Her fifth daughter died, so she deleted his bloodline. novel Chapter 122

Chapter 17

My four guardians escorted me to the lobby as the clock chimed eleven.

The solid walls had vanished. Three imposing doors of dark, oak stood in their place.

Heavy padlocks barred each exit. The number of locks varied by door.

Four locks secured my path. Tiffany faced only one, and Evan faced two.

A heavy stone of dread settled in my stomach. I realized I already knew the catch.

Each door displayed a player’s name and their current status.

The inscription on mine was stark. [Alice. Sanity Level: 0.]

The others told a different story. [Tiffany Stone. Sanity Level: 99.9.] and [Evan Swift. Sanity Level: 90.]

Tiffany and Evan gaped at me. They could not comprehend my score.

Their shock baffled me. These creatures were gentle and adorable, not monsters to be feared.

The system voice broke the silence. It dripped with sadistic glee.

[Time to make your offering. players. Are you ready to open the Gate to the Beyond?]

[You have until midnight. Fail to satisfy the locks within the hour, and you remain trapped in this instance forever.]

I patted my pockets. I found nothing but the flat brass key to our apartment on the thirtieth floor.

The keyholes were molded into the shape of human hearts. My jagged metal key was useless.

I sank to the floor in a melodramatic heap and looked up at the boss, Meg, Bernard, and Eleanor through my lashes.

“Oh no. I am stranded.” I said, pitching my voice to a sweet whine. “I guess I must stay here with you all forever.”

“What a tragedy.” I let out a giddy laugh. “I am actually quite thrilled.”

The boss knelt before me. He tilted my chin up until I met his gaze, his eyes burning with a crimson, eldritch light.

“You know what the keys are, Alice,” he said softly. “You are playing dumb.”

“You do not understand the stakes. If you are trapped here, you do not become one of us.”

“You dissolve into the black mist that permeates this purgatory. You become a void with no thoughts, no feelings, and no

soul.”

“I would lose you forever. Alice.”

Chapter 17

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“I would rather suffer a brief separation than lose you completely.”

He did not hesitate. He plunged his hand into his chest with a sickening, wet tear.

He ripped out a pulsing, fiery red heart and tossed it casually into the first keyhole on my door.

The lock morphed into a grotesque, fleshy maw and swallowed the organ whole.

Click. The first shackle fell away.

Even the system voice sounded rattled. Its mechanical composure cracked with fear.

[Um. Will the other residents be offering their Hearts of Bliss to assist their family members?]

The gruesome truth was laid bare. The keys were the hearts of our assigned families.

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