Chapter 17
ER
Nicole slowly regained consciousness, her head throbbing with a pain as sharp as needles, the agony forcing her to gasp for breath.
Instinctively, she tried to raise her hand to rub the aching spot, only to realize that her body was completely immobile.
A powerful sense of restraint gripped her limbs, and it was only then that she became terrified, realizing her hands and feet were tightly bound.
She struggled to open her heavy eyelids, but the sight that greeted her filled her with dread.
All around her was a cold expanse of white; thick frost clung to the walls, shimmering with a chilling light, making the entire space feel like a massive ice cellar.
She lay on the freezing ground, the cold seeping through her thin clothes, stabbing into her skin like countless needles, causing her to shiver uncontrollably.
With every breath, she could see the white mist escaping her mouth, vanishing instantly in the frigid air.
The silence around her was terrifying, broken only by the faint hum of machinery echoing through the empty cold storage, its monotonous sound like a countdown from death, pounding relentlessly on her fragile nerves.
She tried to struggle a few times, but the ropes only tightened, biting painfully into her skin. Yet she dared not make too much noise, not knowing why she was here.
Her mind was in chaos as she desperately tried to recall what had
happened before, but all she remembered was drinking the milk tea Zachary handed her, a sudden wave of dizziness, and then nothing.
“Why am I here? Who tied me up? What do they want? Where is Zachary?”
Countless questions flashed through her mind, but none of them had
answers.
She felt an unprecedented fear and helplessness, tears welling in her eyes but not daring to fall, knowing that in this icy environment, they would quickly freeze.
All she could do was curl up, trying to minimize the loss of body heat, waiting for her unknown fate in the dark and cold storage.
She had no idea how much time had passed before Nicole was startled awake by the sound of a door opening.
Squinting, she tried hard to see the person walking toward her against the light.
Zachary?
Why was it him?
“Zachary, why did you tie me up and leave me here? What happened?”
Zachary did not answer. He dragged her by the hair to Jasmine’s corpse, forcing her to look at Jasmine’s face.
“Ah!”
Nicole let out a piercing scream, recoiling in terror.
“I wasn’t the one who hit you! Don’t come after me! Zachary, please let me go.”
ine moment Nicole saw Jasmine’s body, she understood why Zachary had brought her here. As adrenaline surged, her reason seemed to return.
“Zachary, haven’t I treated you well? She wouldn’t have lived much longer anyway. Dying sooner is a relief for her, isn’t it?”
“I didn’t do anything wrong. Why couldn’t she just stay gone? Wouldn’t it have been better if she never came back?”
***
Nicole’s speech was somewhat disjointed, but she kept trying to shift the blame away from herself.
Zachary looked at her unrepentant face and let out a cold laugh.
“Nicole, don’t you know why your family was suddenly investigated? Don’t you know why your father was taken away for questioning?”
“Was it you!? I trusted you so much, we were about to get married, why would you do this to me?”
“Why? What did Jas ever do to provoke you? Why did you treat her like this? I had already given up on her, but you still wanted her dead.”
“Given up? Do you even believe that yourself? Ever since Jasmine appeared, how many times have you been distracted when you were with me? Your whole heart has never left Jasmine. The reason I did this to her is all because of you.”
***
Zachary listened in silence as Nicole spoke for a long time before interrupting her.
“Do you want to leave this place?”
IVI
She didn’t believe he would let her go so easily; otherwise, he wouldn’t have gone to such lengths to bring her here.
“What’s the condition?” Nicole asked calmly, having regained her composure and assessed the situation.
“You have to peel all these spiky fruits by hand.” As he spoke, he pressed a button on his phone, and a robot delivered a box of durians, spiky chestnuts, jackfruit, and walnuts from outside the cold storage.
Seeing this, Nicole understood everything. He was avenging Jasmine, but the cold was sapping her strength, leaving her no choice but to comply.
By the time she finished peeling everything, her palms were a bloody mess, the sharp spikes embedded in her flesh, and the blood froze before it could even drip.
Zachary took her out of the cold storage, and only then did she realize she was in Zachary’s house.
Zachary looked at Nicole’s wounded hands, his eyes devoid of any sympathy. These were the same injuries Jas had once suffered.
Over the next few days, Zachary used various props he had bought to make Nicole experience firsthand the pain she had inflicted on Jasmine.
Soaked in a bathtub filled with salt, Nicole’s body, covered in wounds large and small, was tormented by the sting of the salt water, driving her to the brink of despair.
Exposed to a roomful of heat lamps, Nicole’s hair was scorched, and she fainted from dehydration.
***
Each ordeal was even more brutal than what Jasmine had endured.
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Lateefa Khanam is a spirited writer who finds freedom in horse riding. She cherishes her mare and the newborn foal, calling them her little happy family.
