Chapter 3

The girl looked to be around 17 or 18 years old. Her body trembled uncontrollably with fear, yet she refused to move an inch.

It was Emma Maguire, Eloise's little sister.

Eloise struggled to sit up. "Emma, what are you doing here?"

A glint of tears appeared in Emma's eyes as she rolled up her sleeve. "Dad was going to beat me to death. I had no choice but to run…"

Eloise's breath hitched when she saw the bruises and wounds covering Emma's arm.

Despite taking such a brutal beating without begging for mercy, Eloise now lowered her head to Julia. "Julia, you can punish me however you want later. My sister's exhausted. Please let me take her upstairs so she can rest."

Before Julia could respond, Zander spoke, "Outsiders aren't allowed to stay overnight here. Someone, take Ms. Emma home."

"Didn't you hear what she just said? If she goes back home, they'll beat her to death!"

Eloise's eyes immediately reddened as she clung tightly to Emma's hand.

Zander couldn't understand why Eloise, who had always been so obedient, was defying him again. His brows furrowed. "Rules are rules. If you refuse to send her back, you can stay out here with her."

With a wave of his hand, Zander ordered the housekeeper to shut the doors, leaving the sisters outside.

A deafening crack of thunder sounded overhead. Dark clouds swallowed the sky as torrential rain poured down.

Emma panicked and rushed to the door, pounding on it desperately. "I'll go back! I won't stay here! Eloise is still injured! Please, let her inside…"

Eloise tried to stop her, but the sudden movement tore her wound open again.

"You can't go back!" she cried out as a sharp pain shot through her body.

Emma had no choice but to help Eloise into a sheltered corner. They huddled together, shivering in their thin clothes as the wind howled and rain poured around them. They spent the entire night out in the cold.

At daybreak, Eloise watched as a young man knocked on the Pierson residence's door. "Zander, I'm here to see Julia! Can I stay here tonight?"

Zander personally welcomed him. "Of course. You can stay as long as you like."

"You're the best, Zander!"

"You're Julia's brother, which makes you my brother, too. Of course I've got you covered…"

Not once did Zander look at Eloise.

Eloise parted her dry lips, her voice barely more than a rasp. "Water…"

Emma touched Eloise's forehead and immediately felt how hot she was. "Hang in there, Eloise…"

In her feverish haze, Eloise vaguely remembered Emma leaving for a while. When she came back, she helped Eloise take some medicine with water. The cool water soothed her parched throat, and she swallowed the pills without thinking.

Slowly, the medicine began to take effect. When Eloise finally managed to open her eyes, she saw Julia storming toward her with Zander. "See? I told you they were the ones who stole the medicine!"

She turned to Elosie. "Eloise, if you needed medicine, you could've just asked. Why are you stealing again?"

Emma was about to speak, but Eloise hurriedly cut her off, "It was my fault. I'll take the punishment."

"Eloise, but it was me…"

Eloise shot her a stern look. It was so firm that Emma fell silent, too afraid to say another word.

Disappointment filled Zander's eyes. "First, you stole money from your own family. Then, you stole money from the Piersons. And now, you're teaching your own sister to steal and covering for her?

"Eloise, take a good look at yourself. Is this how you're supposed to behave as my wife?"

Eloise's head snapped up. She stared at him, stunned.

Back then, she had given him everything she had out of love, even handing over the entire inheritance her mother had left her to help him.

And this was how he saw her?

Zander flinched at the look in her eyes. He turned to the bodyguards. "What are you waiting for? She said she'll take the punishment."

Emma cried out in panic, but Neil Cole, the Pierson family's butler, shoved her aside and dragged Eloise down to the basement.

The moment Eloise saw the electric chair inside, fear finally hit her. "What are you going to do to me?"

A few years ago, Eloise and Julia had both been abducted by the Pierson family's enemies. Zander had rescued Julia first, leaving Eloise strapped to an electric chair, where she was tortured until she broke down and developed PTSD.

This was the one thing she feared more than anything.

Eloise tried to run, but someone grabbed her and dragged her back, strapping her into the electric chair.

Neil flipped the switch. Electricity ripped through her body like a blade.

Eloise threw her head back and screamed. Her body convulsed violently as the restraints dug into her flesh. The sickening smell of burning skin filled the room.

It hurt. It hurt like hell.

She remembered all those nights when nightmares about her abductors had jolted her awake.

Zander would always look guilty then, pulling her into his arms and whispering, "I'm sorry. I should've protected you. I'll never let you be put in danger like that again."

And now, he was the one sending her straight back into hell.

Eloise couldn't hold on any longer. Her consciousness began to fade.

Just before she blacked out, she saw Zander rush into the basement. He kicked Neil hard in the chest and shouted, his voice unusually frantic, "Who told you to use this thing?"