Chapter 225
Once again, Vanessa felt that strange resistance. It was as if she wasn’t stabbing toward Wendy’s throat at all, but striking solid stone instead. The invisible force pressed firmly against the knife tip, refusing to let it pass.
A realization suddenly flashed through Vanessa’s mind. There was some kind of barrier protecting Wendy’s vital areas!
Unwilling to accept it, Vanessa shoved harder, but no matter how much force she used, the blade simply would not pierce through.
There was something deeply wrong with Wendy.
Grinding her teeth, Vanessa abruptly changed direction, driving the knife toward Wendy’s other thigh instead.
"Shhk!"
This time, the blade slid in effortlessly, without the slightest obstruction.
"AHHH!!"
Blood poured from the wound as Wendy screamed again in agony.
And suddenly, Vanessa understood.
Earlier, when she had tried to stab Wendy in the chest, she had felt this exact same resistance. Her fatal spots were being protected by something unseen.
Which meant... She couldn’t kill Wendy...
Why?!
The thought filled Vanessa with even deeper rage.
Why couldn’t she kill her? Why was even fate protecting Wendy?
A fury unlike anything she had ever experienced crashed over her, nearly swallowing her sanity whole.
She ripped the dagger free and stabbed toward Wendy’s heart once more.
Second time.
She refused to believe the third would end the same way. Yet the instant the knife neared Wendy’s chest, that invisible resistance appeared again.
Like an unseen shield, it blocked the blade and refused to allow Wendy any fatal harm.
How ridiculous. How disgusting. Vanessa had never felt such hatred before. At that moment, she wanted to destroy the heavens themselves.
Why was fate so unfairly biased toward Wendy? What was so special about this bitch?!
Three attempts. Three times she had tried to kill her, and all had failed.
Still unwilling to give up, Vanessa prepared to strike again.
She refused to accept it.
But before she could move, that familiar burning scent exploded into her face once more.
Wendy had finally recovered her senses. Her desire to survive overcame the pain, forcing her body into action.
Gripping the pepper spray tightly, she slammed down on the nozzle again and again, her expression twisted with madness.
"Die! Die! Just die already!!"
In seconds, she emptied over half the canister.
The spray was made from some of the hottest peppers in the world. Obtaining it had taken her considerable effort because it counted as a restricted item.
Normally, she used it sparingly, but now, against Vanessa, she held nothing back.
"AAAHHH...!"
The red spray blasted across Vanessa’s face in waves. Much of it shot directly into her eyes and nose, causing agony so intense she wished she could die.
No amount of willpower could overcome pain like this.
Vanessa squeezed her eyes shut and screamed miserably. The moment she tried to open them, it felt as though her eyeballs were being carved out alive.
Taking advantage of her disorientation, Wendy drove her blade viciously into Vanessa’s abdomen.
"You want to kill me?!" Wendy shrieked hysterically. "It’s not that easy!"
She was the heroine. The heroine protected by destiny itself.
How dare that bitch try to kill her? She was dead for sure now.
The blade was buried deep into Vanessa’s stomach.
Wendy twisted the knife savagely, and the woman’s agonized scream echoed across the water.
"AAAAHHHH! Wendy...you bitch, I won’t let you get away..!"
"Sure, you’re welcome to try." Wendy twisted the knife again.
Blood spilled from Vanessa’s mouth as her body convulsed violently.
At this point, she was suffering far worse than death itself.
Vanessa’s eyes burned as though someone were carving them out with a blade. At the same time, unbearable agony twisted through her abdomen. She could feel it clearly now.
Her intestines had been shredded.
She could not understand why she had lost so completely. She had clearly been given three chances to kill Wendy.
But fate itself seemed determined to stand against her. The scales of destiny had tipped entirely toward Wendy.
No one had ever chosen her side. And now, she was dying.
Vanessa could feel her life slipping away at a terrifying speed. She knew she would not survive much longer.
But Wendy would. The wounds Wendy suffered were all to her limbs. None were fatal.
Besides, someone like Wendy definitely had medicine stored inside her space. Her chances of surviving were practically guaranteed.
Why?!
Even if she died, she refused to let Wendy walk away unscathed.
Then suddenly, a thought flashed through her mind.
Suzy. There was still Suzy. Vanessa had nearly forgotten about her.
If Wendy learned the truth about Suzy...
A twisted excitement surged through her chest.
Enduring the unbearable pain, Vanessa gritted her teeth and rasped, "Wendy...guess how...everyone found out...you had a space...?"
The moment she finished speaking, another mouthful of blood spilled from her lips.
Wendy’s knife, which had been about to plunge down again, abruptly halted midair.
Vanessa could no longer see, so she had no idea that those few words had just bought her more time.
The blade aimed at her throat slowly lowered.
"...What do you mean?" A chill suddenly crawled down Wendy’s spine.
Until now, she had never thought deeply about it. She had assumed her space was exposed only after she pulled out the wooden board in front of Vanessa during the fight.
She thought that was the moment everything became obvious.
But Vanessa’s words meant something else entirely... She had known long before today.
And suddenly, Wendy remembered.
Tommy and the others had known too.
Fragments of information connected together in her mind, yet the full picture still remained unclear.
"What do you mean?!" Wendy shouted, violently grabbing Vanessa by the shoulders. "Talk!"
The rough shaking only worsened Vanessa’s condition.
Her eyes remained shut tight as blood mixed with tears seeped from the corners. Yet a mocking smile slowly curled across her pale lips.
"Your space...was exposed...a long time ago..."
Every word tore through her body like knives, but she forced herself to continue.
Even if she died, she would drag Wendy down with her. Better yet, she hoped Wendy and Suzy would turn against each other completely.
She wanted Wendy to live forever paranoid and restless. And if the two of them truly became enemies... Just imagining that scene made Vanessa want to laugh.
"Then say it clearly already!" Wendy screamed.
Vanessa let out a cold, ragged laugh.
"Suzy already knew...about your space..."
"Tommy and the others only came after you...because Suzy told us...about it...didn’t expect that, huh...?"
Wendy froze as though struck by lightning.
Everything clicked into place.
No wonder. No wonder her family had suddenly come after her. No wonder they knew about her space.
It had all been because of Suzy. Everything traced back to Suzy.
But how? How had Suzy known about the space in the first place?
Countless thoughts exploded through Wendy’s mind all at once.
Then her gaze locked onto Vanessa.
She knows. She definitely knows. Otherwise, she would never have said any of this.
Wendy suddenly grabbed Vanessa by the throat, nearly roaring in hysteria.
"Tell me! How did she find out?!"
Seeing Wendy lose control so completely, Vanessa knew she had succeeded.
"Of course Suzy knew..." she sneered weakly. "She installed cameras in the house...she saw everything that happened...she was the one who told us about your space...hah...didn’t expect that, did you...?"
"If Suzy hadn’t told your parents...they never would’ve gone after you in the first place..."
Yes. If Suzy had not deliberately revealed those secrets, her parents would never have confronted Wendy.
And they would never have died at Wendy’s hands.
And Patrick... Her Patrick would still be alive too.
Suzy was just as responsible for his death. Half the blame belonged to her.
What Vanessa had done was not wrong. Not wrong at all.