Chapter 2
The warmth beneath me pulled me back to reality. I looked up at Asher in panic, “Asher, the baby…”
His face darkened, “What baby? Whose baby?”
I clutched my aching belly, speaking numbly. “Last month’s incident, did you forget?”
My words softened Asher’s expression a bit. He frowned at me, “Even if you seduced me last month when you returned, who knows if the child is a bastard from Africa?”
My last hope vanished. “Sister, you’re pregnant with a gang leader’s child and want to use it to bind Asher.”
Adeline’s voice was loud, and bystanders all stared at me. The lingerie I wore became a label of promiscuity. I instinctively tried to avoid their gaze. Asher thought I was guilty of being exposed.
He roughly grabbed my hair, ripping away my last cover. “Weren’t the gang leaders in Africa enough for you?”
I struggled to break free, but my body was weak. Just then, the tablet in my bag fell out. My mother’s pleas and men’s laughter echoed. My blood froze, and I collapsed, screaming desperately.
“Please, let my mom go. I’ll do anything.”
My pleas didn’t earn any mercy from the old man in the video. He maliciously tied my mom to a pillar. Then he pulled out his belt, beating her crazily.
Watching my mom’s naked, scarred body, I lost control, banging my head on the ground before Asher.
“Asher, I’m begging you. We were wrong back then.”
“But you already took revenge, making mom demented.”
“I’ll give up everything, just return my mom.”
I kept banging my head until it bled. A strange emotion flickered in Asher’s eyes. He was about to help me up, but Adeline interrupted.
“Asher, you’ve been to my camp. How could this happen?”
“This is another AI-generated video.”
She cried softly, and Asher’s hand retracted. He anxiously comforted Adeline, “Sweetheart, don’t cry. I’ll make Cora apologize.”
He turned and kicked me in the stomach, “How dare you slander Addie? Apologize now.”
I was thrown against a sanitation facility, its sharp edge piercing my belly. I lay on the ground, bleeding, unable to tell if my heart or body hurt more.
The video call continued, and my mom seemed to sense something. She looked at the camera and smiled. I realized something was wrong, frantically shouting.
“No, don’t, mom…”
The next moment, mom broke free and jumped from the 30th-floor balcony. Time seemed to stand still. I forgot to breathe, and the video call abruptly ended.
I went mad, clutching the tablet, laughing and crying. Asher frowned, snatching the tablet and smashing it.
“Enough. Crying over an AI-generated video, how ridiculous.”
Watching the shattered tablet, I clutched my chest. Overwhelmed by intense pain, I couldn’t hold on, vomiting blood.
“No, don’t, Mom…”
In the next moment, my mom broke free from the ropes and jumped off the 30th-floor balcony. Time seemed to stand still. I stood there, frozen, unable to breathe. The video call on the tablet cut off abruptly. I clutched the tablet, tears streaming down my face as I alternated between laughter and sobs. Asher furrowed his brows, grabbed the tablet from me, and smashed it onto the ground.
“Enough. Crying over an AI-generated video won’t help.”
Staring at the shattered tablet, I pressed my hand to my chest. A sharp pain coursed through me, and I couldn’t hold it any longer, coughing up blood. Asher panicked, pushing Adeline aside and lifting me up.
“Cora, you can’t even die without my permission.”
With the last of my strength, I opened my eyes. “Asher, we’re even now.”