The Everwinter of Their Regret

At the hearing, my former fiancé personally activated the device that would destroy my brain.

"Broadcast the crimes of this traitor!" he roared.

The other woman nestled beside him, sobbing weakly, "Ava, just admit your mistake. I don't want to see you throw your life away..."

My own brother sneered, "You brought this upon yourself."

My best friend shook his head in disappointment. "I don't even know who you are anymore."

They all expected the screen to display irrefutable proof of my collusion, my betrayal of the company.

But as the cold jolt shot through my brain, the first scene that emerged was from the avalanche five years ago—

I was scrambling against the crowd, back into the blizzard, using my slender body to shield my brother, who was pinned beneath a slab of packed ice.

The second scene was from the underground clinic three years ago—

I was kneeling before the doctor. "As long as he can live, I'm willing to trade a lifetime of my own health for it."

The third scene was from the gang's warehouse two years ago—

I shattered a wine bottle with my right hand and stabbed a thug. From that moment on, my hand—a designer's hand—was ruined forever.

A stunned silence fell over the hall. My former fiancé, eyes bloodshot, lunged for the stage to stop the device, but the board members restrained him.

"Once the program is initiated, it can't be stopped. Not until every memory has been read, or the subject dies!"

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1

At the hearing, beneath a massive display screen, sat an intricate device—the "Deep Sea" Neural Memory Reader. A cold metal helmet and a dense web of electrodes were secured tightly around my head.

"Ava Monroe is suspected of colluding with a competitor and selling the Blackwood Group's trade secrets. Today, she will face a public trial!"

The host's announcement echoed through the conference hall. My former fiancé, Isaiah Blackwood, CEO of the Blackwood Group, presided from the dais, his gaze burning with raw hatred.

"Broadcast her crimes! Let the whole world see the true face of this greedy traitor!"

Imogen Vanderbilt leaned into him, a triumphant smirk playing on her lips. She knew today was my doom.

I trembled slightly, a wave of pain from my illness washing over me, but a smile of relief touched my pale face.

"Isaiah, are you sure you want to see this? Once it begins, there's no turning back."

My smile only seemed to infuriate him further. He slammed his fist on the table, roaring, "Still trying to act tough, even now?"

"If we don't watch, how is that fair to Imogen for what she's endured? What about justice for the company you betrayed?"

As soon as he finished, the shareholders below erupted in angry roars.

"Expel this traitor!"

"Shameless woman! She was just jealous of Imogen, so she stooped to colluding with outsiders!"

"Start the reading! Run her out of town!"

Isaiah looked down at me from his chairman's seat, his tone dripping with false pity. "It's not too late to confess, Ava. If you kneel and apologize to Imogen, and admit your crimes, I might allow you to keep one last shred of dignity."

Beside him, Imogen lifted her head and whispered weakly, "Don't be like this, Isaiah. I believe Ava didn't mean to..."

She turned to me, her eyes welling with tears, the picture of kindness and innocence. "Ava, just admit it, okay? Please, I don't want to see you ruin yourself like this."

I watched her clumsy performance and laughed. "Imogen, are you really sure you want them to see my 'evidence'?"

Before she could answer, my next words made her expression freeze. "I want to see it. I want to see how you, and all of them, can live with yourselves after this."

My gaze swept past Isaiah and fell on the two men behind him. One was my brother, Asher Monroe, the company's COO.

The other was Cole Donovan, my best friend and the company's head of security—the man who'd once promised to protect me forever.

They were once the most important people in my life. But now, they had all become Imogen's most loyal supporters.

Asher frowned and said impatiently, "Ava, don't blame me for being heartless. You brought this on yourself. To think you'd sell out the company for power and profit. Even if Isaiah lets you go today, I absolutely will not."

Cole just sighed, shaking his head. "I don't even know who you are anymore, Ava. Imogen is a good person. She was even willing to help you contact the best doctors, yet this is how you repay her."

"Alright," I said softly. "Since you're all so eager to see it, let's begin."

Isaiah's voice boomed through the hall. "Begin! Let everyone see how she betrayed the company, and betrayed me!"

A board member sighed and signaled the technicians to start.

A technician secured the cold metal helmet to my head. On the life-signs monitor beside me, my heartbeat and brainwave activity flickered.

"Warning: The 'Deep Sea' neural memory reading will cause irreversible neurological damage. The process will continue until all evidence is read, with an extremely high probability of leading to complete cognitive loss or even brain death. Confirm execution?" the technician stated flatly, awaiting the final confirmation.

"Execute," Isaiah's voice held no trace of hesitation.

The moment the strong electrical current shot through the helmet, an indescribable pain exploded in my skull, as if billions of red-hot steel needles were searing through my brain. My body convulsed violently, jerking against the restraints that held me in the chair.

This was the cruelest punishment reserved for accused traitors—a public execution of memory, at the cost of one's life. The memories read would be converted into images and displayed on the big screen for all to see, while the reading process progressively destroyed my cerebral cortex until I was reduced to a vegetative state, or died.

I could feel my thoughts fragmenting, my memories being violently ransacked and torn apart, but I didn't resist. Instead, a sense of unprecedented calm washed over me.

Let them watch. Let them see it all. Let them see what I did for them in my short, tragic life. And let them see how they repaid me.

Under the harsh lights, Imogen's triumphant smile was exceptionally clear. She was waiting for me to be utterly ruined, to become a vegetable or a corpse amidst public scorn.

My gaze swept from her to the cold, disgusted, and impatient expressions on the faces of those three men.

I smiled. "Isaiah, Asher, Cole, this is my last gift to you. I hope... you'll like it."