The pain of having your fingernails ripped off was so excruciating, just watching it made your own fingers throb in sympathy.
Queenie stared in terror, frozen and speechless, her mouth open but not a sounding out.
Aurora''s screams echoed through the room.
The torment didn''t stop there. After tearing off Aurora''s nails, the captors poured salt water and sprinkled chili powder over her raw fingertips.
Queenie couldn''t fathom how these foreigners came up with such vicious, sadistic methods.
Next, seemingly out of nowhere, they produced a writhing mass of snakes and dumped them onto Aurora''s body.
No matter how strong Aurora''s nerves were, no matter how privileged her upbringing, nothing had prepared her for this nightmare. She''d grown up pampered and admired, never once imagining she''d be subjected to this kind of horror.
But her tormentors were just getting started.
They had only promised not to kill or permanently injure Aurora-never that they wouldn''t make her suffer.
After all, oil tycoons and financiers were waiting for their proof of life video.
Then someone had a wicked idea. "We can''t hurt her too badly, and we can''ty a finger on her, but we can still make her life hell. Isn''t she supposed to be the most beautiful woman in high society?"
Another chimed in, grinning. "Let''s shave her head and her eyebrows. Let''s see how a bald, browless ''queen of the elite'' holds up."
"Oh, brilliant. That''s perfect."
Queenie could only watch in horror as they sheared off all of Aurora''s hair until her scalp gleamed. Even stripped of her long locks, Aurora''s striking features still shone through—she was beautiful, no matter what. But when they shaved off her eyebrows as well, she looked almostically bizarre.
Cowering in the corner, Queenie''s whole body trembled. But as she realized the kidnappers had no intention of turning their attention to her, she felt her panic ebb just a little.
They weren''t trying to break Aurora''s arms or legs, either. Queenie''s relief was palpable.
Clearly, they still feared the Williams family, and the powerful men who pursued Aurora.
If this was all just an act of humiliation-an ugly prank, rather than outright violence-it was almost a blessing.
By now, Aurora was so far beyond
pain she''d gone numb. Her face was
ghostly pale her body limp
as her
captors continued their cruel games. s
She''d never experienced such utter humiliation. The feeling made her want to scream, to w at her tormentors, to kill them all.
For some reason, her mind shed to Ste.
Was this what Ste had felt when Leonard tortured her? Was the despair this deep?
When Simone came to, everything was pitch ck.
Something was tied over her eyes. She struggled and found her hands and feet were bound as well.
She had no idea where she was, no clue how she''d gotten there.
Herst memory was sitting in her favorite café, sipping coffee. After that— nothing.
Simone realized at once: she''d been kidnapped.
Still, she kept her cool. She''d survived more than one abduction during the
Lerman family''s internal wars. This wasn''t her first time.
Her mind began working through possible escape ns.
This was Solmaris. Not many people here would dare kidnap her. Whoever did it must have been
tracking her for at least a month
long enough to learn her habits and
find her usual café.
to s
She''d made a lot of enemies over the years, but she couldn''t guess who was behind this.
It didn''t matter. What mattered was that Leonard woulde for her.
She remembered thest time she''d been used against him. The Lerman family had tried to force Leonard''s hand by threatening her, but she''d risked her own life to escape, even taking a bullet meant for him. She'' almost died on the operating table that time. s
After all that, Leonard rescuing her now was a given.
Lost in these thoughts, Simone heard the door creak open.