My Wife Took My Manhood, So I Took Her Finger

The year of purest hatred.

My wife, Rory McGrath, had a lover, Jesse O'Connell, who dared to provoke me. In a moment of fury, I castrated him with a single strike, robbing him of the ability to father children. In return, Rory retaliated in the same way, leaving me unable to have children as well.

I couldn’t let her win. So, I severed her pinky, a small yet deliberate act of retribution.

For a while, I thought we were bound to torment each other until death. But then, she pushed me to the edge, both literally and figuratively, when she tossed a divorce agreement in front of me, her eyes as cold as ice.

"I'm undergoing IVF, Cyrus," she said, her voice devoid of warmth. "Jesse has given up everything for me. I owe him a home."

Her words cut deep, sharp, and calculated.

"Now," Rory said, "you have two choices. One, we jump together, letting fate decide our lives. Two, sign the divorce agreement, and we never see each other again until the day we die."

——

"Cyrus, you're smart. You know which choice to make," Rory said while tapping rhythmically on the steering wheel.

The sound was rhythmic, relentless, like a countdown waiting for my answer.

Just like before.

When I had made Jesse lose his ability to father a child, she had stabbed me violently. I had lain in a pool of blood, barely holding on. She had stood above me, looming, counting the seconds with a measured patience.

"Ten."

"Nine."

"Eight…"

By the time she reached one, she hadn't rushed at all. Only then did she instruct her bodyguards to take me to the hospital.

She hadn't forgotten to remind them: "Save his life. As for the broken pieces, there's no need to keep them."

She said I had taken Jesse's pride, and it was only fair that I'd become like him, unable to be a father.

I woke up in the hospital after surgery. Jesse, wearing a patient gown, came to see me, smug as hell.

He straightened his back, looking down on me with all the arrogance he could muster.

"See, Cyrus? I told you. Rory only loves me. You hurt me, and she would never forgive you."

I smiled calmly, and then I pushed myself up.

The vase on the bedside table didn't survive my throw. It smashed against Jesse's chest.

He panicked and then screamed.

In reflex, I leapt from the bed, grabbing his hair and smashing his head against the wall.

"Jesse! Who gave you the courage to provoke me?" I hissed, my voice low and lethal.

Rory ruined me.

And they thought I'd let them live in peace after that?

No, I would haunt them.

I would cling to them like a shadow, never dying and never letting go.

"Ahhh, Cyrus! You madman! Let go of me! Or I swear, Rory will kill you!"

Jesse's forehead was a mess of blood and flesh. His eyes were red-rimmed, barely able to open.

If Rory hadn't arrived in time, he wouldn't have lasted a second longer.

Right then, I remembered the look on his face when she had dragged him away that day, crying, furious, and full of grievance.

I couldn't help but laugh.

Then, Rory's icy and piercing gaze cut into me.

She sneered, her tone low and threatening. "Cyrus, your time is running out. You'd better make your decision quickly."

When my parents were alive, no one dared threaten me.

People knew that I was a complete madman.

After my parents died, even fewer dared cross me.

"Rory," I said, voice low, deliberate, almost playful, "have I ever told you never to be too naive?"

Outside, the drizzle began, timed perfectly. Raindrops hit the car window, scattering into tiny ripples.

In parallel, Rory's brows knitted, suspicion and caution creeping in as she looked at me.

"What do you mean by that?"

I rolled the window down, letting the rain spill into the car.

A twisted smirk curled at the corner of my mouth, just enough to make her blood run cold.

"Rory," I said, my voice low and deliberate, letting my gaze wander outside, "I'll give you two choices."

I paused, watching her squirm.

"Either you die..." I let the silence hang in the air, thick with menace, before adding, "...or him."

Not far beyond the car window, Jesse dangled, tied up, suspended from a crane.