Chapter 2

Staring at the wild flood of comments in the livestream, I snatched up the sharp knife from the table and plunged it straight into Gregory Lambert's shoulder without a second thought.

Blood gushed out of the wound right away, splattering all over me.

I couldn't hear a thing, but the chat was blowing up with screams.

[Wait, this isn't staged, is it? Did you hear the old man's scream? This is for real.]

[This is definitely not fake. She's really stabbing him with a knife.]

[Holy crap, this is a live murder! Someone call the cops.]

Whatever the chat was screaming didn't matter to me. I ripped the knife free and drove it straight into his wife, Salma Lambert's thigh.

Blood sprayed out again, painting the room red.

Salma's scream was so piercing it felt like it could shatter glass. "Stop! Please, stop!"

"Is it money you want? We're loaded! Take it all, just please stop!" she shouted.

Gregory's face contorted with pain. "Why? Why are you doing this? We've always been good to you. Why are you doing this to us?"

"Why?" I sneered, my laugh sharp and cruel. "When you two filthy animals finally end up in hell, you'll know exactly why."

I forced myself to swallow the fear and steady my shaking hands, then kicked off my pizza tutorial with step one, grinding up the meat.

Soon enough, I had a big bowl of ground meat ready to go.

Behind me, Gregory and Salma's bodies were already torn up, sprawled in a pool of blood, barely hanging on.

Yeah, this was it. Only by putting them through this could I finally vent some of the rage I'd been holding onto.

The chat was blowing up with hate. "Psycho," "killer," "bitch," "die a horrible death", the insults just kept scrolling across the screen like a never-ending storm.

But I just kept making pizza, not even bothering to wipe the blood off my clothes.

When the pizza finally came out of the oven, smelling amazing, I flashed a bright smile at the camera.

I said, "Alright, that's it for today's pizza tutorial. Next up, we've got the side dishes to go with it."

With that, I grabbed the cleaver from the table, locked eyes with Gregory and Salma, terror and helplessness written all over their faces, and swung it down hard.

I got arrested.

Just as the cops busted through the villa's front door, I was confirming Gregory and Salma had finally stopped breathing.

A bunch of cops pinned me to the ground and snapped the cuffs on my wrists, and right then, the livestream went dark.

In the interrogation room, I washed the blood off my body and cradled a cup of hot water, sipping it slowly.

The lead detective looked at me like he wanted to eat me alive. "Why did you do this? You took two lives!"

"What kind of grudge did you have against them? Why did you have to go this far? Why did you have to be so savage about it?"

Just then, I heard hurried footsteps in the hallway. My employer, Annika Lambert, burst in, hair wild and eyes blazing, looking ready to rip me to shreds.

But before her hands could even touch me, the cops grabbed her and held her back. She could only scream at me in frustration.

She shouted, "Why? Why did you have to kill my parents?

"Natasha, I'm going to kill you! I'm going to kill you!"

I splashed the hot water from my cup right in her face, smirking at her.

I said, "Kill me? Go ahead, but your husband and your two little ones are already doomed."

Only then did everyone realize that Annika's husband and her son and daughter were still missing.

I said, "Your parents were just the starter. If you want your husband and kids back alive, you'd better play nice."

The detective's eyes were practically popping out of his skull. "Those are just two little kids! Are you even human? Kids are innocent!"

"Innocent, huh?" I sneered.

I suddenly broke into wild laughter, my whole body shaking, the chains on my ankles clanking loud enough to echo through the room.

When I finally caught my breath, I stared him straight in the eye. "Sir, isn't everyone in this world just somebody's kid?

"You think a killer like me would let them live just because they're 'innocent'?"

I turned to Annika. "Want your husband and kids back alive?"

The police officer was eerily calm. "Just say it. What do you want?"

"You really are an old-school cop. You get how things work," I said with a sly grin. "I want to kick off a live interview, streamed for everyone online, no cuts, no edits. And..."

I jabbed a finger at Annika, whose face was the picture of hopelessness. "She's a reporter, right? She'll be the host."

"No! This case is already causing a massive stir. We can't let the media frenzy get any worse," the officer said.