Ficorpio
Chapter 1
On the night of my father’s funeral, while I was keeping vigil beside his ashes, I was abducted.
Those men smashed apart the Family Wake Room. They pried open my father’s urn and used what little remained of him to threaten me into obeying them. Then they forced me to record an obscene video with three men—a nightmare that lasted eight hours.
By the next day, that video had been burned onto discs and spread to every corner of our small town.
My fiancé, Julian Sterling, broke off our formal engagement without hesitation.
The girls’ school that had once urged me day after day to report for my new position stopped contacting me entirely.
Blow after blow came down until my frail mother, already barely holding herself together, clutched the urn that held the last of Harold Bennett’s ashes and followed him into death.
At the edge of despair, Malcolm Sterling—my ex-fiancé’s uncle—knelt on one knee and asked me to marry him.
Like a little boat battered by storm after storm, I thought I had finally found a harbor.
So I said yes.
Six months after the wedding, I went into the city to bring Malcolm home after he had been drinking.
Outside the private room of the club, I heard him talking with a friend.
“Malcolm, what you did six months ago was too much. It was just one engagement and one job. Vivian Sinclair comes from money—what could she possibly lack? Why did she have to take everything from Vivian Bennett? That job was something her father paid for with his life. Look at Vivian now. She walks around like her soul’s been torn out…”
“I had no choice,” Malcolm said. “That was exactly why I had to use such an extreme method. Only after her reputation was ruined would the girls’ school shut her out. Only after her reputation was ruined would Julian break the engagement without a second thought. I can’t protect Vivian Sinclair for the rest of her life. All I could do was clear the obstacles for her.”
“Then I’ll have my men collect those discs from town,” his friend said. “It’s been half a year. You don’t know how the men there look at Vivian now. Like they want to drag her into the street and—”
“Don’t collect them.”
Silence fell inside the room.
Then came a man’s low, furious roar.
“Malcolm Sterling, are you even human? Have you watched that disc yourself? Your lawful wife was tortured by three men for eight hours. By the end, Vivian was bleeding from the corners of her eyes. Was it worth doing all that for a woman like Vivian Sinclair?”
Chapter 2
“Enough!” Malcolm snapped. “Do you think I don’t know she’s suffering? Wait a little longer. Once Vivian Sinclair gives birth to a Sterling heir and everything settles, we’ll deal with it. It’s only gossip. Better that than real physical wounds. Drop it. Vivian said she was coming to pick me up. If she hears any of this, we’ll have trouble.”
Malcolm’s voice slid through the door like a ghost.
A chill seeped from my ears into every bone in my body.
I clamped both hands over my mouth and stumbled away.
The moment I stepped out of the hotel, someone grabbed me around the waist.
A group of drunken men leered at me, their bloodshot eyes crawling over my body.
“Well, look at that. Isn’t this the little woman from the disc? Mr. Bennett’s daughter, right? Always looked so prim and proper. Who knew she liked to play that hard in private?”
As they spoke, one of them yanked me toward him.
Right there in public, they started tearing at my clothes.
“Come on. Keep us boys happy, and we’ll pay whatever you want.”
I fought with everything I had.
But no matter how desperately I struggled, one woman could not overpower a pack of men.
Soon my outer layer was ripped open.
Filthy laughter rose from the crowd.
The terror from six months ago crashed over me all over again.
Just as I thought the past was about to repeat itself, Malcolm’s familiar voice rang out behind me.
“You animals. You dare touch my woman? Are you tired of living?”
At his command, a group of bodyguards surged forward and beat the drunken men until they were on the ground howling.
I crouched in a corner, shaking from head to toe, and stared at the man who had once again rescued me from hell.
But this time, there was no warmth left in my heart.
Only fear.
Malcolm saw me huddled there. He came over, took off his jacket, and draped it around my shoulders, his eyes full of pain.
“I’m sorry, Vivian. I shouldn’t have asked you to come get me so late. This is my fault. Trust me. Time will smooth everything over. People will slowly forget what was on those discs. Until then, I won’t leave your side for even a moment.”
On the ride home, Malcolm kept holding my hand and refused to let go.
After a long while, perhaps thinking I had fallen asleep, Owen Carter, who was driving, let out a heavy sigh.
“Malcolm, next time, have someone else do this. I really can’t stomach it anymore. You didn’t see the way those animals looked at Mrs. Sterling. If you’d come out two minutes later, they would have stripped her naked in the street.”
“Her father was finally cleared. She’d only had a few good days. Then because of one word from Vivian Sinclair, her family was destroyed. You’re the only person close to her now, and every day you’re still thinking about how to keep her from getting back on her feet. Isn’t that the same as torturing her to death?”
Owen’s words struck me like lightning.
Chapter 3
So the drunken men outside the hotel had also been arranged by Malcolm in advance.
I bit down hard on the tip of my tongue to keep myself from making a sound.
The taste of blood spread through my mouth, salty and metallic.
Malcolm gently set me aside.
Then he seized Owen by the throat and growled in a hoarse voice, “Have you had enough of the Sterling family’s generosity? Is this the time to say things like that? If Vivian hears you, your wife and children will die. Since when do you get to judge whether this should be done, or how?”
There came the sounds of choking and frantic struggle. The car swerved wildly across the road.
At last, just before we lost control, Malcolm released him.
Owen’s violent coughing filled the car, followed by desperate apologies.
Malcolm gathered me gently back into his arms.
He pressed a light kiss to my forehead and murmured to himself, “Vivian, endure it a little longer. For my sake, if nothing else. I’ll spend the rest of my life making it up to you…”
But this inhuman torment—
I truly could not endure it anymore.
That night, after we returned home and Malcolm fell asleep, I slipped into the study and wrote a letter to my aunt, Eleanor Hayes, who taught at a performing arts conservatory.
When I saw the envelope sealed, I finally felt a measure of peace.
I would not stay in this man-eating hell one moment longer.
The next morning, I had barely opened my eyes when I heard Malcolm giving instructions to Owen outside the bedroom.
“Today is the opening assembly at the girls’ school. When Mrs. Sterling wakes up, do whatever it takes to get her there.”
Owen hesitated. “But whenever madam goes out, even just to buy groceries, people point and stare. With that many people at the assembly, I’m afraid she—”
“Think of your wife and children.”
Malcolm’s voice was cold enough to cut.
Owen did not dare argue again.
A few minutes later, the bedroom door opened from the outside. A familiar large hand settled on my head and stroked my hair with practiced tenderness.
“Vivian,” Malcolm said softly, “the girls’ school is holding its opening assembly today. Sterling Group has sponsored quite a few students there, so I need to make an appearance. There’ll be too many people around, too many eyes. You shouldn’t go. Stay home and rest, all right?”
I forced the corners of my mouth up and nodded.
Not long after Malcolm left, Owen came to me while I was eating breakfast. He stood there twisting his hands together, his words stumbling out.
“Ma’am… my son said that when you substitute-taught at their school, a lot of the children really liked you. Today is the opening assembly. I’m sure the girls would be happy to see you…”
“I’ll go,” I said.
Owen froze.
I set down my fork. “Get ready. Let’s leave.”