Revenge Has Never Been Prettier

Hearing Lex's message from the nurse, Gracie and Nicholas nearly collapsed. They lost all strength and slumped to the ground, mumbling incoherently, "Please, I beg you... I know you can save him. Whatever it costs, we'll pay... Lex is our only son!"

Watching the two elderly figures crumpled on the floor, I felt a brief flicker of hesitation.

My parents passed away when I was young, and I dropped out of school before finishing elementary.

Lex had been my childhood companion—we'd known each other since we were kids. If Gracie and Nicholas hadn't been kind enough to take me in temporarily, I'd probably have ended up in an orphanage, fighting over scraps with a pack of stray kids.

Gracie and Nicholas were good people. They never gave me less to eat because I was an outsider. Later, when distant relatives tried to snatch the house my parents had left me, it was Gracie and Nicholas who fought the case on my behalf, driving those people away.

Gracie had held my hand back then, her voice warm but firm. "A girl must have her own home," she had said. "That's how she'll stand tall in the world."

She had also told me that girls needed an education to avoid being trampled by society. They tightened their belts, willing to eat less themselves, just to ensure both Lex and I stayed in school.

And Lex—he was always kind to me. As a child, he'd promised to marry me. Later, when I became his first love, no matter how many girls admired him, he never glanced their way.

When we secretly got married, many of his relatives mocked us. They sneered that I was an orphan, an illiterate nobody. They didn't bother hiding their contempt.

Nicholas had been furious. He had even cut ties with those relatives on the spot. "Samantha grew up under my watch," he thundered. "I know exactly what kind of person she is! You lot are nothing but dogs spitting nonsense. Get lost!"

I was deeply moved. Even my biological parents had never treated me with such fierce protection.

From that day, I vowed to take good care of Lex and repay his parents for their kindness with everything I had.

But…

The thought broke, like a fragile thread snapping in my mind. I stared blankly at Gracie and Nicholas, weeping on the floor. My gaze shifted away quickly—I couldn't bring myself to keep looking.

Dr. Henley finally helped Gracie and Nicholas to their feet. He reassured them, "Don't worry. Even if Samantha refuses to help, I'll save him! I'll do everything it takes to save your son!"

He turned to me, his eyes blazing with disgust.

"Without you, I'll still save him! Compared to money, a human life is far more valuable. Samantha, you're a monster!"

With those words, he strode into the emergency room without hesitation, leaving the air crackling with his righteous indignation.

Inwardly, I applauded.

Ah, what a virtuous doctor. How noble, how self-sacrificing. Truly the stuff of tear-jerking melodramas. How touching.

Still shaken, I prepared to leave this suffocating place. But before I could take a step, an enraged bystander emerged out of nowhere and landed a punch squarely on my face.

"You vicious woman! The most toxic poison is a woman's heart! You're a snake in human skin—beautiful but rotten to the core. Today, I'm going to be justice itself and rid the world of you!"

They kicked my abdomen, again and again, until the world around me spun and blurred.

Then came a final blow, hard and deliberate, striking the back of my head. A low groan escaped me before everything dissolved into darkness.