The Price of a Birthday: A Five-Year HellChapter 2

In the past, even blowing out candles was a luxury for me.

This time, however, it was a lavish affair, with all our relatives invited.

For the first time, I had a cake entirely to myself.

But just as I closed my eyes and prepared to make a wish amidst the chorus of "Happy Birthday"—

"Liam, save me!"

A blood-curdling scream pierced the air. Chloe stumbled into the room, collapsing as if she had lost all her strength.

My first, exclusive birthday cake was destroyed.

"Maya, I already promised to give everything back to you! I don't want anything anymore!"

"Why did you still hire someone to kidnap me?!"

Chloe's face was ashen. She clutched her hand, blood spurting from the wound.

Liam's face drained of color. He lunged forward to apply pressure to her wound.

Chloe sobbed, her voice filled with agony:

"Maya, it's not my fault you lost your hand! Why did you tell the kidnappers to chop mine off?! Please, let me go! Let me go!"

The room erupted in a gasp of shock.

Liam glared at me, his eyes full of rage:

"Maya, how could you be so evil?!"

The relatives joined in, hurling accusations:

"She's your sister! How could you do something so horrific?!"

"She's an ungrateful wretch! Today she kidnaps her sister and chops off her hand; tomorrow she might kill us all!"

Liam gritted his teeth:

"Maya, if you hadn't thrown a tantrum and run away, I never would have been kidnapped!"

"If it weren't for Chloe, I would have died a hundred times over! How could you hurt her? You don't deserve to be my sister!"

The crowd pulled at me, labeling me a murderer.

Chloe fell to her knees, slapping herself hard and kowtowing until her forehead bled:

"I was wrong! I shouldn't have competed with my sister for your love! Please, I'll leave—no, I'll go abroad right now! I promise you'll never see me again!"

I looked at my parents and brother, anxiously comforting her.

I finally couldn't hold back a scoff:

"Chloe, you're still as dramatic as ever."

The next second, I was kicked brutally to the ground. My internal organs felt like they had been shattered.

Liam stepped heavily on my stomach, grinding his heel into me with fury:

"You haven't learned a damn thing in five years! You're ruthless enough to do this to your own sister!"

He pointed at Chloe's bleeding hand and demanded:

"Look at her injuries! Do you think she's faking this? You refuse to admit your mistakes, and out of sheer jealousy, you took revenge on Chloe!"

"You should have died out there!"

A sharp pain tore through my abdomen, and I coughed up two mouthfuls of blood. I smiled.

So, this was his true feeling.

Seeing me smile, my mother’s face twisted in profound disappointment. She smashed a glass cup against my face:

"You will kneel and apologize to Chloe right now! Sign the papers transferring all your shares to her!"

"Otherwise, you can crawl back to wherever you came from and get your limbs chopped off! You are no longer part of this family!"

Blood blurred my vision. Liam ordered coldly:

"Sign it now! Stop pretending to be half-dead. Nobody owes you anything!"

With blood pouring down my face, I took the transfer agreement and ripped it to shreds!

"I will never apologize!"

Liam's face darkened:

"Can't you just bow your head for once? Do you really want to pay her back with your own hand?!"

His next words choked in his throat, turning into a horrified scream.

I yanked off my functional right arm and threw it into his chest:

"Here's my hand!"

I hunched over, forcefully detaching one of my legs:

"Here's my leg!"

Both of these prosthetics were the price I paid. I was caught and brutally dismembered after rescuing trafficked women.

The old injuries from years of beatings caused me to spit up more blood.

"Maya!"

Liam's hands trembled as he reached to support me. I pulled away in disgust, lost my balance, and crashed to the floor.

I could only pull up my shirt, gasping for air:

"What else do you want? My liver or my kidney?!"

Liam's sobbing voice echoed in my ears:

"Impossible! I arranged for people to protect you..."

Before I completely lost consciousness, I caught a glimpse of the supposedly weak Chloe; a flash of panic crossed her face.