My face turned pale instantly when I saw those men walking towards the cubicle.
Holding onto Dante’s sleeve, I pleaded, “Please don’t hurt them, I beg you. They didn’t do anything wrong. They…”
He sneered, “Donna took care of you for several days, but she still got punished because you were the one who was late. Don’t you think that she is innocent, too?”
Just then, I realized the woman who was on the stretcher just now was Donna.
I was rendered speechless, but I began to panic when I saw the men getting nearer to my friends. “Mr. Dante, I’m sorry. It was my fault. Please don’t hurt them. I…”
“You want to take their place?” he cut me off and smiled sinisterly.
I shook my head instinctively.
He cackled. “Ms. Stanhope, you can only be a saint when you’re unharmed. But when it’s you who are targeted, you hesitate right away. This, Ms. Stanhope, is human nature.”
Blood drained from my face, and I had no idea what to say because what he said was true.
But I did not want them to suffer.
I racked my brain for words to protect them. “Mr. Dante, only one of your friends was hurt. But you’re going to hurt four of my friends now. Isn’t that unfair?”
He thought for a while and arched his eyebrow. “So you’re saying that you want to choose one of them to receive the punishment?”
I could not reply to his suggestion and I certainly did not dare to look at Nora and the others.
When he saw my reaction, he laughed hysterically. “You know what, Ms. Stanhope? That works, too. You are going to choose one of your friends, so it’s going to be fair.”
I remained silent.
Seeing that I refused to answer, he spoke, “It seems like you want all of your friends to be punished.”
“No!” I exclaimed. My heart raced.
“Then, choose one!”
Nora and the others went quiet and looked at me incredulously. Their gaze tore my heart out.
I did not dare to look at them or face them.
After a long silence, I spoke in resignation, “You don’t have to hurt them. It was my fault, so I should be the one to bear the consequences.”
Dante simply scoffed and looked at me indifferently. “It’s not your time yet.”
Then, he raised his hand and pointed at the girls. “They are going to die anyway. So why not let one of them help you to bear it first? Since you’re not willing to choose any of them, let me help you to select the most obnoxious one, so we can end this discussion as soon as possible.”
My eyes widened as I stared at him in disbelief. He is obviously sowing discord. No matter who it will be, I’ll suffer from guilt for the rest of my life. He is doing this on purpose!
He fixed his eyes on Tessa and flashed an evil smile. “A woman who likes philosophy. Very interesting. I’ve heard that a woman like her normally practices abstinence. I wonder if that’s true.”
I shook my head. “No, you can’t do this.”
Tessa was dumbstruck, her eyes full of horror and helplessness.
I rushed forward to stop the men, but I was pushed to the ground.
Then, I heard her resisting and screaming for help.
Dante’s voice came from the side. “I haven’t seen this scene for many years. How spectacular!”
I could not look back. Her ear-splitting shrills echoed in my ears.
It is all because of me.
For a long time, I stood frozen amidst her screams of agony and wails of despair.
In the end, all I could hear was a sentence from Tessa: “Sienna, I hate you.”
People like Dante and Abe know better than anyone else that mental torture is more excruciating than physical pain.
By the time I was back to the villa, the huge dining table had been set.
I initially thought that Abe would have left, but he was still seated on the couch, reading a book leisurely.
Danny and Dante probably had left, so there were only Abe and me in this spacious room.
No one instructed me to go back to my room nor stay here. So, it meant that I should stand in the living room obediently.
Half an hour later, a chef came out from the kitchen and bowed to Abe. “Mr. Abe, dinner is ready.”
Putting down the book in his hand, he replied, “Okay.”
He was a man of few words.
Thud! It was so quiet that I could hear the sound of his book being placed down on the coffee table.
Then, he stood up and put his hand in his pocket. His towering 1.86m frame gave off a domineering vibe.
When he saw me standing at the side, he bent down slightly and glanced sideways at me. “Let’s eat dinner.”
Is he talking to me?
I pursed my lips and saw a housekeeper putting another set of cutlery and bowls on the dining table.
I understood now. He was indeed talking to me.
So, I followed him to the dining table and sat down. This sixteen-seater dining table was way too big for the two of us.
He seemed to have nothing to say to me as he focused on his food and ate gracefully.
Clang! A noise came from the kitchen.
Just then, Danny and Dante came inside.
One of them went to the kitchen to check on the noise while another one came to Abe’s side and greeted him, “Mr. Abe.”
People who worked in the kitchen came out and reported, “Someone accidentally knocked over something.”
“Okay.” Abe put down his cutlery even though he had not eaten much.
Danny frowned and glanced at the chef. The chef immediately looked down in fear.
New Book: Back Home to Marry Off Myself
Loredana’s father left the family for his mistress, leaving them to fend for themselves abroad. When life was at its toughest, her father showed up with “good news” after 8 years of absence: To marry off Loredana to a paralyzed son of the wealthy Mendelsohn family.
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