Chapter 23
20:13
Damien stood in the garden, oblivious to the blood dripping from his knuckles onto the ground. His gaze was fixed on the path Elara had taken, a storm of unprecedented violence and regret raging within him.
“Sir!” His assistant rushed over, clutching a file, his face grim. “We found it.”
Damien slowly tore his eyes away, his voice as cold as a winter night. “What is it?”
The assistant hesitated before handing over the folder. “It’s… everything Miss Croft did to the madam over the years.”
Damien snatched the folder and ripped it open.
Inside was a collection of photos, surveillance stills, and audio files. He flipped through a few pages, and his pupils constricted-
A photo of Isabelle at the top of the stairs, deliberately pouring water on the steps when no one was looking.
A video of her secretly swapping Elara’s medication with laxatives.
And an audio file-
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“…that stupid woman. All I have to do is pretend to be pitiful, and Damien believes every word. She deserves everything she gets…”
Damien’s hand clenched tighter and tighter, crumpling the papers in his fist. His breathing grew heavy, his eyes turning a dangero-
us, stormy gray.
“There’s more…” The assistant swallowed hard and handed him a medical report. “When the madam was locked in the basement…
Miss Croft… had someone put a bag of rats in there with her.”
Damien’s temples throbbed. A roar filled his ears, as if something inside him had finally shattered.
He remembered that day.
Elara had been locked in the basement all night. When she came out the next morning, her face was ashen, her body trembling. He
had thought she was just being dramatic, even sneering at her, “I only locked you in for one night. Was it necessary to cry the who-
le time?”
But she had told him, “Isabelle put rats in here…”
And he hadn’t believed her.
An unparalleled fury surged through Damien’s entire being. He threw the file on the ground, his voice a horrifying rasp. “Where is
Isabelle now?”
The sheer venom in his eyes made his assistant take a step back. “At… at the Blackwood estate…”
Damien turned on his heel, moving so fast he was almost a blur. He pulled out his phone and dialed the head of his security team,
his voice like tempered steel. “Lock Isabelle Croft in the basement. Now!”
The man on the other end hesitated. “Sir, but…”
“Do you not understand English?” Damien’s voice was pure menace. “Lock her in there, and take ‘good care‘ of her. I want her to
experience everything she did to Elara–a thousand times over!”
At the Blackwood estate, Isabelle was casually painting her nails on the sofa, humming a little tune. She had just heard that Dami-
en had gone to Seabrook to find Elara. While it annoyed her, she was confident that Elara, with her stubborn pride, would never forg-
ive him easily. All she needed to do was add a little more fuel to the fire, and Damien would be completely disgusted with the wo-
man.
Just as she was plotting, the front doors of the mansion were kicked open with a deafening bang.
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Chapter 23
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Isabelle jumped, looking up to see Damien striding in, his face a thunderous mask.
A knot of anxiety tightened in her stomach, but she quickly arranged her features into a look of pitiful innocence. “Damien, what’s
wrong-”
Before she could finish, Damien’s hand shot out and clamped around her throat, slamming her against the wall.
“Isabelle,” his voice was a low growl, like a demon crawling from the depths of hell. “You are very, very good at what you do.”
Isabelle choked, her face turning red as she clawed at his arm. “Damien… what are you doing… let me go…”
He let out a cold laugh and released her.
She collapsed to the floor, clutching her throat and coughing violently, tears and snot streaming down her face.
“Take her,” Damien said, looking at her as if she were trash. “To the basement.”
The bodyguards immediately moved in and hauled her away.
Only then did Isabelle truly panic, struggling and screaming, “Damien! Are you insane?! You can’t do this to me! Have you forgotten who’s been by your side all this time?! Have you forgotten that Elara doesn’t even love you?!”
Damien’s eyes grew even colder.
He slowly knelt, grabbing her chin, his grip so tight she thought her bones would shatter. “Isabelle, listen to me very carefully. From this day forward, I will make your life a living hell.”
He threw her aside and said to his men, “Put a bag of rats in there with her. Let her enjoy herself.”
Isabelle’s face went completely white. “No… NO! Damien! You can’t do this to me! Ahhh-!”
Her screams were cut off by the heavy, slamming iron door.
Damien stood outside the basement, his expression dark and desolate.
The measure of his past indulgence of Isabelle was now the measure of his hatred for her.
And even more, he hated himself.
