Chapter 4
Sarah's face turned ghostly pale from the pain, and, barely conscious, she let Martin lead her out.
Blood dripped onto the floor, leaving dark brown stains behind.
Martin didn't stop until they reached a secluded corner, out of view of the security cameras. He flicked the blood off his hands with disgust as if he couldn't stand the mess. "Was this your idea?"
"No," Sarah replied, shaking her head.
She shook her head again and instinctively tucked her hands behind her back. "Maybe, maybe my roommate saw something when I was changing clothes, and it slipped out by accident..."
Martin let out a cold laugh.
Suddenly, Martin reached over and ruffled Sarah's hair, his voice turning unexpectedly gentle. "It's not even two hours yet, but since you were sick yesterday, I guess I can cut you some slack. Are you feeling any better?"
"I'm feeling much better..." Sarah murmured.
"Is that so?" Martin narrowed his eyes, his tone growing cold.
His hand paused above her head, then, without warning, he slapped her hard across the face. His voice was icy. "Then why did you let Bradley touch you?"
Sarah was slammed straight to the floor, her head cracking against the hard ground. Before she could even move, Martin drove his foot viciously into her stomach.
And then another brutal kick landed.
Her ears buzzed, her whole body shuddering as she curled up tight, blood dribbling from her nose and mouth.
Martin said something else, but Sarah couldn't even catch his words. Her vision kept fading to black.
Her hair was suddenly jerked up in a rough grip, and at last she caught Martin's icy, contemptuous voice. "So eager to throw yourself at Bradley already? At your core, you're nothing but a filthy whore."
"Sarah, even if you die, it'll be at my hands, no one else's," Martin growled.
The pain in her scalp faded as he finally let go and walked away.
Sarah slumped against the wall, struggling to catch her breath. Blood kept trickling from her nose, and she wiped it away clumsily with her sleeve.
Footsteps echoed nearby, and Sarah instinctively shrank into the corner, desperate to hide from whoever was coming.
Out of nowhere, a pack of wet wipes was handed to her.
Sarah looked up and found herself face-to-face with Bradley.
"Do you need to go to the hospital?" he asked.
"Nope," Sarah replied.
Sarah calmly dabbed at her nosebleed, showing zero embarrassment. "My nose just bleeds easily. It'll be fine in a minute."
Bradley didn't leave. Instead, he actually sat down beside her, almost like he was slumming it by sitting next to her. "Heard the older folks say Martin's been getting real weird the past few years. I didn't buy it, but after today, yeah, he's seriously messed up."
He turned to her. "What do you think?"
Sarah scoffed, her voice icy. "Trust me. I'm messed up, too. Can't you see?"
Her tone was frosty. "Weren't you dying to see how I handle him? Well, you've seen it now. Satisfied?"
"And what about you? Aren't you just using me as your shield to get whatever you want?" Sarah shot back.
Bradley stayed perfectly cool. "You're sharp. If you want something from me, make it worth my while. I'm not in this for nothing."
"If I weren't any use to you, you wouldn't bother playing along, would you?" Sarah sneered.
She let out a soft laugh, then suddenly asked, "Do you know why you lost to me in last year's competition?"
Bradley looked at her.
"It's because you don't care about anyone. You look down on every competitor, no matter who they are," Sarah said.
"This world isn't just full of smart and stupid people. There are the poor, always struggling to climb up, and the rich, living large at the top," she added.
Sarah smiled, her eyes narrowing. "Bradley, if we ever go up against each other again, you'd still lose to me."
Bradley's arrogance was a privilege handed down from his family. He surveyed the world from above, treating those at the bottom like insignificant ants, cherry-picking anyone who might serve his interests.
He knew how to play people to get what he wanted, but that didn't mean he actually thought much of them.
After a moment, Bradley finally broke the silence. "You wrote those diaries just so Martin would see them, didn't you?"
He smiled, but there was no doubt in his voice. "Guess you really had him fooled."
Sarah didn't respond.
"Enough of this little chess match," Bradley said, not bothered in the slightest.
He got up. "I'll get those materials together for you. It looks like Martin's not ready to lose control of you, so I'll have to get creative."
Sarah didn't miss a beat, meeting his gaze directly. "Guess I'll thank you now."
She looked him straight in the eye, her voice steady. "Pick me, and you won't be disappointed."
Her stunt yesterday was pretty clumsy, and Bradley had seen through it immediately. Still, compared to her laying it all out and coming to him herself, he was much more convinced when he thought he'd steered the whole game from behind the scenes.
Getting her way was all that mattered to Sarah. Pride and shame didn't even cross her mind if it meant reaching her goal.
Sarah didn't go home. She hung around campus for a few days before getting a call from the pet hospital, saying someone had come and taken Kitty away.
"Miss Shelton, Kitty's really not doing well. She's listless, and honestly, she shouldn't have been discharged yet," the staff member said, hesitant.
"But the person said your brother sent them..." the staff added, sounding conflicted.
Kitty was one of the stray cats Sarah had rescued, just a few months old, but already badly abused. She kept everything hush-hush from Martin, sneaking trips to the vet behind his back. As soon as Kitty started to recover, Sarah would work on finding her a real home.
Martin probably knew about it the whole time, but just never bothered to interfere. All of a sudden, he pulled this move to drag her back home.
When Sarah rushed home, she found Martin sprawled lazily on the living room couch, sleeves rolled up, completely relaxed and oblivious to her entrance. There was a scratch on his forearm, already crusted over.
Sarah's heart dropped. Nervously, she scanned every corner of the room, but Kitty was nowhere to be found.
"Oh, look who's back!" Martin looked up, his voice cool and unhurried.
"What are you searching for? That filthy little animal?" he continued, tone casual, almost dismissive.
Sarah didn't answer. She just stared straight at him, her breath tight, chest rising and falling.
"If it wasn't for that damn cat, I bet you wouldn't have bothered coming home, would you?" Martin said, his smile relaxed, yet Sarah felt nothing but cold.
Martin flashed a charming smile, but it sent a chill straight to Sarah's bones. He stepped in close and brushed his fingers over her cheek, almost gently, but the pressure was unmistakable. "You're upset, aren't you?" he drawled.
"Next time, I'll make sure not to hit your pretty face. How does that sound?" Martin added, his tone smooth as silk and twice as sharp.
Sarah forced down a wave of nervousness, schooling her expression into perfect calm. She told Martin she'd been swamped with schoolwork, which was why she stayed on campus, then quietly fetched the medical kit to tend to his scratch.
Martin just squinted at her, neither saying yes nor stopping her, letting her do as she pleased.