After I Perished in the Flames, My Brother Went Mad with Regret

The night before the awards ceremony, I was dragged into a deep alley by several militants.

When I was rescued, I was covered in blood and bruises, my uterus prolapsed, my hands and feet shattered.

The bloodstained iron rod lay nearby.

My brother knelt before me at the sight of my misery, wailing in anguish.

My parents were so distressed that they fainted several times, wishing they could kill the beasts who had defiled me.

But after I closed my eyes, I heard my parents' voices, heavy with a reluctance I hadn't expected.

"She is our family, after all. Was it right for us to conspire with those militants to hurt her like this?"

After a moment of silence, my brother replied calmly,

"You saw the future plot through my system too. She's the wicked protagonist of this world. Nothing will happen to her."

"Elara is so pitiful. Only if Lena is completely broken will Elara's fate improve, and we can finally rest easy."

"As compensation, I'll take care of her for the rest of her life. She'll want for nothing. Isn't that better than watching the plot play out and Elara die miserably?"

...

After hearing their footsteps fade away,, I slowly opened my eyes, tears blurring my vision.

A day earlier, I'd been kidnapped by that group of militants who'd been hunting for me, while my brother, who was supposed to protect me, was nowhere to be found.

At that time, I hadn't yet realized what was happening.

I'd cried and screamed for my brother, only for them to dislocate my jaw with a brutal twist.

A dozen men leered down at me.

Annoyed by my struggles, they picked up an iron pipe from the ground and smashed it against my limbs.

Excruciating pain shot through my arms and legs, but with my jaw dislocated, I couldn't scream.

I could only whimper, drool and tears mixing on my face.

Not satisfied, they beat me with the pipe again and again.

Only when I couldn't move a muscle did they finally discard it.

The stench of blood and filth filled the air, but I was powerless to escape.

After they were done, I was tossed aside like a piece of trash, just like that blood-smeared pipe

I lay there in agony, my eyes open, letting out broken whimpers and moans, praying my brother would find me, would save me.

But then, one of them noticed the desperate hope in my eyes and sneered.

"You don't actually think your big brother is coming to save you, do you? Go on, scream. Scream your lungs out. He won't come."

"Ha! Yeah, we got lucky with this one."

Their laughter was loaded with meaning, but in that moment, I was in no state to decipher it.

I don't remember how I got out later.

I only recall waking up in unbearable pain, unable to move.

My brother was kneeling before me, slapping his own face in remorse, swearing he'd protect me forever from then on.

My parents held my hands, promising they'd move heaven and earth to bring those militants to justice.

So that's what those bastards meant. It was all their conspiracy.

My own family, who claimed to love and protect me, were the architects of my hell.

Perhaps heaven took pity on me, because the reason for it all suddenly unfolded in my mind.

It turned out I was living inside a book, and I was the protagonist of this world.

And everything they did was for the sake of the family's adopted daughter Elara.

Two months ago, I'd made a major breakthrough in my scientific research, a discovery so significant that it threatened certain overseas militant groups.

My brother had stuck to me like glue under the guise of protection. I'd been deeply touched.

Little did I know he was only collaborating with those very militants to destroy me.

The method was brutally simple: cripple my hands and feet, so I could never conduct research again.

Destroy my body and my dignity, so I could never hold my head up again.

And Elara, my research assistant, could seize the opportunity to steal my achievements and glory, rising as a new star of the scientific community. Her future would be bright and promising.

Thus, she would escape her predetermined tragic ending. The realization felt like a knife twisting in my chest.

The agony in my soul even surpassed the pain in my body, making death seem preferable.

Just then, voices sounded outside the hospital room again.

The doctor's tone was strained.

"Mr. Ashford, are you certain we shouldn't proceed with treatment?"

"If we act now, Ms. Ashford's limbs can fully recover. As a key researcher, being unable to work for someone like her, that's a fate worse than death."

Silence stretched outside the room for a long moment before Connor's cold voice finally came.

"No. It's what she deserves."

My heart plunged into an icy abyss.

I could barely breathe.

The door opened. My brother took in my state, and his eyes reddened once more.

He leaned over my bedside, burying his face in his hands, trembling with sobs.

"Lena, I'm so sorry. It's all my fault. I didn't protect you."

Listening to his heart-wrenching cries, I only felt a deeper, more desolate chill.

"Connor, where were you when they took me?"

His sobs hitched abruptly. He looked up. "Lena are you blaming me?"

When I didn't answer, a flash of panic crossed his eyes.

He grabbed my hand anxiously, explaining,

"Those militants they called me with threats. I lost my head for a moment, and I lost you."

"If I could, I would take your place in a heartbeat!"

"Lena, please. I'll spend my whole life making it up to you. Just don't shut me out."

His words dripped with sincerity, his eyes brimming with guilt and remorse.

He choked up several times, as if the pain was too much to bear.

But knowing the truth, I saw only a mask of utter vileness.

After a moment of silence, I endured the piercing pain in my heart and stared straight at him.

"What about my hands and legs? Will they heal?"

"Connor, I don't want to be a cripple. I want to continue my research. I want to achieve my dreams."

"Please, get me the treatment. I'm begging you, Connor"

By the end, I was breaking down, tears streaming as I pleaded.

But my brother clenched his fists, finally looking away, unable to meet my eyes, and lied.

"Lena, I can't. The doctors they say the damage is too severe. Your hands and feet they won't recover."

