Finn lit a cigarette, appearing calm on the surface, but his eyes were as dark as an indelible ink stain, those who knew him understood that he was deeply angry.
The smoke formed circles, making his face blur even more.
Aoife’s face was pale, “This child is not his, and we didn’t share the same bed.”
Aoife’s explanation extinguished a little flame in Finn, but he was still angry. He dared to bet that if he found Aoife a little later, she would already be married to Ethan, sharing the same bed.
Actually, Finn wasn’t sure if Aoife had been intimate with Ethan, or whose child she was carrying.
Even if they did have a relationship, Finn didn’t want to admit it. He just imagined it, and his scalp felt like it was being pricked with needles. He couldn’t imagine how much he would hate facing the brutal truth.
The ring in his hand was his shame, and Aoife watched him with pleading eyes, silently begging him to return the ring to her.
But thinking was futile.
Finn turned and walked straight to the bathroom.
When Aoife saw him heading to the bathroom, a sense of urgency climbed up her chest. Her mind buzzed with noise, she stood up in a panic, only to be tripped by the chain in her hand and fell to her knees on the hard chain, the pain taking her breath away. She couldn’t care less about the pain, she ran over in a mix of running and crawling, and just as she reached the bathroom door, she saw Finn standing inside, the toilet lid open, the ring in his hand pointed towards the toilet.
His next move didn’t require much thought from her.
“No-” Aoife rushed in, but it was too late. As soon as Finn let go, the ring slid in a curve into the toilet, while his other hand pushed the flush button on the toilet. By the time Aoife reached, all that was left was the sound of flushing water, and the ring was gone.
Aoife knelt on the ground, tears streaming down her face, not even knowing, she trembled as she reached into the toilet, even though the ring had been washed away, she still extended her hand inside, hoping for a miracle, hoping to find that ring.
Aoife sobbed, her chest heaving, struggling to breathe. Her upper body rested on the toilet…
It was gone… The ring was gone… The ring Ethan had made for her was gone.
She had received very few gifts in her life. Even on Children’s Day, no one remembered her birthday. In school on Children’s Day, the teachers distributed candies to the students, everyone had them, and she considered it as a birthday gift.
This ring, undoubtedly, was the most precious gift she had ever received in her life.
Aoife’s mind was filled with the image of Ethan kneeling in front of her, shaking as he proposed with the ring.
Finn watched Aoife’s actions coldly, took a few more drags of his cigarette to calm himself, extinguishing it on the wall. His actions were deliberate, imposing an invisible pressure. He didn’t stop until he had crushed the cigarette butt almost to wrinkled ashes, only then did his emotionless voice escape his throat.
“Just a ring, and you’re already like this. What if someone else disappears in front of you…” Finn chuckled, unable to express the bitter significance in his heart, “You want to know where Ethan is, right? Shall I take you to him now?”
Finn unlocked the chain tied to Aoife’s body with a key, then lifted her and carried her into the elevator down to the basement.
Aoife didn’t know what awaited her down there, she only knew that Finn’s torment never ceased for a moment.
The tears on her face continued to fall, she had failed to protect the ring.
Now she needed to protect Ethan, he was her only bottom line. If Ethan truly disappeared from her sight as Finn had said, she would hate this unjust world, she didn’t know how to survive in this cruel world besides hating.
Finn brought Aoife downstairs, where there were cages of water snakes, a few rabbits, and his experimental drugs.
At that moment, Ethan was hanging on the wall, his hands bound, no clothes on his upper body, no visible injuries, but his skin was pale to the point of bluish, very abnormal. Aoife’s gaze swept past and landed on the syringes placed on the table.
She had seen these syringes and drugs before, in the videos Finn had hidden, where he used them to torture Elisa.
“Finn, you said you would let him go as long as I showed sincerity!” Aoife’s eyes turned red, “Why don’t you keep your word!”
Finn’s voice was heavy, “Which ear did you hear me say I would let him go? I only said I would let you know his whereabouts, at most bring you to see him. Don’t listen halfway. He crossed me, I was already being kind by not killing him.”
“I have nothing with him, Finn, please, I beg you, spare him… I will never run away again, I will listen to you, do as you say, even if I have to be a dog, I’m willing. I only beg you, if you hate me, punish me alone, don’t harm the innocent. I can’t bear it… I really can’t… please…”