"Argh... Y-you?!" Visana's hands throbbed with pain, and fueled by anger, she directed all her rage at Damien. Feeling utterly helpless and depleted from the recent accident and her overwhelming exhaustion, she could only endure the agony at the hands of the man who dared to lay a finger on her daughter.

"Tch, let me clarify this again: I want you to become my slave—a good slave who makes money." Damien's ears pricked at her winces and groans, and he realized he should ease up on her fingers. The risk of breaking them was too great, especially with her already being in such a fragile state of near death.

"Urgh...f...uck off!"

"Haah, Screw mercy." The moment he heard her curse, any flicker of mercy he might have had vanished. He increased the pressure until he felt the sickening crack of her bones under his boot.

"Arrrghh!? I-it, y-you bastard—crack!" Not stopping there, he began to grind his shoe against her fingers, worsening the damage to the point that her nerves were beginning to deteriorate and the state of her hand became progressively dire; the kind of condition no doctor could return to its original form.

"Stop! Stop!" Visana's mind raced as she realized she was utterly cornered, mercilessly attacked while poisoned and vulnerable. The humiliation ignited a furious blaze within her, a desire to kill this man rising within her chest.

But to fulfill that ambition, she first needed to recover. Thus she resolved to tackle the immediate situation and find a way to kill him later.

"Why? I just need your brain, and seeing how you plan to off me afterward, wouldn't it make more sense to break your hands instead?" Damien raised an eyebrow, fully aware of the thoughts that crossed the minds of cornered individuals, knowing full well he would think similarly if the roles were reversed. He showed no mercy as he pressed down with all his might.

"Urgh... Y-you will not touch my daughter!—BAM!" Visana winced as her forehead pressed against the cold tiles before lifting her head and swiftly, with much force, hit the tiles. Her intense determination was evident as she felt the world closing in around her.

In that moment, she understood the depths to which Damien would sink to achieve his goals. She realized that he wouldn't hesitate to discard her daughter if he deemed her useless in the future.

The thought was unbearable.

For Visana, surrendering Emilia to a man like him was not an option.

Rather than allowing herself to be a pawn in Damien's cruel game, she would prefer to end her life right now.

With only the two of them in the room, and with Damien holding evidence against her that could prove she wasn't Emilia's biological mother, the fallout would be catastrophic but even with that Emilia would never forgive him for killing the woman who had raised her with love and care.

Moreover, Visana understood that Damien needed her to teach Emilia about business, or rather, to make Emilia a useful asset to him.

If she were no longer around, he would have no reason to keep Emilia by his side and would likely abandon her sooner rather than later.

drip drip

In an instant, blood began to trickle from her forehead, prompting Damien to narrow his gaze as he observed the scene unfolding before him. Without hesitation, he knelt and placed his hand between her head and the floor the moment she tried to lift her head to hit it on the floor.

BAM

"…you really hit hard," Damien muttered, feeling the force of her forehead slamming against his hand before it met the unyielding floor beneath, becoming quickly saturated with her blood.

Dealing with this stubborn woman was turning into quite a hassle for him.

"Haah… Haaah… don't even think about getting your hands on my daughter," Visana gasped, struggling to breathe. Her eyes grew hazy from the impact, and as she glared defiantly at Damien, blood trickled from her forehead, coursing down through her nose and over her eyebrow, painting her face a vivid shade of crimson.

DING

[ Vitality level reached critical level 1 --⟩ Target will die in 3 seconds ]

As the harsh reality of her situation dawned on her, Visana sensed her life slipping away.

Once focused solely on survival after the accident, her thoughts now turned to escaping from this man.

She was determined that either he or she would be destroyed, refusing to let him lay claim to either her or her daughter—even if it meant sacrificing her own life.

As darkness began to envelop her mind, she managed to part her blood-streaked lips in a final effort, whispering, "I w…on…"

Her vision darkened and she found herself immersed in an all-consuming darkness, trapped in an abyss where her entire body was rendered indistinct, dissolved within the shadows.

Only her face remained, slowly becoming obscured as the void claimed her.

A faint smile graced Visana's lips despite the encroaching abyss, her head beginning to sag towards the ground.

Her heartbeat dwindled to a mere flutter—most likely, her body from the neck down had already succumbed to death's grasp.

In her final moments, as her consciousness began to dissolve, shock rippled through her at the thought of her utterly unexpected situation.

She was dying right now when she wanted to live for her daughter, just because of this man, a demon who destroyed her life, at which she, being cornered, could do nothing but bite her own tongue and kill herself.

Only one thought vanishing with her consciousness as she finally succumbed to eternal sleep reverted inside her dying mind and even in the mumbled voice, "y...ou l..ost D..am..ie—"

"Did you really think you could escape me, even in death?" Damien interrupted her in the middle as he saw Visana's life slipping away.

Without hesitation, he stretched out his hand and grabbed the front of her cloth, yanking her towards him with enough force that the top button of her patient gown tore open, exposing part of her cleavage.

Her body, weakened and lifeless, collided into his. His eyes fixated on her blood-streaked lips, with a grin forming he muttered,"I'll make sure you regret that."