"But even if you can't do research, I won't abandon you!"

"If if someday someone doesn't mind about what happened, I'll provide a generous dowry. You'll live comfortably for the rest of your life!"

He gently stroked my cheek, his voice a low murmur of false comfort.

"Lena, no matter what, I'll always be your steadfast support."

I stared at him in despair, my heart feeling as if it were being sliced to ribbons, throbbing with pain.

Under my gaze, he gradually stiffened, made up some excuse, and fled the room.

Watching his retreating figure, I wanted to ask him, when he stood outside that door, listening to my desperate cries, hearing those beasts beating and violating me

Did he feel even a shred of hesitation? But then I thought, probably not.

Otherwise, how could I have ended up like this? Floating between sleep and wakefulness, I heard Connor talking to our parents again.

"Do we really have to post those videos online? Elara has already taken Lena's honor. Pushing Lena further I'm afraid she might do something drastic."

Connor hesitated, then spoke with resolve.

"People are still questioning Elara online. Releasing Lena's videos is the only way to divert attention. For Elara's sake, I have to do this!"

"As for Lena, she's the protagonist of this world. She won't die. No matter how much she struggles, it's useless. Might as well use her to pave a smoother road for Elara."

His tone was so calm, as if I wasn't his flesh and blood, but a weed to be trampled on the roadside.

The enormity of the betrayal jolted me fully awake.

I opened my eyes to see Elara sitting by my bed, watching a video on her phone with evident interest.

Seeing me awake, her eyes glinted with malice.

She shoved the phone screen in my face, clicking her tongue.

"Lena, who knew you were such a slut."

My eyes widened. Trembling all over, I stared at the filthy, disgusting footage on the screen.

A long moment later, a shattered, despairing scream tore from my throat.

By the time my brother and parents rushed in, Elara was slapping my face, shrieking.

"Let go! Lena, you crazy bitch, let go!"

Connor's face changed. He hurried over to help Elara free her wrist.

When I refused to release my bite, a vicious glint flashed in his eyes.

He actually slapped me across the face.

He didn't hold back.

My head snapped to the side, my cheek instantly burning with pain.

Soon, blood trickled from the corner of my mouth.

Connor anxiously held Elara's freshly marked wrist and glared at me furiously.

"Lena, have you lost your mind!"

"Elara heard what happened and kindly came to visit you. Instead of being grateful, you attack her!"

Thinking of the conversation I'd overheard last night, the images on the phone, hatred and rage swelled inside me.

I glared at him with a venom I'd never shown before.

Perhaps because I'd never looked at him like that, he froze.

Seeing the bright red slap mark on my face, he seemed to realize what he'd done and stammered in panic,

"Lena, I didn't mean to"

As the room fell into silence, the harsh, lewd sounds from the phone became unmistakably clear.

Connor's face paled dramatically. His gaze fell on the phone by my pillow.

On the screen, a video was playing.

In it, I was naked, forced into degrading, humiliating positions like a dog.

They pinched my filthy, battered face, shoving it toward the camera, laughing as they spat on me.

And behind me, faceless men reached out, pinning me down violently

Smack!

The phone was slammed to the floor. Connor gritted his teeth, roaring.

"Where did this come from! How dare they post this online!"

My parents also saw the video's content.

Their faces were ashen, as if they'd aged decades in an instant.

My mother threw herself onto me, sobbing uncontrollably.

"My daughter, my poor girl! Why did this have to happen to you!"

My stoic father kept wiping his tears, a pained groan escaping his throat.

They played their parts with such convincing grief.

But I hadn't forgotten.

When I was hospitalized, they'd been busy accompanying Elara to accept the award that should have been mine.

When the TV cameras panned to them, they showed no trace of sorrow, only pride and adoration for Elara on stage.

I watched their Oscar-worthy performance with cold eyes.

Had I not known the truth, I might have believed their pain was real.

Seeing I remained unresponsive, Connor's anger gradually faded.

He opened his mouth, about to speak to me, when Elara cut in.

"Connor, my wrist really hurts."

She pouted, thrusting her wrist with its nearly faded bite marks toward him.

Instantly, his attention snapped to her.

He asked tenderly, "Does it still hurt? Let me see."

My parents anxiously fetched the first-aid kit, gently disinfecting and bandaging the tiny wound.

Watching them fuss over her with such care, I felt both mocking and desolate.

They hadn't shown an ounce of this tenderness when they saw my shattered limbs, my broken body.

They hadn't been heartbroken seeing the videos of my violation.

Yet now, for a mere bite mark on Elara's wrist, they acted as if the world was ending, crowding around to comfort her.

It seemed that compared to Elara, the daughter they'd raised for over twenty years,

I, their blood relative who had returned midway, didn't count for much at all.

If that was the case, why had they bothered to find me in the first place?

I closed my eyes bitterly, unable to bear the sight any longer.

Yet the comments I'd glimpsed under that video replayed in my mind.

Everyone was calling me shameless, a whore who'd slept with countless men, a disgrace to the scientific community.

Some even said I should just die, that my filthy body polluted the very air.

And Elara, who had been under suspicion of plagiarism, saw all doubts about her vanish overnight, thanks to my scandal.

For a moment, I truly wanted to die.

But the hatred in my heart stopped me.

Gritting my teeth, I recited a number, over and over, one I knew by heart.

It was my only way out of this gilded cage.

Before I could act, however, news came from the hospital.

I was pregnant.