By the third day, I begged to see Argus, hoping maybe he’d come. Instead, they shoved a pack of vicious dogs at me. Their eyes glinted like they wanted to kill, and they lunged. My face went white. I kicked and thrashed, screamed, but it only made them worse. Their teeth sank into my arms and legs, tearing at my skin.
A voice cut through the chaos. Celine’s voice, dripping with mockery. “Dahlia, are you really so desperate that you won’t even spare a stray dog? Whether you live or die depends entirely on your fate.”
I felt like the ceiling collapsed on me. I wished it was all a dream. I wished I had never loved Argus. We’d been so close once, sharing everything. The bedroom, the study, even her office… those moments of madness now felt like the rope around my neck.
I was about to bite my tongue, to end it, when the door burst open. Argus stormed in with his bodyguards, his eyes blazing. They threw themselves on the dogs, beating them until blood ran everywhere. I couldn’t even look. The screams, the smell of blood… I wanted to disappear.
Years later, it felt like Argus’s warmth hit me again. I shook, vision blacking out, and fainted in his arms.
When I woke again, I was in the villa, lying in bed. A scream came from the living room. I dragged myself up, cracked the door, and froze. Argus sat on the sofa, expressionless, while a pile of bloodied dogs cowered before him. He pointed at the bodyguards, and they cut off the dogs’ paws, then tortured them to death, methodically.
I stared, heart hammering. Was this real? Everything felt like a nightmare I couldn’t wake from. My back screamed as old scars split open. I gasped, leaning on the doorframe.
Argus finally walked over, his steps calm, his face softening just a little. But his words were cruel, sharp. “This was an accident by Celine. You’re safe now, so don’t blame her, Dahlia.”
I blinked, still trembling. Safe? Was I ever really safe around them? My hands shook as I sank to the floor.
Argus tossed a letter at me. “Sign this and swear you won’t use this against Celine in the future. I can make sure you don’t have to pay back the 52 million and I’ll make the doctors do their best for your dad.”