67

Several minutes elapsed before Anna Smith slowly stepped out of the bathroom in an alluring getup.

Adorning her hair was a white headband with pink bunny ears. Her hair was no longer braided but fell slightly past her shoulders.

On her neck was a black choker collar that came along with a silver leash, which she was gently holding. The choker collar also had a dark pink love pendant.

She was wearing a white lace bralette, and a black, high-waist wraparound, layered skirt that trailed along the floor, even covering her feet.

"Take that false modesty off," Vilfred commanded, his look stern.

"Yes, Master," Anna responded with a fake smile.

She slowly took off the long skirt to reveal a pink flare skirt made of see-through and thin fabric. It directly showed that she was also donning a black fishnet garter belt of whose suspender clips were connected to the black fishnet stockings.

The skirt barely stopped at her thighs, and upon turning around at Vilfred's order, one could see that the skirt barely covered her perky butt. 

In addition to all of these, she was donning ridiculously high pink heels.

At Vilfred's snap of his fingers, a red rug appeared from the spot where she stood and ended at the corner of the room.

"Walk," he conceitedly commanded her, one leg draped over the other while his palms were placed at his sides behind him on the comfy bed.

There was no room for disobedience. She smiled sweetly. "Yes, master," 

And so, she began to walk down the runway he had created. As she was making her way back, he unexpectedly set out a foot. She hadn't seen it in time, and just like that, she fell to a crawling position.

She turned to glare at him.

"A feisty bunny, huh?"

"I'm not a bunny," she retorted, eyes shooting flames of rage.

"Oh really. Then what are those on your head?" he questioned her, his tone carried a glint of amusement.

"You..." She was left speechless at his question. If it weren't for the situation of her family, she would have taken off this headband this instant.

But she needed to grit her teeth and endure.

So, she sat on her knees and hugged his leg. "Master, bunny Anna is sorry." She said in a coquettish tone, even pouting cutely as she asked, "Can you forgive me, please, master?"

"It's not easy to earn master Vilfred's forgiveness," he said with a scoff.

"Bunny Anna will do anything Master wants,"

"Anything, you said?" he asked her with a raised brow, arms locked over her chest.

She nodded vigorously, meekly replying, "Yes, Master," 

"Good, then. I want you to crawl from one end of the room to another. Don't make the mistake of trying to present me a pleading or even a sultry gaze. Just keep your eyes on the floor. I'll order you to stop when I'm satisfied. Is that clear?"

"Yes, beloved Master," 

Vilfred caused the rug to disappear and then ordered Anna to begin her performance and not dally.

And so, she began crawling from one end of the room to another.

...

Her hands and knees ached as she crawled across the cold, hard floor. In compliance with Vilfred's order, she kept her eyes down. She had been crawling to and fro for so long; her watery eyes could no more contain the floodwaters. 

And so, two rivers poured down her cheeks as she continued. It didn't help that there was a levitating whip above her that would lash at her back or rear from time to time. The lashes weren't even merciful, making it difficult for her to crawl properly.

She couldn't look at him, for fear of punishment. She felt like she would have to pass out before her vengeful ex-classmate would get satisfied.

She doggedly clamped her quivering lips together and urged her own shivering body onwards.

"There are just three minutes left to complete two hours," Vergio's stern voice cut through the silence, urging her to hurry up. 

Though tired, she still clenched her teeth and picked up her crawling pace, reminding herself that she was doing this all for her family's survival.

"Alright, you can stop." 

Finally hearing the words she'd been anticipating for so long, the woman collapsed onto the floor, exhausted and emotionally drained.

Vilfred was still seated on the bed, a bowl containing very small, star-shaped red fruits with various purple dots, which he had been eating all this time.

"On your knees, right now," he commanded, his tone harsh and unfeeling.

Due to her fatigue, Anna was a bit slow in complying, and so she received another painful lash from the whip, eliciting to sound of distress from her. This didn't touch Vilfred's heart, though. Did he even have any?

Now that a trembling Anna was on her knees, she still didn't dare to look at him. After all, he hadn't commanded that yet. As his bunny, she must be obedient.

Vilfred appeared in front of her, stunning her.

Before she could say anything, he asked her to lift her face. She did, only to find another Vergio sitting on the bed, still eating those strange fruits.

Her eyes widened as she looked at the one standing in front of her. Vilfred could...clone himself?

"Surprised?" the one in front of her said.

She was shocked too. 

"I..." she faltered.

Unexpectedly, this vicious clone did something. He slapped her. The sound resonated in the room.

