Chapter 2: A disfigured face.

Piper Downs felt her skin touch Jasper Hart's body, and it was as if she had suddenly pressed against a sheet of ice.

She couldn't help but let out a sigh, but the she realized what was happening and quickly pushed Jasper away, leaning against the wall to catch her breath.

Damn it, she had never endured such torment during her time as a top assassin!

Suddenly, she soptted a fruit knife on the coffee table. Piper rushed over and pressed her hand against the blade, blood oozing out. The sharp pain brought her a moment of clarity.

Seeing Piper resort to self-harm to stay awake, Jasper furrowed his brow and took the knife away, lifting herv up in his arms.

As Piper enjoyed the feeling of being listed by a man, she also felt disgusted by her own lack of control. Gritting her teeth, she said, "if you dare to move me, I..."

With a splash, Jasper tossed Piper intoa bathtub filled with cold water.

The icy shock enveloped her whole body, and Piper barely managed to open her eyes.

Her delicate features were flushed, her damp hair clinging to her neck, her pure white nightgown floated on the water surface.

She gripped the edge of the tub, her fingertips turning pale her eyelashes fluttering slightly. The blend of beauty and restraint was perfectly embodied in her.

Jasper Hart tugged at his tie and pulled out his phone, grumbling, "Diamond Hotel, room 21-B5. Get over here now and open the door!"

Ten minutes later, the door swung open, and Ray Dunlop walked in wearing a white coat ,chuckling as he teased, "Jasper, what's going on today? A peach blossom banquet?"

Jasper's expression darkened as he snapped, "get over here! I need you to save someone!"

Ray stepped into the bathroom and spotted Piper Downs, who was already semi-conscious in the bathtub. He clicked his tongue. "This is pretty intense isn't it?"

"Do you want to die?" Jasper shot back, glaring at him.

Ray immediately backed down saying, "get her out of there! How are we supposed to help her in the bathtub?"

Jasper bent down and lifted Piper out, placing hr on the bed. Ray quickly checked her over and said "we need to get her to the hospital. The wrist wound is too deep; she needs stitches."

The girl's wrist was white and swollen from being submerged in water, looking quite alarming. After a moment of hesitation, Jasper scooped her up in his arms and strode out of the hotel room.

The hotel had already been cleared out and a blackm armored bentley was waiting at the entrance. Bodguards lined up like statues , and as Jasper climbed into the car with the girl in his arms, Ray smirked behind them, "looks like the peach blossoms have finally arrived, huh?"

Beside them, Micheal Stones nudged Ray Dunlop and asked, "Ray, this is the first time I've seen the boss with a woman, who is that in his arms...?"

Ray adjusted his gold-rimmed glasses amd smiled, shaking his head, "hard to say, hard to say."

In the hospital, Ray Dunlop had taken care of Piper Downs and returned to the dean's office, wher Jasper Hart was seated on the couch, handling documents on his computer. He glanced up at Ray and asked, "all set?"

"Yeah," Ray nodded. "But the wound is pretty deeo. It looks to me like a suicide attempt."

Jasper Furrowed his brow. The girl lying in the room, with her sharp gaze and cold expression, didn't seem like someone who would take her own life.

"Have someone keep an eye on her. I'm going to stay at my apartment for the night."

Ray agreed, and he and Jasper left the hospital.

Piper Downs laid in bed, tossing and turning, her past replaying in her dreams.

"Ambush! Requesting mission abort!"

"Denied."

"The target has a sniper!

Requesting air support!"

"Denied"

"Requesting retreat!"

"Rejected."

The deafening sound of gunfire, the chaotic cries for help, and the final screams mingled with the thick scent of blood flooded Piper Downs' senses.

The dream like scene flipped, and Piper found herself strapped to an electric chair, her body convulsing and drenched in sweat.

"Mission failed, yet you are the only one who walked away unscathed!"

"Traitor! You're the one who leaked the information!"

she gritted her teeth and retorted, "I got shot! How is that walking away unscathed?"

"I was out on a mission with Raven. How does that make me a traitor?"

"Piper Downs, Raven is dead, and you're still alive."

That single sentence felt like a heavy weight on her shoulders; her survival was her original sin, a burden of guilt she had to bear.

The eyes of her former comrades pierced through her like poisoned arrows. In such a vast organization, not a single person believed her.

The next wave of electric shock hit her, and the insults kept pouring in. Piper's eyes turned red with fury as she clenched her fists, her nails digging into her palms. Who was the traitor hiding in the shadows?

She would find that person! She would grind the traitor who had doomed her entire team to dust!

As the first light of dawn broke, Piper rubbed her head and woke up, the life-threatening sensation was gone, and the wound on her wrist neatly bandaged. She stared at the empty IV stand beside her, blinking in confusion. This wasn't a dream; she had truly been reborn.

Just when she was at her lowest point, with nowhere to run, she had been given a new chance at life under a new identity.

Piper Downs climbed out of bed and splashed some water on her face. When she looked up into the mirror, even somone as seasoned as she was couldn't help but feel a wave of shock wash over her.

It was still her face, but a scar that resembled a centipede stretched from her cheek to her ear.

In the mercenary world, Piper Downs was known as a stunning beauty. Even a man as discerning as James Bond would say that completing missions was a breeze for her; just her face could make a man weak in the knees.

But now, the beautiful and powerful Piper Downs had inexplicably died, only to be rebornin the body of a disfigured girl.

Memories flooded in like a tidal wave...

The original owner of the body was named Piper Gates, the young lady of the Gates family. Unfortunately, her mother passed away early, and her father remarried, and her stepmother had two daughters. Piper's presence was so minimal that she was often bullied within the Gates family.

Piper Downs sighed. Her rebirth meant that the original girl, with her tragic background was really gone.

The painful memories flipped through her ,imd like a photo album: a childhood filled with ridicule, a beauty ruined, and dreams trampled underfoot...

One by one, everything she cherished was taken from her, including her life and the purity she nearly lost last night.

A dark current flickered in Piper's eyes as she raised her hand to gently touch the scar on her face. She whispered , "don't worry, from today on, I am Piper Gates."

Everything that belongs to you, I'll take them back one by one."

Her looks, her career, her wealth, she would reclaim it all.

Then she would return to Jeju Island with her head held high!

With no one watching outside, Piper Gates slipped on the man's oversized suit jacket and stepped out, hailing a cab to the Gates family estate.

Though Piper Gates appeared meek and submissive, her late mother had left her with an engagement that bound her to the young master of the Gustin family.

Piper Gates had grown up alongside Cisco, her heart and mind filled with thoughts of him. She even endured countless stares and ruined her own appearance for his sake. Unfortunately, Cisco didn't return her feelings; he was in love with Piper Gates's younger sister Michelle Gates.

Michelle Gates, who seemed harmless on the surface, secretly devised a wicked plan to force Piper Gates to break off the engagement by ruinimg her reputation and ensuring she has no face left to marry anyone.

This time, it was because Piper Gates felt utterly trapped , years of pent up grievances finally erupted, leading her to the desperate decision to attempt suicide.

Piper stepped out of the car, her gaze fixed on the modestly sized villa before her, a cold glint in her eyes.

Very well, you all owe Piper Gates, and I will make sure to reclaim every bit of it.

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