“I messed up! I’ll apologize to Lyra in public–I’ll beg for her forgiveness! Please, Joel, I just lost the baby–have mercy!”
1/2
Chapter 12
+25 BONUS
He stared down at her, icy and unmoved.
“Let you go? Apologies don’t cut it. You’re gonna feel every ounce of what you put Lyra through. Only then can we talk forgiveness.”
Joel gave a nod. One guard tied Renee’s hands, while the other grabbed a fistful of chain bracelets and shoved them into her mouth.
She thrashed, but he kept going. Two minutes in, the corners of her lips were torn wide open.
Drip. Drip.
Blood hit the floor as tears spilled from her swollen eyes.
Back then, the tiniest scratch on her would’ve sent Joel into a panic. Now? He sat on the couch, stone–cold, just watching.
“Next debt–vase time.”
Worried the drop wasn’t high enough, Joel told the guards to take her back to the villa. The box of vases went upstairs. Renee stayed below, alone in the massive hall.
One guard lifted a vase and launched it..
Crash!
Her scream ripped through the villa. The vase slammed into her head, splitting her scalp as blood poured down.
The bodyguards didn’t flinch. One by one, the vases came down. Renee’s screams turned into raspy gasps. Joel didn’t even blink.
By the time the final vase hit, Renee was out cold. Joel got up, voice flat..
“Send her back to the Slutz family.”
Right as they hauled her off, Evelyn walked in. She took one look at Joel–still sunk into the couch, face like
thunder.
“Bad news. You better brace yourself… Lyra’s not coming back. She’s getting married.”
