My husband's childhood sweetheart was stuck in the elevator for half an hour, and in a fit of rage, he stuffed me into a suitcase and locked it tight.
"Bear the pain that you've caused Ann twice over."
I was curled up, having difficulty breathing, crying, and apologizing, but what met me was the cold blame from my husband.
"Stay here. Only when you've learned your lesson can you behave."
He locked the suitcase with me inside in the wardrobe.
Despairing, I screamed and struggled. Blood seeped from the case, staining the floor wet.
Five days later, his heart softened momentarily and decided to end the punishment.
"As a deterrent, I'll let you off this time."
But he didn't know that my body had already decayed beyond recognition.
…
"Hasn't that jealous woman caused any trouble these days? Has she learned her lesson? Does she understand the rules now?"
"She has to be punished somewhat to understand things."
His assistant suddenly froze in response.
"Mr. Bennett… She has not been let out yet."
There was a slight tremor in Adrian Bennett's gaze, which he quickly suppressed.
"Reflecting for a couple of days more wouldn’t hurt."
His assistant, who had been wanting to speak several times but stopping short each time, finally managed to speak out, hesitantly.
"Mr. Bennett, her confinement room is giving off a foul smell. Should you go have a look?"
Adrian's voice quickly cooled down.
"Stink? That's normal. A woman like her would do anything to survive. To maintain physical functions, she must’ve started consuming her own feces and urine. How can it not smell terrible?"
The assistant wanted to say something more but was interrupted by Adrian.
He furrowed his eyebrows, looking thoroughly disgusted.
"Alright, that's enough. I’ll let her out tomorrow. After a few days, she should've learned to behave. Once she comes out and apologizes to Ann properly, I’ll consider this matter finished."
No sooner had his voice faded, Ann Campbell came in barefoot.
Adrian's eyes instantly softened.
"Ann, are you still having nightmares? Don't worry, I've severely punished Grace Mask, I’ll make her compensate for your suffering a thousand times over."
He picked up Ann, his fingers softly touching her hair.
"Adrian, you are the best to me."
Ann nestled her head in his arms, her tone coquettish.
“Grace must’ve realized her mistake too. I just want an apology from her, I didn’t mean for her to be punished. Grace wouldn’t blame me, right?"
Watching their sweet, loving interaction, I couldn't help but laugh out loud, but it did not disturb anything for me.
I was already dead.
At the very last moment of suffocating despair, I drifted out of the small and terrifying suitcase.
From the third perspective, the surface of the suitcase had already been soaked in blood.
The wardrobe hiding the suitcase even had a large lock on it, as if it wanted to trap the person inside forever, never allowing them to escape.
Now a spirit, I was scared enough by the suffocating scene to close my eyes.
On the other hand, Adrian was gently comforting Ann.
"Did you have a nightmare again? Don't be afraid, I'll always be by your side."
He lightly grazed Ann's face.
"I'm sorry for letting you suffer, Ann."
"You know what? She had resorted to eating her excrement to survive, so precious her life was to her, yet she dared to hurt you. I will make her pay!"
I stood there stunned, unable to even shed a tear.
Adrian was right in saying that I desperately wanted to live.
The suitcase was small and in order to fit me in, Adrian forcibly broke my hand.
Enduring the intense pain in hopes of escaping and realizing its futility, I then tried hard to conserve energy, wanting to bide as much time as possible.
But he forgot, before I was stuffed in, I was already pregnant.
The long time in convoluted positions pressed on my belly, causing intolerable stabbing pain. I lost control of my emotions, but was unable to resist.
In the last moment of life, I unleashed a fierce will to survive.
I howled and struggled, desperately clawing at the zipper with my toenails, trying to grasp at a thread of survival.
But all I got was his ruthless judgment:
"You're so frightened now, wasn't Ann even more helpless then? Stay here and feel the pain properly, perhaps then you'll learn."
Helplessly, I accepted the blame for crimes that weren't mine, praying he would spare me. Even when a pool of blood flowed from my lower belly, I completely ran out of strength.
In a stupor, all I heard him say was:
"She's too noisy, still doesn't know the rules. Lock her up and let her repent in quiet."
I tried to plead silently, but couldn't do anything. I could only let the padlock fall.
Until, the last glimmer of light went out.
"Let Grace out. Have her clean up before coming over to apologize. She shouldn’t dirty Ann’s eyes with her filthy smell."
Adrian's tone cold, his assistant responded uncomfortably.
Ann's eyes were bright, as she stayed close to Adrian.
"Adrian, when Grace comes out, you have to comfort her well. Don't let her be angry. After all, you two are husband and wife. The fight shouldn’t be so ugly."
A hint of impatience flashed in Adrian's eyes, but he gently massaged Ann's fingertips.
"Does she dare? Because of her mistake, you were stuck in the elevator shaft for a whole half-hour. I can't even begin to imagine how afraid and helpless you felt then. Ann, it's because you're always so thoughtful that it emboldens Grace."
Adrian repressed the anger in his tone, like he was afraid to scare Ann.
But when those words reached my ears, they were all tinged with irony and mockery.
A week ago, when Adrian was in a meeting, Ann came to provoke me.
"So what if you are pregnant? Adrian won't like this child. He would be as loathsome as you."
I couldn't be bothered to argue with her, all I said was a cold "scram".
Yet I did not expect she would bump into a elevator malfunction on her way down, and get trapped in the elevator shaft.
While trapped, she sent a long message to Adrian saying goodbye, implying there was a chance she might not make it, her farewell to him.
"I know Grace doesn't like me, but I hope that when I’m gone, she’ll take my place, taking good care of you."
