Chapter 7

Despite the medical team’s best efforts, Belinda remained in a comatose and vegetative state; she had lost so much blood that the doctors lamented that she would not be waking up anytime sooner. Eliana was locked in her room for the entire afternoon to await the arrival of the police. Aidan had charged her for attempting to murder his mother. Even after she’d been thrown into prison, Eliana clung on tightly to the hope that her mother-in-law would wake up one day and tell Aidan the truth about everything - she even yearned that, perhaps, Aidan would realize one day that he’d wronged the former all this while and come back for her. Alas, things were looking rather grim at this exact moment - even though she was well aware of just how much Aidan despised and detested her, Eliana didn’t think that he would actually go to the extent of sentencing her to prison. Nevertheless, Eliana kept waiting. And waiting...and waiting… ...until one fateful night, the door of the cell that she’d been locked in creaked open. Just then, several women barged in and grabbed Eliana roughly before dragging her out of the cell. Eliana struggled hard, trying to break free from their iron-like grip, her heart racing with fear - “W-Who are you people? Ugh, l-let me go!” she spluttered as she tried to wriggle free from their grasp, but to no avail. Soon enough, Eliana found herself in a small room - there was nothing save for a pool of water inside it. Eliana croaked: “W-What on earth are you all playing at...ugh!” Before she could even finish her sentence, Eliana found herself being pressed headfirst into the pool water - she was so caught off-guard that she swallowed a few mouthfuls of the water. Eliana was on the verge of drowning when she was abruptly pulled up by the hair - only to have her head be plunged headfirst into the pool of water once again. This went on until Eliana had completely passed out from the torturous ordeal. Eliana was hurled onto the ground, unmoving and unconscious - just then, the leader of the women hovered over her to send a few tight slaps across the former’s face until she came to. As the former did so, the woman mercilessly sent a few rough kicks flying to her sides - Eliana gritted her teeth in agony, trying her best to hold back the immense pain that she was feeling as she groaned: “I-I did nothing to any of you...why are you all doing this to me?” All of the women cackled menacingly. “Well, let’s just say...that someone instructed us to ‘take good care’ of you.” The first name that came to Eliana’s mind was Laura. Just then, the woman continued: “What if...we told you that it was Master Aidan who’d asked for your death?” “N-No, that’s can’t be - that’s impossible!” Eliana cried out, tears spilling from her eyes, “No, it can’t possibly be him...you’re lying, YOU’RE LYING!!!” “Well, it’s up to you, whether you want to believe it or not.” “Alright, that’s enough - let’s just go right to it.” The woman who’d said this whipped out a knife and started to walk towards Eliana. “N-No, this can’t be happening - someone, anyone, please, help me!” Eliana screamed from the top of her lungs - she tried to scamper away, only to be pulled back by the hair and held down. The woman pinning her down growled into Eliana’s ear: “It’s not up to you to decide whether or not you want to live or not.” Eliana widened her eyes in horror as she took in the knife in the approaching woman’s hand - she shook her head vigorously as she begged: “No, no, I beg you...p-please don’t do this…” Alas, the woman hovering above her smirked before mercilessly swinging her blade across Eliana’s face - only to have merely scrapped the latter’s forehead as she’d ducked to avoid the blow. And so, the woman slashed at Eliana again, this time creating a gash in her chin. “Stop trying to hide, there’s no point.” The woman muttered in annoyance - she wished that Eliana would just keep still so that she could ruin the latter’s face to her liking. Just then, the woman grabbed Eliana by the hair and chopped as much of it off as she could with the knife that she was wielding. It was only after a long moment of torture did the women finally throw Eliana back into her cell - the latter laid sprawled across the floor, crimson blood running down her face, her eyes filled with utmost despair and sorrow. Aidan...why don’t you just kill me and call it a day? Wouldn’t that be so much easier? I would rather die than continue to live like this…! The torturous ordeal carried on for an entire month. Eliana would be dragged out of her cell and brutally sprayed in the face with a high-pressure water gun - even after developing a fever from the cold, she would be exposed to the open air and forced to work in unfavorable weather conditions whilst being refused medicine. She would also be locked in the toilet and refused any food or drink, and also be whipped so badly that all she could do was splutter and beg for mercy, but to no avail... One day, Eliana decided that she had enough - and so, she slashed her wrists with a knife that she’d secretly stolen from one of her captors. As she watched the blood ooze out from her wounds and run down her skin, Eliana knew that she was going to be free very soon...