Chapter 8

Carmen struggled against her restraints, trying to get the words out. But her mouth was taped shut, and she was tied up so tightly that she couldn't move an inch. Claudio gripped the whip, an ominous feeling suddenly rising in his chest as he looked at the woman squirming in front of him. The private room was dimly lit, and a ridiculous thought suddenly popped into his mind—she reminded him of Carmen. "Darling, thank you for standing up for me. The madam really put me through hell." At that moment, Rosalia wrapped her arms around his waist with misty eyes. Just like that, the doubt in his heart faded away. Carmen didn't like wearing traditional dresses, and she had kept waist-length hair just the way he liked it. The madam in front of him, dressed in traditional attire with cropped hair, could never be her. At that notion, warmth drained from Claudio's eyes, leaving behind nothing but a blood-crazed madness. "You hurt my wife. I'm gonna make you suffer a helluva lot more than she has." With a sharp crack, the whip cut through the air. The first lash struck Carmen, and she reflexively arched her back. The barbs tore open the first bloody gash. She let out a blood-curdling scream, only to be violently silenced. As the second lash struck her, her eyes narrowed dramatically. The raw wound burned as if it was branded by a searing iron, and her breath came so ragged it felt like she could draw her last at any moment. Claudio lashed at her the third time. The pain was so unbearable that Carmen bit her lips hard, drawing blood. Her body convulsed and curled inward. Agony seeped into every inch of her skin, making it impossible for her to run away. … After 99 lashes, Carmen was losing consciousness, and she was covered entirely in blood. Yet, she couldn't struggle anymore. Instead, she was reduced to mechanical convulses. In her daze, she recalled what Claudio had promised her. He said he would dish out a brutal punishment to Rosalia—tying her up and lashing her with a whip. Yet, he had failed to keep his word. And now, Carmen was the one who was bound and suffered at the crack of his whip, wishing she were dead. At that moment, Carmen heard Claudio's voice. "Rosalia, how many men did she get to harm you?" Rosalia pondered it for a while before she replied, "Ten." "Very well. I'm going to make her suffer worse than that." He barked an icy order at his men, "Get me 100 of the filthiest beggars and feed the lady there some aphrodisiac." Raising his foot, Claudio kicked at Carmen's chin. "You hurt my wife, and now you're gonna wish you had never been born!" Her mask was kicked off and dropped to the floor. "Claudio!" Carmen screamed at the top of her lungs. "Will you regret it if you know it's me you're hurting?" Yet, her voice was garbled by blood, turning her words into incoherent whimpers. Meanwhile, Claudio had already turned around and walked away, holding Rosalia's hand. "Rosie, I don't want you to watch the rest of this. It's not a pretty sight. For the next few days, I'll stay right by your side…" His voice trailed off as the seconds went by. Someone came over, loosened her restraint, and shoved a pill into her mouth. It felt like her heart was plunged into coldness, and yet her body was heating up at an alarming rate. Countless filthy beggars poured into the room, bringing a foul stench with them. Their gazes were filled with lust, and their nails were caked with dust. As they wantonly caressed her body, she spotted their pus-oozing hands. Aside from the overwhelming, sickening feelings, Carmen was ashamed to find out that she was getting aroused. She panted heavily, her face unusually red as tears of shame welled up in her eyes. If this kept up, she really would be ruined thoroughly. Stumbling over to a vase, she shattered it with every strength in her body and stabbed her thigh with one of its shards. The streaking blood gave her a moment of clarity, and the beggars were closing in on her once more. Flat out of options, Carmen looked behind her, steeled her resolve, and jumped out of the window of the three-storey building. Fate must've taken pity on her because she found herself landing on the soft patch of grass with the nightclub's entrance in sight. Fighting the pain coursing through her body, she ran out of the compound like a possessed woman. Her phone buzzed relentlessly, and one of them was a text from Claudio. "Carmy, this project's gonna take a few days. Be a good girl and wait for me at home. I love you to bits." Carmen let out a sarcastic chuckle. The other text was from the office. "We've carried out the full erasure procedure, and every identity document under this name has been voided." This time, she laughed out of pure joy. She could finally leave Claudio and cut him out of her life. Once Carmen arrived at the villa, she swiftly packed her stuff up. All of her identity documents had been kept away by Claudio, but it didn't matter anymore. From today onward, Carmen Whitman no longer existed. She merely took her own design sketches and some daily essentials. Then, she removed the bloodied ring and put it on an otherwise empty desk. Just one glance, and he would know exactly what he had put her through. Initially, Carmen wanted to exact revenge on Rosalia with her own hands, but she knew that the ring itself would turn Claudio into her personal instrument of revenge. When she left the villa, the sky had turned dark. On a midsummer night, the sky looked like a blue velvet. Regrettably, the city skyline was so heavily polluted that even the stars looked dim. And yet, a star would eventually dazzle brilliantly. Carmen used her new identity to buy a ticket to Pendalith. As her plane soared above the sea of clouds, she knew she was one step closer to the stars. She quietly bade Claudio farewell, wishing that she never had to see him again.