"Adrian, let's meet in next life."
Upon seeing the message, Adrian immediately halted his meeting and, like a madman, rushed back. He mobilized all rescue forces, and finally found Ann passed out in the elevator shaft.
I watched from a not-so-far distance as he held Ann tightly and screamed in agony.
"Ann, don't leave me..."
Back then, I thought they were ridiculous. So overdramatic? She was stuck for just half an hour, but it felt more like a life-and-death separation.
It wasn't until Adrian yanked my hair, ruthlessly cramming me into the suitcase, that I realized; love was theirs, disaster was mine.
"Do you realize what you've done? Ann has a severe case of claustrophobia. She nearly met her end because of you, and even if she was saved, an indelible shadow would remain."
"Grace, just because you're my wife, it doesn't give you the right to do whatever you please. If you don't admit your mistake, don't even think about leaving."
Even now, he continues to give me the cold shoulder, waiting for me to meekly apologize to him.
Unfortunately for him, his wish would not come true.
"Mr. Bennett... She... shows no signs of life!”
Adrian was taken aback for a moment.
I scrutinized his reaction, thinking he would at least be somewhat moved for me.
But he just chuckled it off.
"Pretending, always pretending. Misfortunes linger for a thousand years, could she die so easily?”
"If she's dead, just call the crematory. Haul her away to be burned. She loves to play pretend, then let her learn the price of feigning death."
Adrian lightly knocked on the table with his knuckles, his tone casual:
"Go tell her, if she can't clean up within half an hour and come over, I will continue to punish her until she no longer dares to stir up trouble."
The assistant trembled, wanting to say something, but was fiercely rebuked by Adrian.
"Still standing there, do you want to be punished too?”
He wrapped his arm around Ann softly, speaking gently.
"Ann, don't back down later. You need to be adamant. Let her get another taste of hardship. I'll make her kneel down and apologize to you. That's my penalty for her. You shouldn't pity her."
Ann looked particularly distressed.
"Adrian…"
I can't even bring myself to hate him. For reasons I don't understand, my soul seems to be trapped, unable to escape. All I can do is watch Adrian rebuke and ridicule me, against my will.
And this is the man I've loved for ten years.
What I didn't know was that from start to finish, I was just a stain in Adrian's life.
I followed him like a shadow for seven long years, thinking my sincere feelings could melt an iceberg.
The day he accepted my confession, I was so happy that I spent the entire night wide awake.
But what I didn't know was that he married me because his company was going bankrupt, and he needed my financial support.
In the two years, I devoted all my strength to his career, put a lot of effort into caring for him, and pleasing him.
He also changed little by little, waiting for me to get home, making me breakfast, and gently massaging me when I had a stomachache.
I almost thought that I had won his love.
I remember the day I found out I was pregnant, I was so excited that I was running around him in circles.
But he was chillingly indifferent.
"Grace, you said you're pregnant?"
I naively nodded, not detecting the doubt in his words.
"Huh, but I have oligospermia, I can't possibly impregnate anyone. Where this child comes from, you know better."
I clumsily did a lot to prove myself.
I conveyed the doctor's words to Adrian, assuring him:
"Wait for the ninth week to pass and it's stable, we can check. I'll never betray you."
What I didn't know was, on the day I found out I was pregnant, Ann had just returned to the country.
That piece of news, he took it as a joke to tell Ann.
After trying for ten years, the soon-to-melt iceberg, the moment Ann came back, it completely turned into nothing.
Can souls also feel heartache?
I just felt like I couldn't breathe.
In the suitcase, that suffocating sense of despair came rolling back.
Embracing Ann, Adrian's face grew increasingly grim.
"Why hasn't she arrived yet? After all the days she's been reflecting, hasn't she learned her lesson? Could she be throwing a tantrum with me?"
"Grace, you better be this stubborn."
I stared at him coldly, watching as his hands fumbling over the beads grew increasingly flustered, a hint of unease flashing in his eyes.
"Ann, I'm going to see what she's up to, don't worry, I'll make her come and apologize to you."
Adrian stood up and strode towards my confinement room. When he arrived at the door, he looked uncomfortable, frowning and covering his nose.
"Why the strong smell?”
His assistant stood behind him, drenched in cold sweat.
"Mr. Bennett... maybe you should see for yourself."
I didn't know what to feel, but my nerves were particularly taut.
Facing one's tragic death required considerable courage.
Adrian pushed open the door, a suitcase had been dragged out of the closet, tossed onto the ground.
The zipper was half-open, hastily concealed again. Adrian stared at the suitcase with a trace of displeasure.
"Grace, aren't you getting out after I have let you out? Planning to spend a lifetime in this suitcase, are you?”
Would I not want to get out... I tried my utmost until death, just wishing to see the sunlight once more.
But there is no chance anymore.
"Still throwing a tantrum? Lost all shame when you're shown kindness, haven’t you?"
He walked over to the suitcase, the overwhelming stench making it hard for him to open his eyes, yet he remained nonchalant, lifting his foot and kicking the suitcase.
"You stink so much, aren't you going to clean up right away? Who are you trying to disgust?"
The force he used was no small matter. My suitcase was kicked over by him and its lid was completely ripped open, shattering my defenses as I was met face-to-face with my own grotesque image.
The corpse in the suitcase was unnaturally twisted, with an arm horrifically folded at a right angle.
A look of fear was frozen on its face, eyes and mouth stretched wide open to their limits, even the eyeballs were bulging out.
The lower half was a mess. The dried blood had solidified into a stamp, a dark red spread everywhere.
Adrian quickly stepped back in panic, his voice trembling uncontrollably.
