He didn''t care whether she lived or died.


    All he cared about was how to keep her conscious, her body barely holding on, so Wesley could torment her for as long as possible.


    "Ahhh!!"


    Dahlia screamed from the depths of her throat, the pain making her whole body shudder uncontrobly.


    Wesley and Charles-neither of them ever intended for her to walk out of here alive tonight.


    Faced with being cut to pieces like this, dying in agony, she''d rather go to prison.


    As long as it wasn''t the death penalty, as long as she was alive, there was always a chance for her sentence to bemuted, a chance to walk free someday.


    But tonight, there was no escaping death.


    Through a blur of tears, Dahlia stared at Charles''s retreating back.


    Once she was dead, that little brat Charlie''s grudge would finally be avenged.


    Charles would be free to openly pursue Evelyn.


    And with the way that bitch Evelyn felt about Charles-if he ever came at her with the full force of his affection, could she possibly resist? After loving him for all


    those years?


    The thought of dying, only for Charles and Evelyn to pick up the shattered pieces and start over, left Dahlia furious enough to choke.


    If she couldn''t have him, that bitch Evelyn wasn''t going to get him either.


    Suddenly, Dahlia burst outughing, wild and manic. She shouted at Charles''s back, her voice trembling with rage, "You coward, Charles!"


    "What kind of father are you? What kind of grandson? You''re not even half the man Wesley is!"


    "At least Wesley knows how to avenge his daughter, but you-?" Dahlia spat, her voice cracking. "You''re a disgrace as a father. A disgrace as a grandson."


    At that, Charles''s footsteps halted, just as Dahlia hoped.


    He whirled around, his gaze cutting through her. Suddenly, he closed the distance between them, his hand mping around her jaw, his eyes cold and deadly. "Was it you? Did you kill my grandmother?"


    "That''s right!" Dahlia nodded without hesitation, her voice strong with defiance.


    She knew she was going to die tonight-so why not drag Charles down with her? She wanted to push him over the edge, to see him lose control.


    She remembered thest time he almost snapped-outside the offices of Jenkins Enterprises, when he''d nearly strangled her after learning she''d deliberately stolen Charlie''s kidney donor and watched her die.


    She knew he hated her, deep down. The only thing holding him back was his respect for thew-he''d neverid a hand on her himself.


    But she wasn''t going to let him walk away clean.


    If she had to die, she''d rather die at Charles''s hands.


    If he became a murderer, there''d never be a future for him and Evelyn. If she


    couldn''t have him, neither could that bitch.


    "Charles, it was me! I couldn''t stand


    the thought of that brat Charlie


    breathing the same air as me. I


    made sure she lost her donor. Lused Sandy to keep you in the hospital room, so you could watch your precious girl die on the operating table."


    "And your dear old grandmother? Pathetic fool. She thought she could get rid of me for Evelyn, but she never knew I''d already tampered with her medication."


    "I used Charlie''s death to push her over the edge. She was so fragile, it didn''t


    even take much—before I''d finished talking, she copsed in agony."


    "If someone had called an ambnce in time, she might have survived. But I didn''t. I just stood there and watched her die in pain."


    "Charles, I killed your daughter. I killed the grandmother who loved you more than anything. What are you going to do about it?"


    Dahlia''s face twisted with madness.


    She stared into Charles''s eyes, watching the veins bulge on his forehead as rage overtook him. In one explosive movement, he tore the knife from Wesley''s hand and drove it straight toward her heart.