Chapter 2

Elara Vance pov

On the fifth anniversary of our marriage, Nate Thorne forced me into an industrial freezer, demanding I use my bare hands to chisel out the wedding ring he'd thrown away, from a one-ton block of solid ice.

The freezer room was bitterly cold, the white mist stinging my face like needles.

I knelt on the freezing, biting floor, clutching a rusty chisel, repeatedly striking the massive ice block before me.

My hands were already purple and swollen from the cold, blood streaming down the chisel, staining the pure white ice with shocking red.

"Nate, I really… I can't chisel anymore…"

My voice was hoarse, my teeth chattering uncontrollably.

Nate Thorne stood a few feet away, dressed in a perfectly tailored black designer coat.

"Can't chisel?"

Nate sneered,

"When your parents drove drunk, speeding, and smashed my mom, dad, and sister into bloody pieces, why didn't they say they couldn't hit the brakes?"

"I'm sorry…"

Desperate tears welled up, freezing on my eyelashes.

I'd uttered those apologies millions of times over the past five years; it had become a habit.

"But my parents have already died to atone for that accident. Isn't that… isn't that enough?"

"Their deaths won't bring my family back!"

Nate Thorne suddenly kicked the ice block, shaking me to the ground. My palm scraped against sharp ice shards, instantly drawing blood.

"Elara Vance, it's only been five years, and you can't take it anymore? When you begged me to marry you, didn't you say you'd do anything for me? Now I'm just asking you to find a ring, and you're feeling wronged?"

He abruptly let go, pulling out a handkerchief with disgust to wipe his fingers, then gave a look to the bodyguard behind him:

"Watch her. Keep chiseling. She's not allowed out until she finds the ring."

The freezer door was left ajar, and bitter cold wind continuously poured in.

I trembled all over from the pain, my stomach cramping, yet I was powerless to resist.

When would this torment finally end…?

I didn't know.

"Nate, didn't we say we'd go to the concert? What's going on here?"

A sweet, delicate female voice suddenly came from the freezer doorway.

I looked through my blurry vision and saw Sera Bloom standing there in a pure white down jacket, a soft red scarf wrapped around her neck.

She was like the only warm presence in this icy world, her features pure, radiating an innocent charm.

My breath hitched, my heart squeezed tight by an invisible hand.

Sera did… she looked exactly like my twenty-two-year-old self.

No wonder Nate chose to keep her by his side.

Upon seeing Sera, the ice in Nate's eyes instantly melted.

He hurried over, naturally adjusted her scarf, his voice so tender it could drip honey:

"Sera, can you wait a bit? Today is Elara's and my wedding anniversary, and I'm giving her a gift."

Hearing this, Sera glanced at me dismissively, then tugged at Nate playfully:

"Don't waste time on someone not worth it, okay? It's so cold in here, I'm going to catch a cold."

Nate fell silent. Clearly, he couldn't bear for Sera to suffer the cold.

So he took off his coat and draped it over Sera's shoulders, gently changing the subject:

"Good girl, are you hungry? I'll take you to dinner right now."

With that, he took Sera's hand, ready to leave.

However, as she passed me, Sera deliberately 'slipped,' kicking over a bucket of ice water meant for the ice block, sending it pouring directly over me.

The ice water splashed down on my head, and I shivered violently. The biting cold instantly pierced my bones, freezing my breath.

"Ah!"

Sera gasped, hiding in Nate's arms.

"I didn't mean to! Nate, she won't be hurt, will she?"

Nate didn't even glance at me:

"Don't worry about her. Evil ones always cling to life; she won't die."

He took Sera's hand, frowning slightly.

"Your fingers got splashed with water."

Just a tiny bit of water on her fingertip, yet Nate treated it like a fragile object, tenderly blowing on it at his lips:

"Cold? Let's get back to the car and turn on the heat."

Sera leaned into his embrace, tilting her head to kiss his cheek: "Just hold me, and I won't be cold."

Nate cupped her waist, deepening the kiss.

I lay in the biting ice water, listening to the sounds of their lips intertwining, my heart aching as if torn by knives.

"Sera…"

In a moment of passion, Nate gently whispered Sera's pet name.

After the kiss, Nate half-embraced Sera, and without looking back, told the bodyguard:

"Keep an eye on her while she chisels. If she doesn't finish, keep her in the freezer overnight."

He paused, his voice as cold as ice,

"This body of hers is the only thing left worth tormenting."

I watched him embrace Sera and walk away, my heart feeling torn in two.