My Ex-Fiancee Took Me for a Ride

Five years ago, for the sake of my fiancee, Ellia Murdock, I went overseas alone to deal with all the obstacles her family faced. The day I returned, she sent a car to pick me up to attend her son's birthday party. She smiled and introduced me as her long-lost uncle, who was also crazy, in front of all the guests. Her son clapped his hands and exclaimed, "Mommy, I want to ride the crazy horse!" Ellia's smile vanished. Her voice turned cold as she ordered, "Jason, don't ruin Nial's fun. Get down." My heart jolted. I glared at her. "Ellia, you want me to let a brat ride me like a horse?" Right after I finished my sentence, her current husband slapped me across the face. "What's with the act? You're just a lunatic. Cut the nonsense." I touched my burning cheek and smiled. She had forgotten that I left to clean up her family's mess. I could clean things up, but I could make a mess too. Chapter 1 The guests at the birthday party pointed at me and started whispering. "So that's the crazy uncle in the Murdock family? I heard he's been missing for years." "Tsk, he looks decent enough. It's a shame he's crazy." "The Murdocks have some nerve letting someone like that out. Aren't they afraid of scaring the kids?" Ellia Murdock's son, Nial Murdock, saw that I didn't move. He grabbed a toy water gun from the table and sprayed my face without hesitation. The cold water soaked my hair and face. He then tossed the toy water gun aside, dropped onto the floor, and started wailing. He even kicked me with his chubby legs. "I want to ride a horse! I want to ride the crazy horse!" The polite smile on Ellia's face vanished instantly. It was replaced with a cold glare. She looked at me and gave a command. "Jason. I won't say it again. Get down." My heart pounded violently as I stared at her. This was the face I had missed for five years. I couldn't stop thinking about it. Right now, it felt like a stranger's. My voice trembled. "Ellia, when I left five years ago, you told me that when I came back, we'd get married. "Now you've married someone else, had a child, and want me to act like a horse for your son? "Tell me, why?" A flicker of mixed emotions crossed her eyes. It was gone in an instant and replaced by biting coldness. "Why? "Jason Liddel, how do you still have the nerve to ask me that? "Three years ago, you pushed my brother off a cliff! "You're a murderer. What right do you have to talk about promises?" I felt like I'd been struck by lightning. 'What? Ethan died? I pushed him? I was trying to save him! I almost died trying to save him!' I opened my mouth to explain, but before I could say a word, I felt a sharp pain in my legs. Ellia's husband, Timothy Lawson, had kicked me hard. I had just returned. There were still many untreated wounds on my body. I was too weak to dodge the attack. The intense pain forced me down onto one knee. "You're a murderer and a lunatic. Why are you even talking so much?" Timothy sneered before giving a look to his bodyguards. Two burly bodyguards stepped forward immediately. One pinned my shoulders down while the other stomped on my calves. They forced me to the ground and into a humiliating position on all fours. "Yay! I get to ride!" Nial squealed with excitement as he climbed onto my back. Fragments of memory entered my mind without warning. Years ago, in the Murdock family's garden, Ellia had once done the same thing. Her hands were wrapped around my neck while she laughed heartily. She whispered softly in my ear, "Jason, you're the best person in the world." Back then, I thought I was carrying my whole world on my back. A sharp blow snapped me out of the memory. I could feel the pain deep in my bones. Nial was holding the jade hairpin I had once given Ellia as a token of love. He smashed it against my head again and again. "Giddy up! Go faster, crazy horse!" Timothy crouched down beside me and leaned close to my ear. He spoke in a soft voice that only I could hear. "Jason, don't look so down. I'm just giving you some friendly advice. Don't take it too hard. "In her heart, you're unforgettable. Last night, we went at it until late. She was so exhausted she passed out. Even in her sleep, she was mumbling about wanting to kill you. "See? Even now, she can't forget you. I'm almost jealous." I forced my head up and glared at him, but the foot pressing on my back suddenly pushed down harder. I heard the unmistakable sound of my spine straining under the pressure. The pain made my vision go black. Chapter 2 When I opened my eyes, I found myself thrown into