Chapter 6

Low?

Wasn't this exactly what Beckett had wanted?

Tessa stood with her head bowed, utterly submissive, as though she'd lost every last shred of self-respect. She was little more than a walking corpse, staying alive only for her son.

"You're right, Mr. Lockridge. I really have sunk that low."

For some reason, seeing her like this didn't give Beckett the satisfaction he'd expected from his revenge. Instead, it left him strangely irritated.

He scowled at her, then let out a humorless laugh.

"Fine. No more cleaning. From now on, you'll drink with the guests in the club's private rooms."

Tessa's heart lurched.

But Beckett had already walked away. Her fingers slowly tightened around the bucket handle.

Drinking with guests in private rooms meant more humiliation and harassment from men looking to take advantage of her.

But she had no right to refuse.

Beckett had given the order. All she could do was obey.

Sure enough, things only got worse for Tessa once she started serving guests in the private rooms.

Although the two scars on her face put the men off, her former status as Ravenport's most celebrated socialite made her all the more tempting. They all wanted her to drink with them, and some even took the opportunity to grope her.

Tessa had thought she'd already given up her dignity.

But when several men pinned her down on a couch and pulled off her pants, she realized she couldn't bear it after all.

She fought back, only to be slapped repeatedly and kicked hard enough to send her sprawling to the floor.

"You think a whore like you gets to play innocent? Who the hell do you think you are?"

In the end, because she'd ruined the guests' fun, the manager locked her in a cramped, dark room without food or water for an entire day and night.

That night, Tessa leaned against the damp wall, feeling as though she were back in her prison cell.

Back then, she'd huddled in a corner just like this while a crowd of people stripped off her clothes and took pictures of her. They'd punched and kicked her, striking her face and body.

"Let's slash her face."

"Look at those legs. So long and pretty. Wonder what they'd look like with cigarette burns."

"Someone grab her by the throat. I'm going to stomp on her hand until she can't use it!"

Tears had streamed down Tessa's face as she sobbed so hard she could barely breathe, desperately pleading for mercy again and again.

"Please... Don't hit me.

"It hurts! I'm pregnant! Please don't hurt me!

"Baby, don't be scared. Don't be scared. Mommy's here. Mommy's right here..."

Late that night, Tessa's stifled, anguished sobs echoed through the club, waking several employees.

"Who's crying?"

"Probably that woman they locked up. God, what happened to her? It's awful hearing her cry like that..."

By the time Tessa was finally let out the next day, she was on the verge of collapse.

She leaned against the wall, too weak to take another step.

But there was no time to rest. She had to get straight back to work, delivering drinks to the private rooms.

She struggled to lift a serving tray with the last of her strength.

Just then, a gentle, familiar voice called out from behind her.

"Tess?"

Theodore Westcott hadn't been sure it was her at first. But as he stepped closer, he realized it really was Tessa.

"Tess, it really is you!"

He stopped in front of her, shock and heartache written all over his face.

"What happened to you these past few years? How did things get this bad?"

Theodore had been an upperclassman at Tessa's school. He'd later gone abroad to study and had only recently returned.

He'd also only recently learned from others about the Wrenford family's bankruptcy and Tessa's imprisonment.

If he hadn't seen her with his own eyes, he never would have believed that the woman before him, with her dry, lifeless hair, vacant eyes, and body covered in scars, was the same dazzling girl who had once outshone everyone around her.

Tessa slowly looked up.

For a moment, she was stunned to see the gentle, familiar man standing before her.

But more than anything, she felt ashamed to be seen like this.

"Theodore...?"