Chapter 61
碳
A thought struck me, and I quickly tapped back into TrustPay, straight to the access settings.
But I didn’t do it to enable it for Valeraine. Instead, I unlinked everyone I had previously connected.§
All those years, I’d been the one supporting the entire family on my own.
My grandparents had long retired, spending my shared funds to travel the world–posting vacation photos on social media, flaunting their trips to friends.
Mom worked as a supermarket cashier, showing up three days a week and slacking off the rest. She was constantly buying gold jewelry while Dad was addicted to buying lottery tickets, spending tens of thousands at a time.}]
Then there was Halvard. The house he lived in, the luxury car he drove–they were all paid for by me.”
They lived off me, spent my money, and now, just because of one sentence from my asshole husband, they’d turned on me like this? They never deserved to be called my family!
As they realized what I was doing, my brother was the first to explode.}
“Zadie, are you fucking insane? How dare you unlink the account to us? I swear I’ll beat you to death!”
Dad fret too.
“I need that money to buy my lottery tickets! If you unlink us, how am I supposed to buy anything?“}}
Mom yelled, “I just saw a piece of gold jewelry I liked! It costs 50,000! It’s the only one left. If I don’t get it, I’ll beat you to death!“}
My grandparents were no better, shouting in outrage, “We’re planning a trip to the Maldives! You ungrateful brat, link it back to us right now!”
When they saw my finger not moving, some of them moved toward me, raising their hands to hit me.”
Ipointed at them, seething with rage.}
3
“I dare any of you to try! Without me, you have nothing! Let’s see how far you get without my money!” I shouted.§
I thought that would finally make them back down. But then Killian chuckled.
He said, “Stop threatening your family. If you’re not willing to hand over the money, then we might as well beat you to death. I’m your husband, they’re your parents–we all have a legal right to inherit your assets. What, you think you can run from that?“}
As soon as he finished, he tossed a pair of scissors onto the floor.
“Mom, Dad, cut her tendons–hands and feet,” he suggested. “Turn her into a cripple. Let her know what it means to be worse than dead.
if she refuses to behave, we won’t feed her. When she learns to obey, then we can talk about treating her better.”
My parents didn’t hesitate they each grabbed a pair of scissors and walked toward me.§
I turned to run, but Halvard stomped down on my arms, pinning me to the floor.
The next second, a cold gleam flashed by. Pain exploded from my wrist so sharp I almost passed out.
“Are you going to give us access to that shared funds or not?! If you won’t, we’ll cut your other hand too!“}
I couldn’t even speak from the pain. All I could do was watch in horror as the bloody scissors moved closer to my right wrist.”
Just when I thought it was the end for me, I heard fast, heavy footsteps coming from downstairs.
1
My three best friends burst in, swinging baseball bats, shouting my name as they charged up the stairs.
“You monsters! How can you treat your own flesh and blood like this? This is absolutely inhuman!” Wednesday Ashley rushed to my side and cradled my blood–covered body, her face full of anguish.§
Flora Fletcher was just as heartbroken. She smashed her bat down on my brother’s arm.
She’d trained in taekwondo since she was a kid–her strength was no joke. My brother, who never exercised, was knocked off his feet and fell to the floor screaming.
Tabitha Dixon showed no mercy either. She struck my parents‘ hands, the ones still holding the scissors.
A series of loud cracks echoed through the room as Mom and Dad howled in pain, clutching their hands.
“Oh, so now you know what pain feels like? Did it never cross your mind that cutting Zadie’s tendons would hurt her? You deserve every bit of this!”
My friends‘ rage made even my grandparents step back in fear.
Seeing the tide turning, Killian finally stood up, his face still full of confidence.
“I know you three are her best friends,” he said, “and you’re doing this because you care about her. But she deserves what’s happening. If you three knew what she did, you’d be thinking the same.”
10:41 AM
