The Ex-Wife's Burning Elegance novel Chapter 1880

Melody let out a piercing scream.

In the dim light, a dark, chilling smirk touched Joshua's lips. "But we already have. What do you suggest we do now?"

Melody's face was pale and twisted with pain. Sweat dripped down her forehead. All her earlier arrogance had vanished. She wasn't one to endure pain well and quickly broke down, sobbing, "I'll talk… I'll talk. I'll tell you everything. Someone found me and offered me a reward to cause trouble for Abby. I already hated her, so I agreed without a second thought. Please, I'm begging you, let me go! I was just following orders… And I never meant to really hurt them. If—if I really wanted to hurt them, I wouldn't have used ice water…"

Joshua stared at the woman before him, a bloodthirsty urge he could barely suppress churning in his chest. The feeling had been there ever since he saw Stella get hurt, and it hadn't subsided. Yet, the more he felt it, the brighter his smile became.

"So, you're saying I should thank you for holding back?"

Looking at the man smiling so brightly, Melody was so terrified she felt her entire body go limp. "I'm sorry, I was wrong! I really know I was wrong… Please, let me go!"

Joshua sighed softly, feigning regret. "Miss Vasquez, as much as I'd like to let you go, you hurt Star's head and her hand. That made me very unhappy."

A bizarre, wicked smile played on Joshua's lips. "Star doesn't like it when I kill people, so I'll let you live today."

Then he said flatly, "Cut off both her hands, slash up her face, and then dump her back at the Vasquez family's doorstep."

With that, he turned and left without another glance, leaving Melody's horrifying screams behind him.

"Sellers, Adah Gardner once told me that Joshua disappeared for six months. When he came back, he was covered in scars, clinging to life by a thread. Adah said it looked like he had been subjected to inhuman torture. After that, he seemed… different. Also…"

Aurora stood by the window, her slender, frail figure reflected in the transparent glass. She wore a white dress, her long hair unbound, looking like a wandering ghost.

She gave a faint, eerie smile. "The fact that he has undergone hypnosis is hardly a secret in the Gardner family."

The Gardners were known for their emotional instability, prone to breakdowns from external stimuli. Because of this, they had developed many countermeasures, and hypnosis was one of them. However, when the condition became severe, even hypnosis could no longer control a Gardner's 'illness.' At that point, the person was considered a lost cause, beyond saving.