Rita's POV:
After hanging up on Scarlett, hatred coursed through every nerve in my body.This time, I wasn't going
to let her go.I would let her know just how horrible it felt to be heartbroken!
"Stop crying!"
The baby's crying was starting to upset me, so I grabbed the tape from the table, ready to seal the
boy's mouth.
However, my mother stopped me.
"Are you crazy? Doing that will suffocate him to death! If that boy dies, it won't do you any
good.Remember, your target is Scarlett."
"But I want to kill them all!" I growled through gritted teeth.
"Rita, calm down.If you kill the boy, Charles will never forgive you.That's enough!"
My mother held my hand, trying her best to stop me.
‘She wants me to stop?’ I sneered.
‘It's impossible for me to stop now.Scarlett has ruined my life! How come she gets to live a good life,
while I'm living like a sewer rat? There's no turning back for me this time.I won't stop until vengeance is
mine! I shook off my mother's hand and sealed James' lips with some tape.
The sight of Scarlett’s child gradually losing oxygen satisfied me.
"You've gone crazy!"
My mother rushed to the boy's side, and tore off the tape from his mouth.
"If he dies, you won't have any bargaining chip to blackmail Scarlett with!"
"Fine! For the time being, I'm going to leave the boy alive.But once Scarlett arrives, I'm going to let
them die together!"
Scarlett’s POV:
I was already panicking at this point, and I was practically on the verge of breaking down.
'No matter what, I must save James! He's waiting for me!”
"Scarlett, I can't let you go there alone.Take me with you!"
Tracy pleaded as she held my hand.
"I can't take you, Tracy.If Rita finds out that someone is following me, she's going to hurt James.Just
give me the car keys.Please."
I snatched the car keys away from Tracy.
"Scarlett, I've already contacted the police.They'll send someone to follow you.But for the sake of
James’ safety, they're going to keep a respectable distance away from you.Promise me that you'll be
careful, okay? Remember to protect yourself," Lawrence said to me sincerely.
"I promise, Dad.Anyway, I'll be leaving now." I nodded at him.
Truthfully, I didn't hear most of what he said.
Right now, my mind was elsewhere and all I could think of was James crying and shouting for me to
save him.
Along the way, I floored the accelerator, speeding across the highway.
‘James, please hold on.Mommy is coming!’ I prayed in my heart, hoping that God would hear me.
At long last, I arrived at the beach.
I parked my car somewhere inconspicuous, got out of it, and planned to slowly approach the villa.
Suddenly, Rita called me again.I could hear just how complacent she was over the phone.
"I've already seen you, Scarlett.Come to the room on the north side of the second floor.And hurry the
fuck up! I'm getting impatient!"
Hurriedly, I ran towards the villa.
But the second I stepped foot inside the house, I got hit on my right shoulder.
"Argh!"
Tears flowed out of my eyes when I felt the sharp pain, and I could smell the strong odor of blood when
I took a breath.
My body trembled as I fell to my knees.
With difficulty, I looked up and saw a man standing in front of me.
He had a face devoid of emotion.
"Rita asked me to tell you that if you can't make it to the room in ten minutes, your son will die."
Upon hearing that, I struggled to get up.
My shoulder felt like it was burning from the pain, and my blood fell to the floor, creating a dripping
sound.
As I took a deep breath, I felt like my lungs were imploding from the pain.
The only thing that kept me going was the fact that James was waiting for me.
No matter how hard it could be, I had to hold on! Just as I had walked to the corner of the staircase,
another blow landed on me; this time, it hit my left shoulder.
Susan appeared before me and spoke in a trembling voice.
"This is for my daughter!" I looked her dead in the eye, but the pain was too unbearable for me to say
anything back.
All I could do was to continue staggering up the stairs.At last, I had reached the second floor.
It was then that a knife jabbed into my right ankle.
Unable to bear the pain any longer, I fell to my knees once more.
A moment later, I saw a pair of leather shoes in front of me.
The man squatted down to look me in the eye, ruthlessly pulling out the knife from my ankle.
I screamed at the top of my lungs.
The pain was spreading from my ankle and shoulders down to every corner of my body; inch by inch.I
was almost losing my breath.
"Rita said that it's a small punishment compared to what her father had suffered in prison," the man
remarked.
"He deserved it!" I said through gritted teeth.
The man pinched my chin with his rough fingers, forcing me to look at him.His eyes showed nothing but
bloodlust and there was a devilish grin on his lips.
"You're pretty, but you're too headstrong."
As I trembled all over, I said in a hoarse voice, "Don't touch me!"
My voice was too weak at this point.
Truthfully, I barely had the strength to speak.I was starting to lose my consciousness because of all the
pain.
"Stop being so arrogant! You have no right to threaten us now!"
"You're going to pay for this!"
I was so angry that I Spat out a mouthful of blood.I could feel myself gradually drifting to the brink of
death, and my sanity was slowly being drawn out of my body.
The man stopped making trouble for me.
I struggled to get up, but my right leg was too weak to move now.I tried to prop myself up by using my
left leg, but not even a second later, I fell to the ground again.
At this time, I seemed to hear my baby's cries coming from the room at the very end of the second floor
hall.
With every ounce of strength I had left, I crawled towards the room.
All the pain from my shoulders and ankle were starting to overwhelm me, and my body was trembling
violently.
My eyebrows were tightly knit, and both sweat and blood streamed down my face.
For some reason, I remembered what Charles told me last time.
"Scarlett, don't try to escape from me.You're mine even if you die! And even if I end up in hell, you're
coming with me!"
I dragged my bleeding body, crawling to the end of the second floor with all my strength until a person
blocked my path.
"Hahaha! Scarlett, I never imagined you'd be reduced to this pathetic state one day!"
It was Rita.She broke into a maniacal laughter.To me, she looked like a blossoming yet poisonous corn
poppy.
"Rita...give me back...my child! Now!" I growled.
I raised my head, glaring at her.I could no longer contain my rage at this point, and the pain was
overwhelming me.
Every cell in my body and every inch of my skin were roaring in pain.
I felt as though I was in a living hell! Rita squatted down to look me dead in the eye.
And when she saw that I was in pain, she said, "Scarlett, do you honestly think that I'll hand you back
your baby just like that? From now on, you're going to do everything that I tell you.Or else!"
"Or else what?"
"Or else, I'll throw your son into the sea and feed him to the sharks!"
Having said that, Rita stood up and walked towards the end of the corridor.
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