Chapter 4

Over the next two months, Andrew seemed determined to punish me for resisting him.

He piled all the estate chores on me. I had to water the plants, trim the hedges, scrub the floors, and even pick up Sophia’s dog’s poop myself.

At first, Sophia held back a little with her cruelty. But since Andrew kept indulging her, she quickly realized that I meant nothing to him, so she started tormenting me without limits.

If a cup in the living room was found empty, she would order someone to slap me fifty times. If a rose petal fell from a flowerbed, she made me kneel and apologize to the flowers. If dust from the carpet got on her shoes, she forced me to kneel on the stone floor for three full days.

No matter what happened, Andrew would just smile and let it pass.

The last punishment was over me giving her dog a bit less food than usual, and she got mad.

“Andrew, didn’t Ella used to live in the slums of Booklyn?

“Why don’t we send her back there to reflect? Maybe that place will help her remember her position.”

Andrew raised an eyebrow. He seemed to find the idea amusing.

“Fine. Do as you like.”

They laughed and joked as they decided my punishment. Seeing Andrew spoil her like that, I felt a sudden chill. Three years in prison had not earned me even a shred of Andrew’s pity.

Half an hour later, I was brought back to the slums of Booklyn. I looked at the familiar house that had once felt so warm, and a deep sadness settled in my chest. Three years had passed, and the clean walls were now covered in vines. The bricks were full of graffiti and holes from vandalism, and the building looked ready to fall apart.

“Ugh, so disgusting. How can anyone live in a place like this?” Sophia complained as she stepped around the trash and filth on the ground.

Andrew kicked open the peeling wooden door. A faded cross hung on the wall, which he had put up himself five years ago. It was there that he had confessed to me, promised me, and sworn he would love me forever.

Years later, the cross was covered in dust. It shook in the wind, just like this broken marriage.

Suddenly, Sophia pointed at a photo on the table and screamed.

“Ah! Andrew, look! How does this place even have a memorial photo?”

I looked up. My grandmother’s kind smile made my vision blur. Years ago, Andrew had been hunted by a rival family and had fallen sick with a high fever in this attic. My grandmother had spent her last money to buy him medicine and cook him warm pasta. When she was on her deathbed, Andrew knelt in front of her, crying, and banged his head on the floor.

“Don’t worry. I’ll protect Ella with my life.”

Today, he stood in front of my grandmother’s memorial with his new lover and openly humiliated me.

“Ella.” Andrew’s voice was cold. “Go. Kneel in front of your grandmother’s memorial.”

I stared at him in disbelief. “What did you say?”

Andrew flicked the ash from his cigar.

“Right here. In front of your grandmother. Bow to Sophia and admit you’re wrong.”

My whole body froze.

That was the elder who had loved him like a grandson.

How could he do this?

How dare he?

“I won’t kneel.”

It was the first time I defied him since I left prison. Andrew’s face darkened. He pulled out his phone and called someone in front of me.

“Stop Ella’s mother’s medicine.”

“I’ll kneel!”

I bent my knees and hit the dusty cement floor with a dull thud. My kneecaps slammed against the floor. Pain shot through me, but I did not flinch. That pain was nothing compared to the pain in my heart. Sophia laughed with triumph. She pressed the tip of her high heel under my chin and lifted my head.

“Ella, just kneeling is not enough.

“Say it loud. Say you are lowly and don’t deserve Andrew.”

I had to tilt my head back and look at her twisted face while Andrew watched coldly from the side. He made no move to stop her. He even seemed to enjoy punishing me.

I opened my mouth. My voice was hoarse, rough like sandpaper.

“I… am lowly.”

“Louder! Are you mute?”

Sophia pressed her heel harder underneath my chin.

“I’m lowly!” I shouted with a shaking voice.

“I don’t deserve Andrew. I’m lowly and shameless. I don’t deserve…”

Before I could finish, my vision went completely black.

It felt like a hand had reached into my stomach and twisted all my insides. I let out a muffled groan and curled up. Sweat started drenching my back. It hurt so much. A hot flow ran down between my legs and soaked my pants. It quickly stained the gray cement red.

The air was filled with the thick smell of blood.

My vision blurred, and my hands and feet went ice cold. I remembered how insane Andrew had been when he was drunk that day. Suddenly, Sophia screamed and jumped back like she had seen a ghost.

“Andrew! She’s bleeding too much!”

She scrambled behind Andrew and pointed at the spreading pool of blood beneath me. She was shaking with fear.

Andrew frowned. A flash of impatience crossed his eyes.

“Ella, what tricks are you playing now? You think you can use this to get sympathy? Don’t bother.”

He walked toward me to pull me up, but he froze when he saw the blood. The pool of red was still spreading.

Andrew’s pupils shrank. The cigar fell from his hand.

“I won’t let you die!”