After 20 hours, I still hadn’t received any food or water. It felt as though everyone in the house had completely forgotten I even existed.
"I need water—just a little, please!"
The utility room was stifling and unbearably hot. My body was nearing dehydration, and I had no choice but to plead with the bodyguards. They only sneered at me.
“No water here, but there’s plenty of piss. Hahaha!”
Amid their cruel laughter, I forced myself to stay calm. Holding my broken ribs, I curled up in a corner, aching and determined to survive the next two days and nights.
I had to hold on—for myself, and for my children.
Just then, the utility room door opened. Vanessa walked in, clad in luxurious designer clothes, more radiant than she was three years ago.
"Tessa, you must be starving, right? Here's the lunch I specially prepared for you. Don’t be shy."
She tossed a large dog bowl at me with a smirk, then snapped her fingers. One bodyguard dumped a bowl full of rotten leftovers into it, while another grabbed my head and forced it toward the bowl.
“Vanessa, this is too much!” I resisted desperately, almost snapping more bones. The stench of decay made me gag.
“Too much? I’m just getting started.” Vanessa sneered. “Did you know Ethan only married you because we’d broken up? Even on your wedding night, he was in my bed.”
Her words stunned me. I suddenly recalled Ethan’s disappearance that night—he claimed he drank too much and slept in the garage. I’d believed him.
Realizing that my marriage was nothing but a cruel joke shattered something inside me.
“And you’ve met your twins now, haven’t you? I’ve trained them well, haven’t I?”
There was a flicker of madness in her eyes. It was clear who really belonged in a mental institution.
“Guess how old Riley will be when she lands in jail? And Jordan... ha!”
She laughed coldly, dragging her sharp nails across my cheek like she wanted to rip my face off.
“I can’t stand looking at her—it’s like staring at a younger version of you. But at least she’s useful. She’s already entered a few beauty pageants, and some talent agencies are interested... Don’t worry, Tessa. I’ll turn your daughter into my golden goose.”
“They’re just kids! You’re a mother too—how can you be so heartless?”
I screamed, hoping to awaken some shred of maternal instinct in her.
“Heartless?” She ground her stiletto into my face, forcing it closer to the foul slope.
“Once I raise them fully as mine, they’ll get all of Ethan’s love and inheritance. No one will take them from me.”
“You’ll regret this, Vanessa! You will!”
My chest heaved with fury as the taste of blood filled my mouth.
“Maybe,” she said coolly, “but for now, if you don’t eat every bit of this within thirty minutes, I promise you’ll wish you were never born.”
“I’ll never do it.” I refused the humiliation.
“Then your children will eat it instead.”
The moment she said that, I looked into her eyes and realized she meant every word.
I took a bite. The spoiled food turned my stomach instantly. Vanessa laughed maniacally, holding her phone in my face to film the scene. Her laughter lashed at me like a whip.
“These will go viral. People will love it.”
She finally left. As soon as the door slammed shut, I forced my fingers down my throat and vomited everything out.
Each retch sent stabbing pain through my ribs. The agony was so intense, I passed out.
I awoke to the reek of alcohol and the heavy weight of a man forcing himself on me.
“Tessa, you’re still so gorgeous. I missed you. You missed me too, didn’t you?”
Ethan, reeking of booze, mumbled as he clawed at my clothes.
“Get off me, you animal! This is rape!”
I fought him with all my strength and sank my teeth into his wrist. He screamed in pain.
“You filthy bitch! How dare you!” He slapped me so hard, my head slammed into the cabinet behind me, and I nearly blacked out again.
“Tessa, we’re still married. You’re my wife. This is your duty.”
He pressed down on me, his face twisted with lust.
“No!” I fought with everything I had. I was starving, broken, and exhausted, but I refused to give in.
Suddenly, my hand brushed against a rusted fork.
I was just about to stab him when the utility room lights flicked on.
Vanessa, wearing a silk nightgown and looking icy, stood at the door.
“She seduced me!” Ethan immediately tried to shift the blame. “I only came to shut her up, but she... she started stripping and seducing me!”
