Chapter 209
She burst out of the basement and into the living room, only to find Shawn standing near the television.
“How did you get out?” he demanded, scowling.
Rebekah had no time to deal with him. Benjamin wasn’t home, and this was her chance to escape. She sprinted toward the front door.
“Don’t you dare leave!” Shawn yelled, calling for the maids to stop her. Rebekah dodged and weaved past them, managing to wrench the front door open.
She was almost free when a pair of bodyguards stationed outside seized her. At that moment, Candice emerged from the basement. Her cold, twisted expression vanished the instant she saw Shawn, replaced by a strained smile.
“Shawn, dear, I was just bringing your mother some breakfast, but she wouldn’t eat it. She even hit me and ran out. If she escapes, your father will be very angry when he gets home p>
Shawn rushed to Candice’s side, his face etched with worry. “Ms. Candice, are you hurt p>
Candice made a show of pressing her forehead and smoothing her disheveled hair. “I’ll be fine p>
Shawn’s face flushed with anger. He turned on Rebekah, who was struggling in the guards’ grip. “You’re getting more and more out of control! Ms. Candice was worried you were hungry and brought you breakfast, and you hit her? Dad was right! People like you need to be punished or you’ll never learn p>
He then addressed the two bodyguards. “Lock her back in the basement. She gets no food for the rest of the day!” His voice carried the authority of the young master of the Forrester family.
The bodyguards didn’t dare disobey. They dragged the struggling Rebekah back toward the basement. As she was pulled away, her eyes met Candice’s triumphant smirk, and a shiver of pure dread ran down her spine.
She was thrown back into the basement, and this time, her body gave out completely. The moment the guards let go, she collapsed to the floor. The heavy door slammed shut, plunging the room into darkness once more.
An overwhelming sense of despair washed over her. She was never going to get out. Suddenly, she
heard a low buzzing sound. Thamet
cloym@scent of honey and milk from her own clothes hit heragam, and with a jolt of horror, the full truth of Candice’s plan dawned on her.
She scrambled to pull off her dress, but before she could, a sharp, searing pain shot through her arm, then her shoulder.
Biting back a scream, she tore the dress off and threw it across the room. The buzzing followed it.
She scrambled to the light switch and flicked it on. The sight that greeted her made her skin crawl. swarm of large hornets was
descending on the honey-soaked buzzed
dress. A few stragglers Patel ne
the air, and not far away, on the
floor, was a hornet’s nest.
Rebekah’s eyes widened in terror. Clad only in her underwear, she shrank into a corner, her pale skin exposed to the cold air. The hornets began to drift slowly in her direction, drawn to the lingering scent on her skin.
The stings on her arm and shoulder
throbbed violently. Panicked, she stumbled over to a dusty box in the corner and rummaged through it, pulling out two discarded, moldy pieces of clothing. She quickly threw them on, the musty smell nearly
making her gag but the hornets
seemed to lose interest and turned
away.
Huddled in the corner, she began to tremble uncontrollably as hot tears streamed
down her face.