Chapter 2: No Food Until She Submits

Whispers of that bizarre fire years ago still haunted South Covand. It was said the blaze failed to claim the life of Kingston Carswell, but it had utterly destroyed him. His face was ruined, and he was confined to a wheelchair for life, looking like a living corpse crawled out of the depths of hell. To the people of the city, he was a monster used to frighten crying children into silence. Even within the Carswell family, no one could stand the sight of him. Following the fire, he was sent abroad.

"No! I won't marry a man like that!" Ariella cried out.

Katrina lunged forward, grabbing her daughter by the hair with a violent jerk. "You won't? Then who exactly do you think you're going to marry? It is a blessing that the Carswells even want you!"

She yanked the girl's head back, forcing Ariella to look at her. "Back then, you were more than willing to sleep with some nameless lowlife. Now, you think the Carswell family isn't good enough for you? Let me tell you something: with your reputation as an ex-convict, what decent man would ever have you?"

As Katrina gripped her hair, Ariella felt a crushing sense of deja vu, as if she were being dragged back into the same suffocating swamp that had swallowed her three years ago. She had foolishly believed that her release from prison meant a new beginning. She thought that after three years of wrongful suffering, her parents might at least feel a flicker of guilt.

She was wrong. In the Ellerker family, as long as she had a single breath left in her body, they would squeeze every ounce of value from her soul. She wondered if, even after she died, they would strip her skin and bones just to sell her off for a ghost marriage.

The car pulled into the gates of Ellerker Manor. As soon as the doors opened, several maids seized Ariella by the arms and shoved her into a cold, cramped storage room.

"Talk some sense into her," Robert commanded casually. "But don't damage that face. She's worthless to us if she's bruised." Having issued his orders, he strolled away without a second glance.

"Mom, please, look at me!" Ariella pleaded, reaching out to grab Katrina's hand. "I'm your daughter, too! Marrying Kingston Carswell will destroy my entire life!"

Katrina recoiled, swinging her arm to ward her off as if touching Ariella would bring bad luck. "Having a daughter like you has been nothing but a misfortune. Do you have any idea how many contracts Keystone Pharmaceuticals lost because of the scandal you caused?"

"I can work! I'll earn the money and pay you back," Ariella stammered, her hands trembling and rubbing together. Three years in a cell had left her frail and wasted. She looked so thin that a strong gust of wind might knock her over.

"You'll earn it?" Katrina sneered. "Unless you spend every night spreading your legs, taking every customer that comes your way, you could never earn that kind of money. The matter is decided. You will stay here and prepare to be a bride."

Katrina turned to leave, but Ariella found a final spark of defiance. "I'll call the police! How is this any different from kidnapping?"

"You little wretch! Still trying to defy us?" Katrina spun around, her face contorted with rage. "We fed and clothed you for twenty years, and this is how you repay us? You're an ungrateful wolf!"

Incensed, Katrina didn't just leave. She turned and delivered a vicious kick to Ariella's midsection. Ariella crumpled like a discarded rag doll, hitting the floor of the storage room as the metallic taste of blood rose in her throat.

"Don't push your luck," Katrina hissed, looking down at her. "We are sending you to the Carswell family to live in luxury. We didn't marry you off to some old pervert, so consider us kind. There are ten days left until the wedding. Don't give her a single bite of food until she decides to cooperate."

Katrina threw the order to the maids and walked away, headed to a poker game with her socialite friends.

The heavy door slammed shut. The lock clicked, and Ariella was plunged into total darkness.