Broken Hands, Broken Vows

Evelyn Shaw is known across Nordia as a top surgical genius. Noble families line up, waiting for her to perform their operations. Her hands are worth over ten million dollars and are irreplaceable, yet they are being pressed mercilessly into the floor at this very moment. The culprit is her husband, Howard Blackwood, the man at the apex of Nordia's power hierarchy. Howard sits silently in the chair as she suffers. He is still the same, impeccably dressed with an unreadable expression. Behind him, a large screen shows her sister, Layla Shaw, being dragged into a dark room by several burly men. Layla's broken, helpless cries fill the air, wrenching Evelyn's heart. "Eve, either you get up and operate on Anne's mother, or I make sure these videos reach all of Nordia tomorrow," Howard says. Evelyn grits her teeth as she glares at him. "Howard, why are you doing this to me?"