Chapter 2: The Chains of "Protection"

In the cold interrogation room, the murmurs of the subordinates suddenly choked in their throats. A humiliating "hiss" echoed.

She defiantly lifted her head, spitting a mouthful of blood-tinged saliva directly onto the handsome, arrogant face of the Major General. A dark red streak of blood ran down his cheek, like a crack in an eternal ice sculpture.

The entire room fell into a deathly silence. The guards turned pale, bowing their heads in unison, silently praying for the most painless death for her. No one dared believe anyone would dare insult the "Lion of the Government" like this.

The arrogant expression on his face vanished, replaced by a dark rage. He no longer maintained his feigned composure. His hand reached out, gripping her chin so tightly that her jawbone cracked.

"Do you think death is the only way out?" he roared, his voice hoarse with anger. "Swear at me! Use your mouth to curse me. But remember, the ten children I rescued are in my hands. With just a frown from me, they'll be annihilated!"

She glared at him, tears mixing with her resentment. She cursed him with the most venomous words, calling him a traitor, a devil who had murdered both their families and the person they both loved. He said nothing more, only coldly ordered: "Knock them unconscious and take them to my private villa!"

....

Fragments of Memory: The Vow Under the Reed Field

It was a breezy autumn afternoon ten years ago, when you and I were still teenagers with souls as pure as a spring. You held my hand, standing before the fiery horizon, and solemnly swore: "When we grow up, we will be the sword and shield of this country. I will protect justice, you will protect faith."

At that time, you were my best friend, my older brother, the whole world of righteousness in my eyes.

But little did I know, behind the gentle smiles of our parents were blood-stained contracts. I overheard a cruel negotiation in a closed room: Your parents and my parents were colluding with foreign powers. They were not only plotting to raise taxes to exploit the poor, but even more cruelly—they had set a date to "sell" you as a political commodity, a pawn to consolidate their corrupt power.

He chose a path of no return. To protect her from the filth of his own family, he stained his hands with blood, overturned everything, and accepted the label of traitor to eradicate the seeds of evil from within. He'd rather she hate him to the bone than know that the people she loved most valued her soul in monetary terms.

The Awakening in a Glass Cage

She woke up with a start, her breath coming in short gasps. Her first sensation was a heaviness in her ankles—the cold, clanging sound of iron chains. She found herself no longer in her tattered, blood-stained clothes, but in a silk garment, eerily soft.

The luxurious but gloomy villa room was so silent that she could hear her own heartbeat. And there, right beside the bed, he sat.

The soft yellow light of the bedside lamp illuminated his face, softening the sharp features of the ruthless General from moments before. Seeing her sobbing in her sleep, his hand trembled slightly as he reached out to gently touch her cheek, awkwardly wiping away her hot tears.

"Are you awake?" – His voice was hoarse, devoid of any authority, only filled with weariness.

She looked at him, her eyes still burning with hatred, yet his hand was strangely gentle. She didn't know that those ten children were the only remaining lives he was trying to save from the old regime, and her imprisonment was his only way of keeping her safe from the guns of the remnants of the regime who were hunting her down.

"Don't look at me like that..." – He whispered, a hint of brokenness in his eyes – "At least for now, let me think we're still friends."

"The truth is sometimes a poison, and I'd rather you live in the pain of hatred than die in that cruel truth."

***Download NovelToon to enjoy a better reading experience!***