14: Fighting back

Standing motionless, Finnick watched the horrific spectacle happening in the courtyard of his mansion.

As his eyes stayed locked on the trembling, kneeling figure of the girl, her desperate words just minutes ago echoed with sudden clarity in his mind.

“Finn... my entire survival in the Kruger household depends on you!” she had begged. “Finn... saving a life earns you heavenly merit! I swear, if you agree to marry me, I will serve you exceptionally well!”

Those words, which he had initially dismissed as the wild antics of a shameless woman, now tore through his thoughts, cracking the fortress around his heart just a fraction of an inch.

Finnick had never been one to pity the miseries of others. He had crawled his way out of his own hell, bleeding and callous, surviving in a world that showed no mercy.

Why should he care about someone else’s misfortune?

In his world, emotions were fatal mistakes, and caring for another human being was an unacceptable weakness.

The only things that mattered were his own survival and the continuous rise of the Kruger empire.

Yet, Kimberly Holland was somehow chipping away at the hardened, cemented walls around his heart.

He hated it. He hated the uncharacteristic stir of emotion in his chest.

‘Why the hell should I care?’ he thought deeply, a

dangerous anger igniting within him.

It was an anger directed as much at his own sudden hesitation as it was at the pathetic excuse for a family standing outside.

Meanwhile, in the courtyard, Marco Holland was practically foaming at the mouth, his face twisted in utter disbelief that she had dared to knock the adoption papers into the dirt.

“You stubborn, ungrateful little brat!” Marco shrieked, his voice echoing off the stone walls. “You think you have a choice?! You’re not signing?! Charles, hold her down! Force her hand onto that paper and make her sign it right now!”

Charles growled, digging his fingers brutally into Kimberly’s shoulders, pinning her down as she thrashed against him.

He glared down at his biological sister with bloodthirsty disgust.

Bound and suffocating, Kimberly felt a dark, suffocating despair try to drag her under.

‘Am I really going to give up like this?’ she asked herself, her vision blurring from the pain and heat in her face.

‘Am I going to let these monsters break me into a submissive doll all over again?’

Her eyes snapped wide open, flashing with a sudden, terrifying dark light.

‘Not a chance in hell!’

Gathering every last drop of strength in her aching body, Kimberly violently thrashed her head side to side.

With a harsh, guttural gasp, she clamped her teeth onto the silk tie gagging her mouth, yanking it free with a furious bite.

Before Charles could react to her sudden movement, she threw her entire body weight backward, driving her elbow straight into his ribs.

The unexpected force sent Charles stumbling backward in shock, his feet tangling together as he nearly crashed straight onto the floor.

Then Kimberly immediately scrambled to her feet.

Breathing frantically, her eyes darted across the courtyard, searching for anything she could use as a weapon.

And her eyes locked onto a heavy, jagged stone lying near the edge of the flowerbed.

“Hey! You!” Marco yelled, his voice cracking in surprise as he watched her move. “What the hell do you think you’re doing?!”

Kimberly lunged forward, snatching the heavy stone into one hand.

She spun back toward them, her face wild, her disheveled hair flying around her face as she hoisted the stone high above her head.

The entire group flinched instantly, horror washing over their faces.

Vivian let out a sharp, piercing scream, staggering backward behind Theo as panic took over her face.

“What are you doing?!” Marco yelled again, taking a frantic step back, his hands raised in alarm.

Kimberly arms came crashing down with terrifying, decisive speed.

THWACK!

The jagged edge of the heavy stone slammed violently against the side of Charles’s forehead.

A sharp, sickening crunch echoed through the air.

Charles let out an agonized groan, the strength instantly leaving his legs as he collapsed on the floor, clutching the side of his skull with both hands.

“Brother!” Vivian shrieked in horror, rushing forward with trembling hands to help him.

Marco’s face drained of all color, his eyes bulging as panic instantly replaced his anger.

“You... you crazy bitch!” Theo Kruger shouted as he pointed a trembling, terrified finger at her.

Breathing heavily, her chest heaving up and down like a wounded, cornered beast, Kimberly glared at the four of them with a wild, unhinged light in her eyes.

“You want me to surrender?! You want me to bow down and take your abuse?!” she screamed, her voice echoing violently across the estate grounds. “Not a chance in hell! If I’m going down today, I’m taking every single one of you down to hell with me! I will fight you to the absolute death!”

On the floor, Charles was still recuperating, blood beginning to seep through his fingers as he clutched his forehead.

“Blood! You're bleeding!” Vivian screamed.

Charles slowly pulled his hand away and stared at the dark red stain coating his palm.

A manic, murderous rage washed over his face.

He glared up at Kimberly, his teeth bared in a snarl. “Fine... fine, fine, fine!”

He dragged himself back onto his feet, swaying slightly from the blow, but his eyes were completely devoid of reason.

Marco was shouting hysterically, waving his arms at the sky. “She’s rebelling! The girl has gone completely mad! How dare you attack and injure your own brother?! You unfilial, demonic creature! Beat her to death! Beat her! If she dies today, I’ll take full responsibility!”

Charles’ bloodshot eyes scanned the ground until they landed on a thick, heavy wooden stake lying near the garden fence, a sturdy piece of timber used for construction.

He rushed over, grabbing the heavy beam in both hands, and whirled around to face Kimberly, his expression twisted into a terrifying portrait of fury.

He raised the thick wooden beam high into the air, putting the entirety of his body weight behind the strike.

“GO TO HELL!!”

Kimberly’s eyes widened in terror as the lethal threat came hurtling down toward her face.

The speed of the strike left her no time to dodge and in a desperate, instinctual reflex, she stumbled backward, flinching violently and throwing her arms up to shield her head.

“Ah…ahh!” she gasped, squeezing her eyes shut as she braced for the impact.

WHOOSH!

The wind rushed past her face, but the agonizing strike never landed.

A sudden, deadly silence fell over the entire courtyard.

Kimberly slowly opened one eye, trembling violently.

Standing right in front of her was a towering, broad-shouldered figure.

A long, muscular arm draped in dark fabric had shot out from nowhere, his bare hand clamping onto the thick wooden stick in mid-air with an iron grip so terrifyingly effortless that the heavy beam had stopped dead in its tracks.

The sudden intervention sent a paralyzing shockwave through everyone present, freezing the Hollands and Theo Kruger dead in their tracks.