After patching up my wounds, I threw myself into my mother’s arms and sobbed uncontrollably. I had endured too much over the years.
I had kept all the bitterness, the betrayal, the loneliness buried deep inside my heart with no one to confide in. However now, my mother, Madam Luxton was awake. I was no longer alone. I finally had someone I could lean on again.
“Mom.” I choked out through my tears, “Let me take you to the Gaul Nation, okay? I’ve paid off all our debts. We can leave this place for good and never look back.”
My mother raised her arm with difficulty and caressed my face. “Wherever you go, Janey, I’ll follow.”
That very day, I made all the arrangements. I filed the paperwork to transfer my mother to a hospital in the Gaul Nation and hired professional caretakers to accompany her on the flight.
Everything was finally falling into place. For the first time in what felt like forever, I could breathe.
However, on my way back to the hospital to meet her, something went wrong. The taxi driver did not follow the usual route.
Then came the sharp sting of a chemical stench. Before I could react, my limbs went limp and darkness swallowed me whole.
When I woke up, I found myself tied up inside what looked like an abandoned factory.
Panic surged in my chest.
The noise caught the attention of a group of men lounging in the distance. They looked up from their game of cards and slowly approached, their eyes glinting with sick amusement.
I swallowed hard and forced myself to yell hoarsely, “I paid off my debts! Who sent you? If it’s money you want, let me go! I can get you more! However, if you hurt me, you’ll get nothing!”
They didn’t respond. One of them casually picked up a baseball bat and tapped it against his palm, his gaze fixed on my legs.
"People say she used to be a model," he sneered. "Shame if something happened to her legs, huh? Wonder how she’d strut the runway then.”
Realizing what they intended to do, horror and rage twisted in my heart. "Who sent you?" I snapped, my voice shaking.
“That’s not your concern,” another one smirked. “After tonight, you’ll be lucky if you can even walk, let alone talk. Before we wreck those pretty legs, we’re going to have a little fun.”
Two of them laughed and exchanged a glance. One of them stepped closer. His eyes were leering at me with a disgusting light.
Disgust churned in my stomach.