Chapter 7

Yale's fists clenched tightly at his sides as he stared down at Lauren, each word forced through gritted teeth.

"Not a chance."

The pressure on Lauren's arm suddenly lifted, only for Yale to bring his foot down on her phone. The screen shattered beneath his shoe and went completely black.

"No!"

Her scream was filled with despair. It felt as though his foot had come down on her heart, crushing the last of her beautiful memories along with the phone.

"Yale Sutton, you bastard!"

Blinded by tears, Lauren gathered the broken pieces and desperately tried to fit them back together. Sharp fragments sliced into her palms, but she barely noticed.

The pain brought her back to her senses. She had to get to the hospital.

She had barely managed to stand when Yale grabbed a fistful of her hair and held her firmly in place, his eyes dark with anger.

"Yale, let me go! Whatever's going on between us can wait. Something's happened to my dad, and I need to get to the hospital!"

Missing that call had left Lauren consumed with anxiety. Not knowing what had happened was the most terrifying part.

But Yale only tightened his grip.

"You really will say anything to see Henry, won't you? You'll even use your own father as an excuse! As long as I'm alive, you're not leaving this house today!"

Lauren struggled so violently that strands of hair came loose in his hand.

"I'm telling you, something happened to my dad! I'm not going to see Henry!"

The sight of her bloodshot eyes and frantic desperation seemed to give Yale pause.

Then Yvonne's tearful voice interrupted them.

"Yale, look what she did to my face! She hasn't changed one bit. She and Henry belong to the same world. She's never thought people like us were good enough for her."

Her voice broke as she continued, "Even now that you're rich and successful, Henry is still the only man she wants!"

Yvonne knew Yale well. She knew exactly where his deepest insecurities lay and how to hurt him most.

Sure enough, the brief hesitation in his eyes vanished, replaced by a vicious, obsessive fury.

"You think you can beat Vonnie and just walk away? I'll show you today that Henry can't save you!"

He seized Lauren and dragged her toward the stairs. She fought him every step of the way, but he practically hauled her down, her slender body striking the hard edges of the steps and leaving streaks of blood from her scraped skin.

Pain made Lauren's vision swim. She cursed Yale relentlessly as he dragged her downstairs, but when they reached the basement door, her anger gave way to desperate pleading.

"Yale, I know I was wrong. You can do whatever you want to me, but please, can you let me go to the hospital first?"

Her father was the only family she had left.

He'd always been harsh and demanding, quick to hit or scold her. In his determination to mold her into someone capable of taking over the Scott family business, he'd turned her into someone who barely knew how to love or express her feelings.

But he was still her father.

When the family went bankrupt, he'd tried to protect Lauren from the debt collectors' hired thugs. One of them had struck him in the head, causing bleeding inside his skull that left him in a coma.

That single act of love was enough to make Lauren unwilling to abandon her last remaining blood relative.

Just as Yale was about to shove her into the basement, she dropped to her knees and wrapped both arms tightly around his leg.

"Yale, I know I was wrong! I shouldn't have fallen in love with you. I should never have gotten involved with you in the first place! I know I was wrong!"

Tears poured down her face.

If he wanted to hear her admit defeat, then fine. She would give him what he wanted. Nothing mattered more than getting to the hospital.

Yale's brow twitched sharply.

"So you regret it now? You regret ever getting involved with me?" His expression hardened. "Well, Lauren, it's too late for that."

He bent down until his lips were close to her ear, his voice dropping to a sinister whisper.

"You're going to spend the rest of your life paying for what you did back then."

With that, he shoved her into the pitch-black basement and locked the door behind her.

Lauren felt as though an enormous hand had closed around her heart, squeezing until she could barely breathe.

Perhaps she did deserve to suffer for her mistakes, but she had done nothing to wrong Yale.

No, the mistake she needed to atone for was her own stupidity.

How could she have been foolish enough to fall in love with Yale Sutton?

She'd spent her entire youth locked in a painful struggle with him, hurting each other while gambling everything on the hope that one day, he would love her.

Now she knew she'd lost that gamble completely.

But that was all right.

She still had a chance to start over.

On his way upstairs, Yale noticed the thin streaks of blood left along the steps. His brow furrowed, and he quickened his pace almost as though he were trying to escape the sight.

Back in the bedroom, Yvonne was still examining her bruised face in the mirror.

Yale spoke without any discernible emotion.

"Get those injuries treated. And while you're at it, take some medicine down to Lauren in the basement."

A flash of vicious resentment crossed Yvonne's eyes, but she quickly concealed it behind an obedient, gentle smile.

"Of course, Yale. Don't worry. Lauren's just used to getting her own way, and she lost her temper. I won't hold it against her."

His expression softened slightly.

"I know. You've always been the understanding one."

Once Yvonne was certain Yale had fallen asleep, she went downstairs to the kitchen.

Inside a cage covered with black cloth, dark, soft-bodied creatures twisted and writhed around one another.