When I finished speaking, I saw a change in James’ expression. He frowned slightly, as if assessing the truth of my words.
Seeing that, Celine quickly tugged at his sleeve.
She feigned her sadness, saying, “Well, Adrianne, if you don’t want to kneel, then don’t do it. Bella has been with me for years, but she’s not as important as you, Adrianne.”
“I know I can’t compare to you. If you want to do something to my dog, I can’t stop you. Or if you even want to do it to me, I’m okay with that. It’s all my fault.”
Her words made my mother cry out in pain. “Oh my beloved daughter.”
Then she looked angrily and shouted, “Look at what you’ve done to your sister! You killed her dog. What’s next? Will you hurt her, too? Since James won’t punish you, I’ll do it myself as your mother!”
Her face twisted with rage before me.
“You will kneel today, whether you want to or not!”
James frowned and looked at me as he followed along with my mother by saying, “Since your mother said so, just kneel. It’ll calm her and Celine down.”
I looked at their fake, self-righteous faces and let out a bitter laugh. After that, I turned to leave without a word.
But before I could take another step, Celine stepped in front of me. She reached out to grab my arm, but I instinctively shook her off.
A faint, victorious smile flashed across her lips just before she stumbled backward and fell heavily to the floor.
“Celine!”
James immediately shoved me aside and rushed to her. The force of his push sent me crashing to the ground. If I hadn’t instinctively protected my stomach, things could have ended much worse.
Although I had always known that James only cared about the baby inside me because he needed it for Celine’s experiments, the fear of losing it still made my chest tighten.
Before I could speak, a sharp slap cracked across my face.
Smack!
Warm blood trickled from the corner of my mouth and I felt dizzy.
“You ungrateful daughter! I just told you to stop, but you still dared to attack Celine! If anything happens to her baby, you’ll pay for it!”
My mother looked at me even with more anger. But what she just said made me realize that everyone already knew. Celine was pregnant with James’ child. I was the only one left in the dark. I was her real daughter, but my mother still sided with Celine.
In an instant, I felt utterly hopeless.
Meanwhile, James helped Celine to calm down. After that, he walked to me with a cold and empty expression. Without a single glance at my injuries or my swollen belly, he grabbed my arm and yanked me up.
I groaned in pain, but James didn’t care. In the next second, he forced me down to my knees in front of Bella’s lifeless body. Before I could resist, his hand pressed hard on the back of my head.
“James … let me go … ” I choked out, my voice shaking.
Yet, James just looked down at me with eyes full of ignorance. Without hesitation, he added more pressure on my head.
Bang!
After that, he slammed my head against the floor. The second blow made me dizzy that I couldn’t help but feel bile rising in my throat several times.
Once James released me, I fell limply to the floor. He then looked at me that looked dishevelled and gagged, ordered his bodyguards.
“I’m taking Celine to the hospital. Keep an eye on her. She will kneel to the dog ninety-nine times, then bury it herself. Don’t let her use any tools.”
Once he said that, James gave me one last cold glance.
“Adrianne, this is a lesson. Don’t make trouble for them.”
Soon enough, James carried Celine out of the house. My mother followed behind, pretending to be heartbroken.
The moment the door closed, I squeezed my eyes shut. Before I could move, the bodyguards forced me down again.
Bang! Bang! Bang!
No one said anything. The sound of my knees hitting the hard floor echoed through the empty mansion.
After the ninety-ninth kneel ended, I collapsed like a lifeless doll. The wound on my head had split open as blood dripped down my face, which made me look scary.
“Ma’am, you still need to dig the hole in the back garden. Please forgive us,” one of the bodyguards said flatly.
Then, they dragged me outside. They forced the shovel from my hands and made me dig with my bare fingers. I clawed at the dirt again and again until my hands were shredded and bleeding. The bones were almost visible beneath my torn skin.
But I managed to use my trembling thumb to dial for help. The moment I whispered my address into the phone, the world went dark. I collapsed to the ground.
