Chapter 1538 Blame Her—She Doesn't Love Me
The wooden figurine slipped from Donny's grasp, taken by someone who wasn't one of his own.
He barely noticed as the others quietly left the room. Now, only Manuel remained at his bedside.
Donny couldn't even recall when Manuel had arrived.
Manuel took the carving from Donny's hand, a faint smile curling at his lips. "Goodbye, Donny," he said.
Donny's eyes went wide. He tried to sit up, but his body had long since betrayed him. All he could do was recognize Manuel's voice.
Manuel was the student he and Efrain had once taken in. Over the years, they'd been so focused on searching for Octavia that they'd almost forgotten about him.
Manuel flicked a switch on the wooden toy, pressed the insect back into place, then flicked the switch again. He chuckled softly, his face gentle, almost kind.
"Donny, I'm here to see you off."
Something in his tone sent a chill through Donny. He tried to turn his head, but even that was beyond him now.
Manuel leaned in close, his breath warm against Donny's ear.
"Did you watch the video? Octavia's in a bad way, isn't she?"
Donny's eyes widened with shock. He gasped for air, desperate to do something—anything—but he was utterly powerless.
Manuel gently turned Donny's head to face him, his voice still calm and pleasant. "You can't really blame me. Back when you and Efrain wanted me to marry her, I treated her like she was already mine."
Donny's breathing grew ragged, rage burning in his eyes. He wanted to slap Manuel across the face, but the stroke had left him unable to move so much as a finger.
Manuel glanced down at the wooden toy in his hand, a mocking smile playing on his lips. "She never loved me, you know. But she was mine from the start."
Blood bubbled from Donny's lips. His eyes rolled back, and he slipped into unconsciousness.
But death didn't take him—not yet. He lingered, trapped in his own body, alive but unresponsive. A living shell, doomed to rely on others for even the most basic needs.
Manuel summoned two attendants.
"Take care of Donny," he ordered.
Outside the room, Donny's people waited. Now that Donny was little more than a husk, all of them answered to Manuel. With Donny incapacitated, Manuel held all the power—except for Octavia, he was Donny's only student.
As he left the room, Manuel kept flicking the switch on the little wooden toy. When he passed a trash can, he tossed it in without a second thought, a look of contempt flickering across his face.
He thought of Octavia, still locked away in that basement. A pang of regret hit him—he almost wished he could keep her by his side.
Climbing into the car, he turned to the man beside him. "Don't let him die. When I marry Octavia, I want him there at the ceremony as a witness."
"Yes, Mr. Barnett," the man replied.
Manuel adjusted his glasses, his smile softening. But as he laughed, the sound grew louder, colder, until it sent shivers down the spine.
Meanwhile, in the basement of Mystic Prison, the construction crew continued their investigation. Suddenly, the woman sitting on the bed spoke up.
"Manuel, let me go," she pleaded, lifting her head, her voice trembling.
Her eyes were still wrapped in gauze, making her look impossibly fragile.
She missed her daughter. Missed her with every fiber of her being.
The workers exchanged uneasy glances. None of them had expected her to speak. Was she talking to someone? The only person who could communicate with her was the one who'd implanted the device inside her.
They shook their heads, helpless.
None of them realized that, beneath her calm exterior, the woman's mind had already begun to fracture.
Octavia stared into the darkness, her world silent and black. She hugged her knees to her chest, sitting motionless on the bed.
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