"That's why he's so good."

Mia's face changed. She slammed the table.

"Logan, are you done? This is Aaron's promotion party. Stop."

I was on the floor.

The post-ictal exhaustion plus the alcohol on top was wrecking me. I could not respond.

"You."

Her voice went colder.

She lifted a glass of liquor and held it at my mouth.

"Get up. Apologize to him. Drink this, and we move on."

Aaron was already drinking. He squatted down next to me.

"All right, stop pretending.

"Everyone is tired of watching.

"Be a man. Don't be petty."

He took the bottle and refilled my glass.

Three of his friends pinned me down.

They forced my mouth open.

The full glass went in.

The minute the liquor hit my throat, my chest seized.

My heart rate spiked again.

The post-seizure neural activity was amplified by the alcohol.

My awareness fragmented further.

Black crept into the edges of my vision.

My breathing turned irregular.

It was not pain. It was neural overload and oxygen deprivation.

I forced my eyes up at Mia.

"Help... me..."

Her voice turned sharper.

"It is one drink.

"You're being dramatic.

"Aaron is a doctor. He knows what he's doing."

She turned and lifted her glass.

"Aaron, this one's for you."

People around us cheered.

"Mia, girls shouldn't be drinking like this. Let your boyfriend drink for you."

Their eyes landed on me again. Disappointed. Cold.

Like I was some kind of joke.

Aaron laughed.

"Forget it.

"He's already taken it this far.

"Any further, and it'll really look like he's dying."

He walked over to Mia and took her hand. He lifted the glass to her lips.

"Come on. Don't ruin the mood."

She did not refuse.

She lowered her head and took a sip.

The next second, Aaron leaned down, held the back of her head, and fed the liquor back into his own mouth.

They were extremely close.

She did not struggle.

She even closed her eyes.

My vision was fading completely.

Then I saw the emergency medication packet on the floor.

I crawled toward it.

My fingertips were just about to touch it…

A foot came down and crushed it.

Aaron looked down at me.

"Weren't you putting on quite the performance earlier?

"What happened? Can't move anymore?"

He deliberately raised his voice so everyone could hear.

"Logan, I am really disappointed in you."

Mia frowned and glanced at me with disgust before looking away.

Aaron grabbed a fistful of my hair and sneered quietly.

"That seizure performance was pretty impressive. You about to lose it for real?

"Don't worry. The fun part's still coming."

His eyes darkened. Suddenly, he grabbed a wine glass from the table.

Smash–

Glass shattered.

He pointed the jagged end at me.

I instinctively twisted away, but the lingering muscle instability after the seizure made me noticeably slow.

The shard scraped across my skin.

A burning pain exploded instantly.

"Ah–"

The pain hit so hard I lost my voice for a moment.

The skin on my face had split. Warm liquid ran down my jaw.

The chemicals were still working through my system.

My breathing turned uneven.

My awareness started breaking apart.

"Logan, have you lost your mind?!"

Mia turned around, her expression changing instantly.

She rushed over. When she saw the blood on my face, she froze.

"You... what happened to you?"

She reached out instinctively, then stopped herself.

"Logan, I'll take you to the hospital."

She grabbed her keys. For the first time, panic appeared on her face.

Aaron immediately stepped in front of her.

Quickly, he hid the bloody glass shard behind his back, his tone turning casual again.

"Relax.

"He's just too deep into the act.

"Look at the amount of blood. Nothing important got hit."

He pointed at the empty bottle on the floor and laughed.

"He was faking a seizure a minute ago. Now he's putting on some self-harm performance.

"You don't seriously believe him, do you?"

He continued, pointing at the intact bottle nearby.

"Mia, look. The bottle isn't even broken. The blood on his face is fake. Productions use realistic stage blood all the time."

Mia looked carefully. The moment her eyes landed on the unbroken bottle, the last trace of hesitation disappeared from her face.

Her expression turned cold.

"Don't be mad. I know how to wake him up."

Aaron dragged me into the back kitchen.

He shoved my head straight into a wine vat.

The 'blood' on my face washed away in the liquor. The alcohol hit the wound, and the pain nearly stopped my breathing.

The high-proof alcohol flooded my airway, triggering violent coughing and making the seizure worse. My heartbeat spiraled out of control.

I struggled desperately inside the vat, my body slowly slipping out of control.

"Heh. A second ago you looked like you were dying. Now you've got plenty of energy."

Aaron sneered from above.

The next second, he forced my head back under the liquor.

"Wake up a little more. Wouldn't want you acting up again later and upsetting Mia."

Through blurred vision, I saw Mia turn her face away in disgust.

My heartbeat became more and more chaotic. Fear overwhelmed my thoughts. I clawed at the edge of the vat, trying to beg for help.

However, the alcohol had burned my throat so badly I could barely make a sound.

"Ugh..."

A mouthful of bloody foam slipped from my lips as I forced the words out.

"Aaron... my father... is your hospital director... you can't do this..."

Aaron let out a mocking laugh.

"Too much alcohol made you delusional? Now you're making up fake identities?

"You're just an actor. Don't take yourself so seriously.

"Our hospital director belongs to the Ford family. Real upper-class circles. You think you can compare?

"If you're really a Ford, I'll let you use my head as a soccer ball."

The room burst into laughter.

Mia's face darkened. Her voice turned cold.

"Logan, enough. Keep this up and I'm really breaking up with you."

My consciousness started fading. My limbs turned cold. Darkness crept into my vision.

With difficulty, I turned toward a blurry figure near the doorway.

Using the last of my strength, I forced out:

"Help... me..."

Aaron burst out laughing.

"Who's going to save you? Your fans?"

The crowd laughed as they shoved me back into the liquor again.

The suffocation, the alcohol, and the seizure crashing together dragged my consciousness down rapidly.

Just before I blacked out completely…

The private room door slammed open.

A voice exploded through the room, heavy with suppressed rage.

"You people have a death wish!"