Chapter 11
2011 O
An eternity seemed to pass before Seraphina regained consciousness, the biting cold seeping into her bones. She forced her eyes open, her vision a blur. The air in the sack was hot and foul, the thick smell of blood making her gag.
Gritting her teeth, she used every last ounce of strength to fight her way out of the burlap bindings.
The warehouse was empty. She was alone.
Damien was gone.
Isabelle was gone.
She was the only one left behind.
Seraphina coughed, a metallic taste filling her throat. She fumbled in her
come and get her. Damien was a madman. So was Isabelle. She couldn’t pocket for her phone, intending to call her parents to
imagine how her sister had survived these years.
But just as her fingers closed around her phone, a figure lunged from the shadows and slapped her hard across the face.
CRACK!
The phone flew from her hand and shattered against the wall.
Seraphina’s head snapped to the side, blood trickling from the corner of her mouth. She slowly raised her standing over her, a triumphant, cold sneer on her face.
eyes and saw Isabelle
“Who were you going to call to cry to now?” Isabelle looked down at her, her voice dripping with
scorn.
Seraphina said nothing, simply using the wall to push her aching body upright.
one m
*
Her silence only made Isabelle bolder. She stepped forward and grabbed Seraphina’s chin, forcing her head up. “Cat got your tong- ue? You see now? I told you. Even on your wedding day, all it takes is one message from me, and Damien
She leaned close to Seraphina’s ear, her voice dropping to a low, deliberate whisper. “If you have any you’ll get on your knees, crawl away, and give me the title of Mrs. Blackwood.”
Seraphina stared at her, and then she smiled.
running.”
of
self–preservation,
….
Isabelle froze. Before she could react, Seraphina used the leverage of Isabelle’s grip on her chin and shoved outward with brutal
force.
“Ah!”
Caught off guard, Isabelle stumbled backward into a metal shelving unit. The sharp corner dug into her lower back, and she crump- led to the floor, her face pale with pain.
“You… you dared to push me?!” she stared at Seraphina in disbelief, her voice trembling.
Leaning against the wall, Seraphina slowly got to her feet. She was covered in blood, her face as white as paper.
“Push you?” she let out a short, sharp laugh. Dragging her injured leg, she started walking toward Isabelle. “So what if I did?”
Isabelle panicked, scrambling backward on her hands and feet. “You… stay away from me!”
Seraphina ignored her. She bent down and picked up a short steel pipe from the floor, weighing it in her hand.
Isabelle’s pupils constricted in terror. The woman in front of her was not the same person she had been tormenting for years.
“Help! Some-!” she screamed, trying to crawl away, but Seraphina caught her by the ankle and dragged her back.
2011
Chapter 11
2011
“Weren’t you being so arrogant just now?” Seraphina loomed over her, tapping the pipe lightly against her cheek. “Scared now, are we?”
Isabelle was trembling uncontrollably, tears and snot streaming down her face, but she still tried to sound defiant. “If you dare touch me, Damien will never let you get away with it!”
Seraphina sneered, and brought the pipe down hard on Isabelle’s leg.
“АННН!”
Isabelle’s shriek echoed through the empty warehouse.
Seraphina paid it no mind, bringing the pipe down again, and again, her movements sharp, efficient, and utterly merciless. The years she had spent abroad had forged b
into someone who
ho was anything but a victim.
Isabelle was beaten until she was barely cons too weak to a
even beg for mercy, curled into a ball on the filthy floor.
Panting, Seraphina wiped a smear of blood from her
face, rai
the
pipe for
one final blow-
BANG!
The warehouse doors were kicked open.
Blinding light flooded the space. Damien stood in the entrance, his face a thundercloud
as he
stared at the scene before him.
20
2011.0
