The gang leader picked his teeth with a toothpick and spat on the floor. "If I say you owe, then you owe. Don't want to pay? Fine." He glanced down. "I wonder how many hits your brother's pile of rotten bones can take."
He tapped the iron rod against Jonathan's spine.
"Hazel, run!" Jonathan cried out. "I'm the one who dragged you down. Forget about me! I'm just a cripple—if they beat me to death, then so be it. I won't be a burden to you anymore!"
The exact same words. I had heard this script countless times over the last five years.
Exhaustion weighed on me like lead. I looked at the room full of thugs, then down at Jonathan. He looked pathetic, sprawled in the dirt, yet his eyes were clear. Alert.
How had I not seen it before?
It was laughable that I only realized it now. These men had threatened violence a thousand times, yet they had never actually laid a finger on Jonathan.
And I? To protect the brother who lied to me, I had suffered broken ribs, a permanent limp, and scars that would never fade.
My throat felt filled with sand. I swallowed hard. "What exactly do you want?"
The leader looked me up and down, a cruel grin spreading across his face. "Sweetheart, I really don't like that stubborn look in your eyes. How about this? There are a dozen of my brothers here. Crawl through our legs, one by one, and bark like a dog three times. Do that, and I'll consider today's debt settled—just for the fun of it."
Jonathan roared in feigned anger, "No! Hazel, you can't do that!"
I forced a numb smile. The last ember of warmth in my chest turned to ice.
"If that's what you want, then we're even."
My words were directed at the thug, yet Jonathan panicked.
He opened his mouth to stop me, but then remembered his promise to Valerie. This was the final punishment.
Just this last lesson, he told himself. As long as she takes it, I'll restore her status as the James heiress.
From then on, he would never let me suffer again.
Convinced by his own delusion, he averted his gaze—and secretly snapped a photo of my degradation to send to Valerie.
Long after the crowd dispersed, I remained on the floor. It took an eternity to find the strength to stand.
Jonathan crawled toward me, eyes rimmed with red. He opened his mouth to recite his usual pitiful lines, but the sight of my dead, gray gaze silenced him.
The next day, the doctor arrived to take Jonathan abroad for his "treatment."