a filthy dog kennel that reeked of urine. An old German Shepherd inside stirred awake and growled at me warily. Not long after, the sharp clicking of high heels approached. Ellia stood outside the kennel and looked down at me. She retrieved a stack of photos and tossed them one by one through the bars. They hit my face. In the pictures, I was covered in blood while I stood at the edge of a cliff three years ago. Back then, I had just fought off kidnappers. With my last bit of strength, I shoved Ethan Murdock toward safety while I teetered on the edge myself. However, the angles of the photos were carefully chosen to make it look like I had kicked him off the cliff. "Jason, take a good look at yourself. "Every time I think about Ethan and the hopeless look in his eyes when he fell, I wish I could tear you apart piece by piece." My fingers tightened around the photos, and my knuckles turned white. "I didn't do that! I was saving him!" "Saving him?" She snorted. "You call pushing him off a cliff saving him? Jason, do you think I'm an idiot?" Timothy appeared behind her. He was holding a lit cigarette, and he handed it to her gently. "Ellia, don't get upset over someone like him. It's not worth it." He wrapped an arm around her waist and smiled. "Why not leave a mark on him? Something to remind you of your hatred. Consider it a minor payback for Ethan." Ellia held the cigarette between her slender fingers. The red ember flickered in her eyes. I lifted my head and met her gaze. Those eyes I had adored for ten years were now filled with hatred and something twisted from what used to be love. She yanked open the kennel door, crouched down, and grabbed my left hand. She then pressed the burning cigarette into the back of my hand. The sound of flesh scorching was unmistakable. The smell of burned skin filled the air. My muscles seized instantly. Veins bulged at my temples. I clenched my jaw tight until the taste of blood filled my mouth. Meanwhile, she laughed through tears and pressed harder as she murmured, "Jason, does it hurt? If it hurts you, maybe my brother won't hurt so much anymore. "But why are you looking at me like that? When you look at me like that, my heart aches too." After a long moment, she finally let go and flicked the cigarette butt to the ground like trash. "This is what you owe Ethan." Her voice turned cold again. It was completely different from her earlier breakdown. "This is only the beginning." With that, she turned and walked away without another glance at me. Timothy stayed behind to admire the charred mark on my hand. He laughed with satisfaction. After a while, he kicked over a nearby bowl of dog food. The kibble, which mixed with dirt on the ground, scattered across my face. "Be a good boy," he said before tapping my face with his shoe like he was training a dog. "Lick all of it clean." Chapter 3 I didn't move. I stared straight at Timothy, and my eyes were full of contempt. His face flushed instantly. "Damn it! You've got some nerve acting like this!" He charged at me and started throwing punches and kicks without holding back. I curled up on the ground. It felt like a few of my ribs had cracked. Every breath sent sharp pain through my chest. When he finally got tired, he crouched down and admired my battered state with a smug grin. "Jason, how does it feel to get branded by the woman you love?" He pointed at the charred burn mark on the back of my hand. "Pretty intoxicating, isn't it?" I looked at him coldly and said nothing. Seemingly bored, he slapped my face twice and leaned in. "Jason, aren't you curious? "How did Ethan, that fool, actually die?" My pupils constricted instantly. He leaned close to my ear and chuckled. There was a barely constrained madness in his voice. "I'll tell you the truth. I killed Ethan." My mind went completely blank. He continued speaking in that almost demonic voice. "I didn't just kill him out of jealousy toward you. More importantly, he was the only heir to the Murdock family business. He was in my way of taking over the Murdock family. "Before I killed him, I even cut off his tongue. That way, he couldn't call for help or curse me. "I told him it was all because of you, Jason. "That you only wanted his sister, so you sold him out like dead weight. "He died thinking you were the one who betrayed him." "Arghh!" My eyes turned bloodshot as I lunged at him, but I was too weak. He barely moved. He dodged easily and kicked me back to the ground. His expensive leather shoe came down hard on my chest. I coughed violently. It felt like my ribs were about