Vanessa’s beef allergy—he had told me about it!
“I didn’t do it!Whoever’s lying will be caught on the footage!”I snapped.
Xavier’s temper flared.He scooped Vanessa up and barked an order.“That’s enough,Mia!”
He called the housekeeper.“Lock her in the basement.Do not let her out without my permission!”
The basement—Xavier’s pet room,a dark,windowless damp chamber where he kept hundreds of snakes—sent a shiver through me.I recoiled instinctively.
“I won’t go…!”
“Let go of me!”
I struggled with all my strength,but Xavier didn’t look back;I was thrown into that basement.
They slammed the door and the stifling heat rushed at me.The quiet room occasionally hissed;goosebumps covered my skin.Something strange brushed my feet and began to crawl up me with soft,whispering movements.
“Ah—”I screamed,flinching and trying to fling off the things crawling on me.
“Open the door!Let me out!”
“Open up!”
I pounded the door until my hands ached,but no one answered.The heat brought a rash that itched and burned;I grew dizzy and thrashed through the night until I had no strength left to call out.
I curled up in a corner,panting,my eyes filled with despair.
I don't know how long it took,but just before I lost consciousness,the door opened.
Xavier stood in the doorway,his backlit,silent for a long time.
Thinking I could finally leave,I forced myself to stand,holding onto the wall,and took a stumbling step.
"Hold her down,"Xavier's voice sullenly rang out.
Before I could react,my arms were pinned down by the bodyguards.Then,my jaw was forcibly pried open,and a cup of unknown substance was poured into my mouth.
"Cough,cough,cough!"I choked,my head swollen."What did you give me?"
Before I could answer,my body gave the answer.
A rash quickly broke out on my skin,and the intense feeling of suffocation made me feel like I was dying.
I had an allergy.
"Because you deliberately gave Vanessa the allergen,she's still in the hospital having her stomach pumped!Today,I'll make you feel her pain,so she'll learn a lesson."
Xavier's eyes were cold.Even as I writhed in agony,not a trace of heartache lingered in them.
I clutched my stomach,the intense discomfort making it extremely difficult to breathe."I said I didn't..."
No one would listen to my explanation.
Xavier stood before me,watching me writhe,wailing,and finally,losing consciousness...
At that moment,I truly gave up!