4: 4
"Whatever happens three days from now can wait three days."
"Today, first, I'm settling the score for you hitting me!"
Tabitha laughed, the sound thick with triumph.
She lifted a hand, and the servant behind her, swallowing his revulsion, snatched up a rat.
The stupid things were too terrified to even run.
Gripping the rat by the scruff, the servant asked her, "Miss Hughes, what now?"
Tabitha's lips curled, cruel and sly, and she pointed at my mouth.
"Stuff it in."
"Doesn't my dear sister have an endless appetite? Let's give her a real feast today."
A shudder went through me.
The Taotie are true gods. Even starved to the edge, we would never touch anything as foul as a rat.
To me this was worse than death.
I clenched my jaw and bit out, "Tabitha, this is your last chance to stop."
"Or don't blame me later for showing no mercy."
She threw back her head and laughed.
"Carina, you've been spineless your whole life, and now, of all times, you grow a backbone."
"I'd love to see just how merciless you can be without the Hughes family shielding you!"
"Hurry up, stuff the rat in her mouth. One's not enough, catch more. Keep feeding her until she's willing to kneel, knock her head to the floor, and beg forgiveness!"
Seeing that Max did nothing to stop it, the servant hesitated no longer.
He clamped down on my jaw and forced the frantic, struggling rat into my mouth.
One, two, three...
I went from revulsion to fury, and finally to an eerie calm.
Naturally, that didn't satisfy Tabitha.
"Carina, you've got nerve."
"Since you care so little about yourself, then I'll try a different approach."
She turned, found a wooden rod in the corner, and pinned down Zoey's hand.
"Which hand did you hit me with yesterday?"
Zoey and I understood at once what she meant.
Zoey trembled all over, and for the first time, I was afraid too.
I couldn't die, but Zoey was only mortal. With the Hughes family's power, they could beat a person to death and no one would dare say a word.
My fear only delighted Tabitha more. She sneered, "Now I remember. You hit me with both hands."
"Then let's cripple both of them."
I knew how hard Tabitha had schemed to shove me aside and marry Max herself. She would never let a golden chance like this to humiliate me slip by.
So I pinned my last hope on Max.
Praying he had a shred of conscience left.
"Max, let Zoey go. I promise I'll never hold your wrongs against you."
"And your Delgado family won't be visited by utter ruin."
Max's head snapped toward me.
I'd thought that even if he didn't understand, he'd at least feel some wariness.
Instead he laughed out loud, the way you'd laugh at a lunatic.
"Carina, have you gone mad with panic?"
"Since when do you spout nonsense like this?"
"Utter ruin? What, do you think you're some goddess descended from heaven?"
My face was dark, without a trace of joking in it.
"A god?"
"No god could compare to me."
"She's insane!"
Max spat the words, out of patience, then pressed, "Tabby, get it done, and let's go rest once it's over."
"I don't ever want to see this lunatic again."
With Max's word given, Tabitha hesitated no more.
The rod came down, and Zoey crumpled in front of me.
But that foolish girl, broken with pain as she was, still forced out her last breath to beg, "Young Master Delgado, Miss Hughes, I've already paid the price."
"Please, I'm begging you, stop tormenting my mistress."
Tabitha tossed the rod aside, impatient. "Relax, I won't let you die."
"Max and I are still waiting to see that big gift your dear mistress promised us."
The two of them disappeared up out of the dungeon, and Zoey dragged a faint smile onto her face to comfort me. "Miss, it's over now."
I patted her back gently, spacing out each word. "Mm. It's over. Sleep a while."
"Get your strength back, so you can watch with your own eyes as they're damned beyond saving."
Three days passed in a blink.
Deafening music drifted in from outside, along with the crowd's congratulations to Tabitha.
The drug in my body had mostly worn off; my strength was back to seven parts of ten.
When I hoisted Zoey onto my back, the bodyguard posted at the door struck the iron gate with his stun baton, annoyed. "What do you think you're doing? Get back in the corner and lie down!"
I didn't even glance at him. I stared straight toward where the sound was coming from and let two cold words fall.
"Delivering a gift."
