Chapter 2
The glass bottle shattered at Sabrina's feet. It wasn't ordinary perfume—it was a highly concentrated chemical reagent used for blending fragrances.
A pungent, sour odor burst out, like some corrosive gas, quickly spreading through the cramped space. The store clerks nearby instantly covered their mouths and noses, screaming as they scrambled back. Even Edgar, several feet away, instinctively frowned and pinched his nose.
Sabrina was the only one who stayed perfectly still.
She stood right in the heart of the toxic fumes, surrounded by splattered liquid and broken glass. Some of it had even splashed onto her shoes, making a faint sizzling sound as it ate away at the material.
Yet she remained there, like a soulless statue, not even bothering to hold her breath—her expression empty as she stared at the chaos on the floor.
She couldn't smell a thing. Her brain just didn't get the memo that anything was wrong.
"Ahem... Edgar... help..." Gillian gripped her throat, tears streaming down her face, and slumped to the floor.
Edgar's eyes widened in alarm. He rushed forward and shoved Sabrina aside. Sabrina stumbled back, her back slamming against the hard display case with a heavy thud.
Edgar didn't even look at her. He scooped up Gillian, whose face was flushed from coughing, and bolted toward the door for some fresh air. Only when Gillian's breathing finally calmed did he turn around, his eyes burning with rage, like he could kill someone.
"Sabrina!" he roared.
He stormed back, jabbing a finger at the still-evaporating reagent on the floor. His shout made the glass on the counter vibrate. "That bottle shattered right at your feet!
"The smell was so strong, even people at the door could smell it, and you just stood there, saying nothing? Were you just going to stand there and let Gillian suffocate?"
Sabrina steadied herself against the counter, then lifted her head.
She stared at Edgar's handsome face, now contorted with rage, watching his lips as he hurled those biting words at her.
'Should I try to explain? Should I admit I can't smell anything?' she wondered.
She opened her mouth, but in the end, just lowered her gaze. The last spark of love in her eyes wavered like a candle in the wind, then faded away completely.
*****
The spiral staircase in the Herrera family villa was the dramatic stage Gillian had handpicked for herself.
A piercing scream tore through the quiet afternoon. Gillian went tumbling down the stairs, her head hitting the railing hard, a nasty bump rising right away.
When Edgar burst out of the study, he caught sight of Sabrina standing at the top of the stairs, her arm hanging lifelessly at her side.
Gillian was sprawled a few steps below, crying so hard her tears streamed down like rain. "Sabrina... I just wanted to borrow a brooch. Why did you push me?" she sobbed.
No questions, no hesitation. Edgar stormed up the stairs, grabbing Sabrina by the shoulders with such force it felt like he might crush her shoulder blades.
"You lunatic!" Edgar yelled.
He lashed out with his arm.
Sabrina was tossed aside like a dried-up leaf. This time, she didn't hit the wall—her lower back crashed painfully against the sharp edge of a marble statue by the hallway.
The dull, bone-chilling thud made everyone's heart skip a beat.
Blood seeped through Sabrina's flimsy beige sweater, the crimson spreading fast and dripping from the hem onto the floor, blooming like a field of blood-red lilies.
Edgar was about to rush over to help Gillian, but when he caught sight of the blood on the floor, he froze mid-step.
Anyone else would've been screaming or curled up in agony after a hit like that. But Sabrina just swayed a little, then slowly steadied herself against the wall.
She looked down at the blood dripping onto the floor, expressionless, as if it was nothing more than spilled tomato juice instead of her own blood. There wasn't the slightest twist of pain on her face, and her breathing didn't even falter—she was eerily calm.
Edgar stared at her pale face, and a cold shiver ran all the way up his spine, making his scalp tingle.
She didn't react like a normal person at all—there was nothing human about her in that moment.
"Doesn't it hurt?" Edgar's voice shook. He wasn't scared because he'd hurt her; he was scared because she felt like a stranger, something out of a nightmare.
Sabrina raised her hand and pressed it to her lower back, coming away with a palmful of blood. She casually wiped it off on her sweater, her gaze hollow, as if staring into nothingness.
"Sabrina..." Edgar clenched his teeth, struggling to keep his composure as he growled, "You're like some freak who can't even feel pain. Watching you bleed and not even cry out—it's honestly sickening."
Sabrina lifted her eyes. The eyes that once shone with hope and light were now dull and empty.
"You won't have to be disgusted by me for much longer," she said quietly, as if it were just some random fact that had nothing to do with her.
Pain had already abandoned her, and her body was turning into a lonely island, slowly shutting itself off from everything around her.