Chapter 5

I barely had time to turn before another gunshot cracked through the air.

BANG!

Something slammed into my shoulder. I stumbled against the cart and collapsed.

A hot, sharp pain spread through my arm.

When I looked down, blood was already soaking through my clothes.

I'd been shot.

Isabella screamed and ran in the opposite direction but she suddenly fell, clutching her knee.

“It hurts!”

The Guerrero guards immediately surrounded her.

“Protect Miss Pierno!”

“Get everyone inside!”

More gunshots echoed through the mountain before the guards returned fire. The attackers eventually retreated into the trees, leaving the mining site in chaos.

I remained against the cart, pressing my good hand over my shoulder.

Isabella was still sitting on the ground, dramatically clutching her knee.

Then she noticed me.

“You got shot?”

She stood and her limp disappeared.

She walked toward me and examined the wound with the detached expression of a doctor inspecting a minor inconvenience.

“It isn't that deep.”

I stared at her. “You're a surgeon. Call the hospital.”

“No need.” Her lips curled into a smile. “I'll fix it.”

“I don't want you touching me!”

Her smile disappeared. “Adeline, don't be difficult.”

“I said no.”

She pulled out her phone and casually glanced at the screen. “Fine. I'll call Favio.”

I went still.

She looked at me and smiled. “He loves me, remember? And I'm sure he'll be very interested to hear that his wife refused my help after getting shot.” She leaned closer, lowering her voice so only I could hear. “Or perhaps I should remind him about Angelica's ashes.”

My blood ran cold.

She watched my reaction with obvious satisfaction.

“You remember what he said, don't you? If you don't behave, he can make those ashes disappear.”

I stared at her.

“Fine.”

Her smile widened.

“Good girl.”

She took me to the small medical room at the mining site.

The moment I entered, I knew something was wrong. There was no proper operating equipment, no anesthetic, and barely enough medical supplies to treat a minor injury.

I looked at Isabella. “Where's the anesthetic?”

“We don't need it.”

My stomach tightened. “You're insane.”

She laughed. “Don't flatter yourself. I'm not wasting anesthetic on you.”

She looked at two Guerrero employees standing nearby. “Hold her.”

They hesitated.

Isabella's expression hardened. “I said hold her.”

The men grabbed my arms.

I struggled immediately. “Wait!”

Isabella picked up a surgical knife.

My heart began pounding.

“Isabella, don't.”

She rolled her eyes. “Stop acting like a child. You're already lucky I'm willing to treat you.”

She pressed the blade against my injured shoulder.

I screamed as pain ripped through me.

The men held me down while Isabella worked without anesthesia, completely calm despite my shaking.

After several minutes, she suddenly paused and examined the wound.

“Oh, no.”

My breathing became uneven.

“What?”

She smiled.

“I think the bullet went deeper than I thought.”

She lifted the knife again.

“Let me open the skin a little more and take a better look.”

My eyes widened.

“Isabella, stop!”

She ignored me.

The blade pressed deeper.

I screamed again, but Isabella only smiled.

“Hold her tighter. She's moving too much.”

The men tightened their grip.

Isabella continued as if she were performing an ordinary procedure, completely unbothered by my screams.

“You know,” she said casually, “you're actually very lucky. If I hadn't been here, you might have bled to death.”

I stared at her through tears.

She leaned closer.

“So you should be thanking me!”

The pain became unbearable.

There was no anesthesia. Every time Isabella pushed the knife into my shoulder, my body jerked hard. I tried to pull away, but the two men holding me down were too strong.

“Hold her properly,” Isabella ordered.

I screamed behind the cloth over my mouth and gripped the edge of the table as tightly as I could. My whole body was shaking. My vision kept going dark, then coming back.

“Almost done,” Isabella said.

Another sharp pain went through my shoulder, and my body convulsed. I couldn't keep my eyes open anymore. The room started spinning, Isabella's voice became harder to hear, and everything slowly went dark.

Then I passed out and ghe next thing I heard was Favio's voice.

“Where is she? I got a report that my wife was shot. Where is Adeline?”

His footsteps came closer.

The clinic door opened, and Isabella reacted immediately. She grabbed the surgical knife and stabbed her own arm.

“Ah! Adeline, why are you hurting me?”

The two men froze.

Isabella started crying as she held her bleeding arm. “I was trying to help her! I'm a surgeon, and I was removing the bullet when she suddenly attacked me!”

The clinic doors opened fully, and Favio rushed inside.

He stopped when he saw me unconscious on the table, blood covering my clothes, my shoulder still bleeding.

Then he saw Isabella.

She immediately ran toward him. "Favio, I'm scared!"

He caught her. "What happened?"

Isabella pointed at me. "She attacked me. I was only trying to remove the bullet because we didn't have enough medical supplies here, but she suddenly fought me and tried to hurt me."

Somewhere far away, I heard one of the men beside the table finally speak. "Don, that's not what happened. She—"

"Shut up!" Favio shouted.

The man immediately stopped.

Isabella cried harder. "I swear I was helping her. I didn't do anything to her."

I felt him turn toward me.

I was still unconscious. My breathing was weak, and blood was still coming from my shoulder.

Instead of calling for help, he walked over and grabbed me.

"Adeline!" He shook me. "Wake up!"

My head moved helplessly to the side.

"You attacked Isabella? How dare you? You already hurt her once, and now you tried to murder her?"

Favio slapped me.

My head turned to the side.

He slapped me again.

I still didn't move.

Somewhere behind him, Isabella stood. For a second, I would have sworn a small smile crossed her face before she quickly lowered her head and started crying again.

"Favio, stop," she said as she grabbed his arm. "She's already badly injured."

"She hurt you."

"I know, but she's been shot too. We should take her to the hospital. I'm just afraid she'll attack me again."

I felt him look at me with disgust.

"She doesn't need a hospital."

Isabella sounded surprised. "But she's bleeding."

"She's pretending," Favio said coldly. "I know my wife. She's trying to get sympathy."

Somewhere in the dark, two men looked at each other and stayed silent.

Isabella looked at me again. "Then let her stay here tonight. Just don't leave me alone with her."

"I won't."

Favio bent down and picked Isabella up.

She immediately wrapped her arms around his neck.

"Don't be afraid," he told her.

He carried her out of the clinic.

He never looked back at me.