"How dare you turn me down back then?" the clone spat sinisterly.

He hadn't been merciful with that slap. It had really hurt.

She brought up a hand to hold her hurting left cheek, staring at him and then at the other Vilfred in disbelief.

Suddenly, she felt her hair being grabbed and pulled from the back.

She gasped and tried to free herself to no avail. Looking up at the person responsible, she found a similar face, also dressed in the same outfit. So that made three Vilfreds.

Anna was about to lose it.

"L-let go. Let go of me," she pleaded with the one pulling her hair. "Master, please,"

"You remember the words you said to me on that fateful day?" the one pulling her hair asked.

Anna's scalp was already hurting from the cruel tugging. Where was the strength left to think back and try to remember?

She could only plead with him, but the latter didn't seem intent on letting her go.

Just then, the one on the bed rose to his feet and unhurriedly made her way to her.

The one tugging hard at her hair quickly let go.

Breathing hard, she tried to placate her aching scalp, tears rolling down her face.

"Don't ever try this again. Even a blind goat wouldn't go out with you," Vilfred said as he stood in front of her. The other two vanished at the flick of his fingers. "This was what you told me that day. Do you know how sad I was? Do you know how much it hurt me? Do you know how much I wanted to punish and kill you right there and then?"

Anna couldn't respond. All that was reverberating in her head was pain.

Getting no reply from the distressed lady, Vilfred encircled her neck with his left fingers and lifted her up.

His action was unexpected. She gasped and her legs flailed as she tried to pry off his fingers from her neck, to no avail.

More tears rolled down her cheeks. She felt her life already flashing before her eyes.

"Now, you are in my hands. And you even brought along your family. I can finally get my revenge for the insulting way in which you turned me down, Anna." 

"I... I'm ... sorry," she managed to say mid-choking.

"Saying sorry will not help matters. We both know that," he told her, even increasing his grip on her throat.

"P-p-please..." she beseeched, already lacking the strength to kick about. Vilfred's glowing eyes were too sinister in this moment.

She feared she would really die, which would also lead to her family's extinction.

"Master..."

Harrumphing, he let go of her throat, and she dropped miserably to the floor. She clutched hard at her throat, coughing and gasping hard.

She felt his intense gaze on her and subconsciously wanted to retreat. Too bad she felt too drained to do so.

And even if she did, could she really escape his clutches? She felt despair even more at this fact.

This entire place belonged to Vergio. Even if she left this room, there was no way to escape.

She doubted, even if the police found their way here, they would make it out alive. Because clearly the people in this building possessed powers. They wouldn't even need to chase her if she escaped. Catching her back was easier than shooting fish in a barrel.

"On your knees,"

Though in pain and afraid, she couldn't disobey the order this time. 

"For every year that we've been apart," the once-levitating whip had now appeared in his hands. "I'm going to punish you."

It had been 25 years since they last met. Did that mean... he could whip her 25 times? Or even more, considering his pettiness.

Thinking of that, she shuddered and inched forward to hold his leg.

"Master... Master, please forgive me. I know... that I've hurt you so much. I shouldn't have done that. I really regret."

"You forgot that I could read your mind. Cursing at me while pleading. What a nice trait,"

Her face paled even more as he extricated his leg from her hold and lashed at her.

Painful as the lashes were, she couldn't leave the spot where she was kneeling.

He kept lashing at her to the point she lost count.

After what felt like ages had elapsed, the whip disappeared from his hand. Then he helped her stand up and handed her a conjured bowl containing a black but sweet-smelling sticky substance.

She consumed it even without his asking, and instantly, the discomfort all over her body disappeared.

However, the bloody stains on her body and clothes didn't vanish. She wondered if this effect of not feeling pain was temporary.

Vergio snapped his fingers again, and Anna became as she was when she stepped out of the bathroom hours ago. There was no trace of blood or injury on her skin, and her clothes were spotless once more.

"How is it?" he asked, pinching her chin. "Do you like my present?"

"Yes, Master. Bunny Anna does,"

"Get on your knees,"

Anna quickly obeyed.

Vilfred appeared on the bed once more, seated at the edge.

He beckoned her to come forward with his index finger.

"Yes, Master,"

She started crawling towards him in a sultry manner.

Reaching between his splayed thighs, she stopped, still on all fours and lay her head on his crotch, nuzzling it, "Hmm, warm. Bunny likes it," she even licked her lips.

He patted her head, "Good girl. Now show me what you've got," he told her with a snotty tone.

She raised her head and rested her palms on his thighs. "Yes, Master,"