The Second Life of a Doomed Heiress

Chapter 6

Vincent Cooper's arms locked around me and our child like iron shackles, the murderous intent burning in his eyes so fierce it felt like the air itself could ignite.

"Sophia," he rasped, his voice raw with fury. "They'll pay in blood."

I clung to our baby's cold little body until the first light of dawn crept in. Only then did I finally let go.

Vincent personally chose a burial plot bathed in sunlight, the headstone engraved with solemn care: Firstborn Heir of the Cooper Main Family.

When Justin and Emily Cooper were dragged out before us, I barely recognized the two bloodied wrecks they had become.

Their bodies were crisscrossed with lash marks, the wounds stuffed with chili powder, their filthy stench curling in the morning air.

Vincent shoved a steel pipe into my hands, the weight of it solid and cold.

"Do whatever you want," he said, his voice terrifyingly calm.

The chill of the metal in my palm reminded me of the cold sterility of surgical tools.

Justin suddenly dropped to his knees, kowtowing furiously. "Aunt Sophia, please! I swear, I didn't know it was Uncle's baby!"

"You didn't know?" I sneered, swinging the pipe down across his spine.

The crack of bone rang through the courtyard.

"How many times did I scream Vincent's name that night?" I hissed.

Justin curled into a ball, whimpering like a beaten dog. "Uncle was infertile for thirty years—who could've known—"

The pipe whistled through the air again as I aimed for his joints, each strike fueled by grief and rage.

Suddenly, Justin grinned through his bloody teeth.

"Sophia Chen!" he roared, twisting his broken body to face Vincent. "Let Uncle see who you really are!"

He coughed up blood and screamed, "The night before the wedding, she was passed around by a dozen men at the bar! I've still got the pictures in my phone! A whore like her doesn't deserve—"

Vincent's polished shoe smashed down onto Justin's face without hesitation, grinding him into the dirt.

"Slandering my wife?" Vincent's voice dropped into a low, dangerous growl.

"Emily saw it with her own eyes!" Justin sobbed, spitting blood across the ground.

I turned on Emily, pressing the steel pipe hard against her throat.

She trembled like a leaf in a storm. "I—I photoshopped those pictures! I lied to Justin!" she cried out, her voice cracking.

I raised the pipe again, sunlight flashing off the metal like a blade ready to strike.