Shedding

Neither the living room nor the kitchen had any occupants, so Royce carefully made his way towards the bedroom. Perhaps Cathy was waiting for him in there, just waiting for him to recount everything that had happened and beg for her forgiveness.

The bedroom door was not fully closed, leaving a slight gap. Through this gap, he could see a figure inside the room. There was no doubt that it was Cathy, the only one who would be so defenseless waiting for his return.

When Royce looked through the gap, however, he froze as if turned into stone.

Time seemed to stand still.

Royce would never forget the sight he saw at the entrance of the room. His heart seemed to stop at what was unfolding before him. What he was witnessing was absurd, unbelievable, yet what his eyes saw was becoming reality.

Cathy was changing her clothes in the room, her bare skin, smooth as satin, glowed under the lamp's light. However, on her snow-white back appeared several red marks, like whip lashes, some quite deep.

Under Cathy's own gentle touch, her bare skin seemed to shiver. She appeared to be gritting her teeth, suddenly using both hands to grip each side of her back. Her skin, as if forcefully pulled by her, revealed red lines. These lines gradually became a single, elongated trail.

To Royce's horrified gaze, the red trail grew longer, spanning her entire back. Just as Royce was about to cry out and rush in to stop her, the red mark on her back suddenly split open. The smooth skin was torn into two halves.

It was like a layer of skin had been peeled off from her body. As the skin split open, she used both hands to pull off the layer of skin, like one would remove a piece of clothing, while groaning in pain. These groans weren't the usual sultry sounds Royce was familiar with, but ones filled with unbearable agony, accompanied by the grinding sounds of her teeth.

Beneath the skin was the dark red layer of muscle. But the white skin layer had been pulled off. There was no blood splattering, only the red muscle body twisting, laying the shed skin on the bed.

Her front was not visible, but it was clear that she seemed to be using a brush to smear something on the skin. Within a few minutes, she put the skin back on like a piece of clothing, and the whip-like marks on her back had completely disappeared.

Cathy moved around, seemingly satisfied. She then started dressing. After changing, she picked up her phone, scrolled through it, and dialed a number.

Suddenly, a melody rang out from the door.

The music abruptly echoed from the doorway, startling both of them. Cathy instinctively turned to look at the door, where she saw a shaking figure, his face pale with terror, staring wide-eyed from the entrance, the music coming from his pocket.

"Royce--" Cathy was stunned. She subconsciously called out, taking a few steps toward him, attempting to get closer. "When did you get here?"

However, there was no need for Royce's answer. His terrified face already revealed that he had seen everything. As Cathy approached, he screamed and turned to run downstairs. Due to his haste and fear, he missed a step and tumbled down the stairs.

He rolled all the way down to the living room floor, hitting his head on the ground. He tried to get up and run again, but his strength failed him, and he slipped back onto the floor. His leg was broken.

"Royce--" Cathy rushed down from upstairs, squatting next to the fallen Royce. Seeing his terrified eyes on her, she instinctively placed her hand on his shoulder, trying to speak as calmly and gently as possible, "Don't be scared, Royce, let me explain--"

But Royce hastily retreated until his back hit the wall, and he could move no further. He curled up, hugging his knees and burying his face between them. His whole body was shaking, clearly in an immense state of terror.

"Royce... my poor darling, it's me, I'm Cathy!" Cathy extended her hand, her snow-white skin and tender palm gently cradling Royce's face and lifting it.

"I know I've kept things from you, I'm sorry, Royce--" Cathy's eyes filled with worry. Royce dared not look into her eyes; he was scared to imagine what lay beneath her beautiful face. This made him try to lower his head again.

Royce's emotions seemed to slowly stabilize, and his body stopped shaking. Perhaps Cathy's beautiful face gradually eased his guard and fear, but he still didn't dare to look at Cathy easily. He wished that all of this was a nightmare that would be over once he woke up.

"Yes, I am a monster--"

Cathy's first words shattered his hopes, even the smallest, most impossible fantasies were crushed. He couldn't help but hug his knees tighter. "But I won't hurt you... I swear, I love you, I've always loved you..." Cathy's voice was soft, just as gentle as it had always been, making people want to pity her.

But today, Royce didn't want to do that. He felt like he was getting farther and farther away from this girl. No, not a girl, he should say it was a monster, a monster who could take off her own skin and put it back on.

"I'll make you a cup of coffee and tell you everything, okay?" Cathy gently touched his face, then sighed and stood up, walking towards the kitchen.

Just as Cathy entered the kitchen, Royce suddenly stood up and limped towards the door. Hearing the commotion, Cathy came out of the kitchen and saw that limping figure running towards the road. She didn't stop him, just stood at the doorway watching him go onto the highway.

On the pitch-black road, Royce dragged his painful leg and desperately stumbled forward. When the headlights of a car passed by, he stood in the middle of the road, waving his hands frantically. He didn't care if he would be hit by a car, his only thought was to escape from that place as quickly as possible.

"Oh God, what have I gotten into? Tell me, how can I escape this cruel fate?" Royce constantly pleaded and prayed to God in his heart.

Finally, a car stopped in front of him, and someone waved at him to get in.

"Thank you very much..." Royce opened the car door, sat in the passenger seat, and before he could fasten his seatbelt, he saw the driver's face and was stunned. He exclaimed, "Nina? Is it you? How can it be you?"

"Of course, it's me, you lucky bastard. Fasten your seatbelt, we're leaving." Nina started the car, stepped on the gas pedal, and the car started running in the darkness, with the headlights illuminating the road brightly.

"What happened?" Nina asked as she drove, "I had dinner with Jason, and from his mouth, I learned that you might be in trouble, today of all days."

"I knew it, he would definitely save me! Thank God!" Royce crossed himself and muttered quietly, causing Nina to furrow her eyebrows.

"Hey, pal, you haven't told me who you've angered. And... it's not Jason who's coming to save you, it's me. He wouldn't be so kind," Nina scoffed, "Stop thanking God, the one you should thank the most is me."

"Yes, yes, Nina, can you take me to Mr. Jason's place?" Royce looked at Nina earnestly, his eyes filled with longing. "I really want to see Mr. Jason. If I'm in trouble, then... only Mr. Jason can help me, this is not a joke, Nina."

Nina rolled her eyes but didn't argue. Instead, she drove straight to the hotel.

During dinner, Nina talked about Cathy and brought up Royce. Only then did Jason mention that Royce would definitely get into big trouble, which prompted Nina to hurry over and see for herself. Little did she expect to actually encounter the disheveled Royce.