to shatter. Every breath tasted like blood. He looked down at me like I was nothing more than a pest. He then pulled out his phone and pointed it at my face. "Ellia was so deeply in love with you. How could I accept that? "The only way was to make her hate you down to her bones. Only then would she willingly be with me. "Look at you now. It worked out so well. I've got to record your ridiculous state and show it to her next time. That'll show her what a smart decision she made to give up on you completely." He put his phone away and pressed his shoe against my chest with contempt. "Jason, how do you think Ellia will feel when she sees this look on your face and thinks about her dead brother? Will she be happy or sad?" Rage surged through my chest. I wanted nothing more than to tear him apart. I stared at him, gathered every ounce of strength I had left, and crushed the fake tooth hidden in the back of my mouth. Inside it, a micro emergency transmitter activated instantly. A distress signal was fired out. It bypassed every layer of interference. At that moment, a figure appeared at the kennel door. It was Ellia. She saw how I was pinned to the ground. There was a look of mixed emotions in her eyes. "Timothy, don't kill him. "I want him alive. Alive enough to suffer and to atone for what he's done." Chapter 4 At dawn the next day, I was dragged out of the kennel by the bodyguards. I hadn't slept all night. Every wound in my body hurt like hell. I was brought before Timothy and Ellia. Timothy looked at me with amusement. "Jason, to help you atone properly, Ellia and I talked and came up with a new rule for you. "From today on, you're a dog raised by the Murdock family. "Every morning and evening, you'll wear this collar, crawl five laps around the yard, and bark like a dog." I snorted and slowly pressed myself up from the ground. "Timothy, you'd better kill me now. "Or else, I'll make you pay a thousand times over for everything you've done to me." "Oh really?" A cold female voice cut me off. Ellia stepped out from behind him. "Jason, if anyone should be paying the price right now, it's you. "You'll pay for Ethan's death!" My heart clenched so hard I could barely breathe. Timothy laughed even harder. "You hear that, Jason? "If it weren't for Ellia still clinging to that pathetic bit of feeling for you, I would've killed you already. Do you think I'd let you stick around and be an eyesore?" He gave the bodyguards a look. "What are you waiting for? Put our new dog's collar on him!" Two bodyguards stepped forward immediately. One of them held a metal collar lined with inward-facing spikes. If that thing went on, it would pierce straight into the flesh of my neck. "Don't you dare!" I roared and struggled with everything I had left. The two bodyguards pinned me down from both sides. They tried to keep me on the ground. I fought like mad and thrashed around with my arms and legs. I managed to kick one of them away. Amidst the chaos, Timothy yelled angrily and stomped hard on my wrist. I heard a crack. It was the same spot where, years ago, I had been cut by a knife while saving Ellia from kidnappers. The old wound was torn open again. The bone-shattering pain drained every last bit of strength from my body. My vision went black, and I collapsed. Click! The cold collar locked around my neck. The spikes dug into my flesh instantly. Blood poured out and soaked my collar. I couldn't even make a sound. Timothy took the leash from Ellia. She had been holding it the entire time. He clipped one end to the collar and handed the other end to Nial. "Nial, go on. Walk the dog." Nial shrieked in excitement, grabbed the leash with his chubby hands, and yanked hard. He even mimicked his father by kicking my back. "Crawl, doggy! Crawl! If you don't, I'll beat you up!" Timothy crouched down beside me again. "Jason, there's no rush. "This is only the beginning. "Next, I'll cut the tendons on your hands and legs. I'll turn you into a dog that can only crawl! "You're pretty good at fighting, aren't you? Let's see how well you fight without tendons." My pupils constricted instantly. Timothy stood up and prepared to sever my tendons. The blade in his hand moved closer and closer to my ankle. I could already feel the cold edge of it. Just as he was about to strike, the glass windows of the entire villa suddenly began to vibrate violently. The wine glasses on the table also vibrated along with the high frequency. Startled, Timothy ran to the window. A deafening roar grew louder and louder. A massive shadow engulfed the entire yard.