yes..." Victoria whispered to herself, a self-deprecating smile touching her lips. "I don’t deserve happiness."
She knew deep down that someone like her could never be truly loved, yet she couldn’t stop herself from keeping Julian trapped by her side forever. Was her destiny truly doomed to repeat the tragic, psychotic cycle of her mother and father?
Her hands trembled, her nails digging deep into her palms.
Butler Chen stood outside the doorway, filled with deep anxiety and worry. Having watched Miss Sterling grow up, he had long regarded her like a daughter. He knew how deeply Serena’s words had struck her psychological wounds.
"Get out," Victoria hissed through grit teeth, her voice dropping into a dangerous pitch. "Get out of here!"
Butler Chen’s heart sank. Seeing her reaction, he knew her hidden condition was flaring up again.
Ever since she was five years old, Miss Sterling had been groomed as the sole heir to the enterprise. When she was kidnapped between the ages of ten and fifteen, no one knew the exact horrors she had endured during those five lost years. All they knew was that after her return to the Sterling family, she had become frighteningly cold and emotionally detached—frequently suffering from violent, explosive instincts.
"Quickly! Call the team over!" Butler Chen rushed down the hall, shouting to the guards. "Miss Sterling’s instinct has triggered!"
Moments later, thirty burly guards in heavy, full-body protective gear sprinted up the stairs. Their suits were heavily padded to absorb high-impact force, acting as human punching bags to let her release her rage safely. Behind them followed a private physician holding a prepared sedative syringe.
Inside the sprawling, two-hundred-square-meter training hall, Victoria stood with an expression of pure, bloodthirsty coldness.
The moment the armored guards stepped inside, she moved like a blur, landing brutal, heavy strikes on them one after another.
Even though thirty trained men swarmed the room, they were completely outmatched by Victoria’s reckless, high-speed martial arts strikes. One by one, they were slammed onto the padded floor.
Fortunately, their reinforced suits absorbed the brunt of the lethal impact. They scrambled back up and surged toward her again, acting as a human barrier to consume her frantic energy.
Bang! Bang! Bang!
The loud, chaotic thudding echoing through the third-floor wing was so intense it eventually woke Julian from his sleep.
He rubbed his eyes, stepped out of the bedroom, and followed the loud crashes down the corridor until he reached the entrance of the massive training hall.
Outside the double doors, dozens of guards and estate staff were gathered in tense silence.
Julian squeezed through the crowd, his eyes widening in surprise at the scene inside. "Butler Chen... what on earth is going on?"
Butler Chen slapped his forehead in panic. He had been so focused on managing Miss Sterling’s episode that he had completely forgotten Master Vance was sleeping nearby!
If Master Vance sees Miss Sterling acting like a violent maniac, won’t he be terrified of her?!
Panic filled Butler Chen’s mind, but it was far too late to conceal it now.
"Master Vance..." Butler Chen leaned in, explaining in a hushed, trembling tone, "The truth is... Miss Sterling suffers from a severe psychological condition—bipolar rage disorder coupled with trauma-induced mania."
Julian’s brows furrowed tightly. Victoria has this condition? Why wasn’t it mentioned in the original novel?
Butler Chen continued nervously, "This group of armored guards is specially trained to serve as a physical outlet for Miss Sterling when her mania flares up. Once she exhausts her physical strength after a while, the doctor will find an opening to administer a mild sedative. She will sleep for ten hours and wake up back to normal."
Julian watched Victoria inside the ring—her dark hair whipping around her face, her eyes wild, red, and entirely consumed by deep pain and aggression.
He didn’t feel a single trace of fear. Instead, looking at the solitary, tortured figure fighting off thirty men just to numb her internal agony, a heavy pang of heartache hit his chest.
Without warning, Julian stepped straight into the training room.
"Master Vance! No! Don’t go in there!" Butler Chen gasped in absolute terror, reaching out to grab him, but missing his sleeve. "She’s out of her mind right now—she’ll hurt you!"
The armored guards hesitated, freezing in place when they saw Julian walk into the center of the floor.
Victoria snapped her head toward the intruder. Her dark eyes were bloodshot and unrecognizing, filled with pure, predatory aggression. She lunged forward like a phantom, her iron fist driving straight toward Julian’s chest!