Chapter 1

The moment Victoria Robinson got her hearing back, she couldn't wait to share the good news with her fiancé, Scott Salazar.

But as soon as she unlocked her phone, a message from one of Scott's friends popped up: [Victoria, Scott's been kidnapped! You need to get here now!]

Victoria's heart dropped. She rushed to the bank, withdrew a huge sum of cash, and headed straight for the warehouse, desperate to pay the ransom and get Scott back.

But as soon as she reached the old warehouse, someone kicked her hard, making her stumble inside. The door slammed shut behind her.

In the next instant, a pack of huge dogs lunged at her, teeth sinking into her flesh.

Victoria was torn to shreds, blood pooling on the floor as her screams echoed through the warehouse.

But she kept shouting, "I brought the money! Do whatever you want to me, just please, let my fiancé go!"

Outside the door, a burst of laughter echoed. "Scott, look at Victoria. She totally bought it! Still thinking about you, too. Man, she's crazy about you. Why not just go for her?"

Another man said, "Come on, Scott's into Katie. A bitch like Victoria only deserves to be torn apart by those dogs."

Scott said quietly, "Keep it down. Don't let her hear us."

"No way, Scott. Didn't you have us give her that stuff that made her deaf three years ago? She's deaf as a rock now. She can't hear a word we're saying."

Hearing their words, Victoria felt like she'd been plunged into an icy abyss.

Back then, she was a piano genius. People loved her music.

Piano was her whole world, but then she lost her hearing.

Unlike Beethoven, losing her hearing meant she could never write music again.

Victoria always figured it was that crash. Katie Woodard lost her memory, and she lost her hearing.

Now, Victoria finally understood that it was all Scott's twisted scheme. The man she loved most had orchestrated everything.

'So all this time, what I thought was love was nothing but a cruel joke,' Victoria thought.

Victoria's heart felt like it was being torn to shreds, the pain almost too much to bear.

While Victoria was getting torn apart inside, the mocking laughter outside just kept going.

"Dude, how many times have we messed with her now? Thirty-three? Seriously, I could die laughing."

"For real, Victoria's so gullible. We've played her so many times, and she still falls for it every single time. Remember that time Scott said he was too drunk to get in a car, and she actually carried him 6 miles home on her back?"

"That's nothing, man. The wildest was when Scott told her he was at a hotel, but when she showed up, it was some random guy. She almost got assaulted, and then they turned it around and accused her of cheating."

"Just picturing her on her knees, begging Scott to believe her, is hilarious."

The mocking voices outside kept flooding into Victoria's ears, impossible to block out.

Victoria felt her heart grow colder and colder, and she was shaking uncontrollably.

She remembered that night at the hotel. Scott had called her, slurring that he was too drunk to get home and begged her to come over.

But when she showed up with something to help him sober up, there was a huge guy waiting for her instead.

Victoria tried to run, but the guy grabbed her and yanked her onto the bed.

He climbed on top of her, ripping her clothes off.

Victoria sobbed, pleading for him to let her go, but all she got were a few hard slaps and humiliating words. "Damn bitch, someone told me there'd be a fine woman in this room, and I paid good money for it.

"You act all pure now, but after what you've done, who are you trying to fool?"

Victoria was deaf back then. She couldn't catch a single word the guy spat at her.

Helpless, she kept begging him to let her go, but all she got in return were one brutal slap after another.

The guy ripped her clothes apart, not caring at all. Just when Victoria thought she was done for, about to be violated and with no hope left, Scott suddenly barged into the room.

Victoria broke down, sobbing as she rushed to hug Scott, but he shoved her away.

Scott stared at her with a cold face, then pulled out his phone and typed: [Victoria, I've been nothing but good to you. How could you cheat on me? You're filthy.]

Victoria couldn't stand being accused of something she didn't do, and it was a million times worse when the one doubting her was Scott, the man she loved more than anything.

She tried to explain herself to Scott; she even dropped to her knees, begging him to trust her.

But now, Victoria finally realized that Scott had always known she was innocent.

It was all just a cruel show he staged, just for his own twisted entertainment.

'But why? What did I ever do to deserve this from Scott?' Victoria thought.

'We were childhood friends, inseparable. Why did he turn on me like this?' she wondered.

The dogs were still mauling her, but the emotional pain was so intense that it numbed her to the physical suffering.

Victoria lay trembling on the ground, as if she'd gone completely numb. She didn't even have the strength to scream anymore.

Someone asked, "Hey, why'd she go quiet all of a sudden? Did those mutts finally finish her off?"