Chapter 5

A chill ran down Esther' s spine. She froze, the blood draining from her face.

Katia, nestled in Julian' s arms, added with feigned concern, "Julian, don' t be too hard on her. She' s pregnant, after all."

Julian' s lips curled into a cruel smile. "You' re right. The pregnant one should be spared." His eyes, cold and hard, met Esther' s. "So someone else will have to pay the price for her."

A moment later, two of Julian' s bodyguards dragged her parents into the hospital room. Bert and Caryl Briggs, a retired schoolteacher and a librarian, looked terrified and confused. They were forced to their knees on the cold tile floor.

"Mom! Dad!" Esther cried out, her heart seizing in her chest. She tried to get out of bed, to run to them, but Julian slammed her back against the pillows, his hand pressing down on her shoulder with brutal force.

"Watch," he commanded, his face twisted into an ugly sneer. "This is what happens when you disobey me. They will pay for your mistake."

He nodded to one of the bodyguards, who uncoiled a thin, leather whip.

The sound of the whip cracking through the air was followed by her father' s cry of pain.

"Stop!" Esther screamed, struggling against Julian' s grip. "Please, Julian, stop! They' re my parents! They' re all I have!"

He grabbed her chin, forcing her to look. "Then why did you hurt my Katia? Why did you make her cry?"

"I didn' t!" she sobbed, her body shaking uncontrollably. "It was her! She pushed me! I told you, check the cameras!"

Julian just laughed, a hollow, mirthless sound. He let her go and wrapped his arms around Katia, pulling her close.

"I don' t need to check any cameras," he said, his voice dripping with contempt. "I believe Katia. I don' t believe you."

The words struck Esther harder than any physical blow.

The memory of him once declaring, "Her word is the only truth I need," felt like a cruel joke from a past life.

That man was gone. Dead.

A heart could only break so many times. Esther felt hers shatter into a million irreparable pieces.

Katia leaned her head against Julian' s chest, her eyes, full of triumph, meeting Esther' s over his shoulder.

"My system is working perfectly," she mouthed silently. "His score for me is at 93% now."

Esther' s world dissolved into the sound of the whip and her parents' screams. She was pinned to the bed, forced to watch the two people she loved most in the world be tortured because of her.

She bit her lip until she tasted blood, the coppery tang filling her mouth.

The screams grew weaker, and then stopped.

"I' m tired," Katia said, yawning delicately. "Can we go home, Julian?"

He immediately scooped her up and carried her from the room, leaving a scene of carnage behind him.

Esther' s parents lay motionless on the floor.

"Mom? Dad?" she whispered, her voice a fragile thread. She stumbled out of bed, her legs weak, and fell to her knees beside them. She crawled toward them, her hands shaking as she reached out to touch her father' s back. It was a mess of torn fabric and blood.

"I' m so sorry," she wept, the words torn from her very soul. "It' s my fault. I chose the wrong man. I' m so sorry."

She screamed for a doctor, for a nurse, for anyone.

A doctor rushed in, his face grim. He looked at the scene, then at Esther. "I can' t. Mr. Mcgee' s orders. No one is to treat them unless you..."

He trailed off, his expression full of pity.