Eliza gritted her teeth, her fists clenched tight, as eachsh hit her fragile body. The pain sliced through her, cach strike leaving its mark
She braced herself, her fragile body taking eachsh that came down like a thunderstorm, the sharp sting of each blow cutting through her.
Benedict loomed over her, showing no mercy as his whip cracked across her back again and again, as if trying to crush every bone in her body.
Eliza fel the pain, raw and brutal, but it paled inparison to the deep ache in her heart.
The whip didn''t break her spirit. Instead, it fueled the fire of anger and hatred burning within her.
Even if it costs me my life, I won''t let Sophie and the entire Stonor family get away with this she swore silently.
By the time Benedict struck the final blow, Eliza''s back was nothing but a mess of blood and flesh, her once-pure robes stained red.
Benedict stared at the blood dripping from the whip, then nced at Eliza, who had endured every single strike without a single word or flinch, standing tall through it all.
Something tight and ufortable stirred in his chest. Without a word, he tossed the whip actions here." before leaving the chapel with the servant trailing behind him.
plo a
a servant, scowled, and said, "Think about your
As soon as he was gone, Eliza, her face as white as death, could no longer keep herself upright. She staggered for a moment before copsing hard onto the ground.
When Eliza finally regained consciousness, the sky outside was already dark.
She was still lying on the cold chapel floor, abandoned, with nothing but a bowl of cold rice and vegetables beside her.
Grimacing in pain, Eliza forced herself to sit up. She didn''t even spare a nce at the food. Taking advantage of the fact that the chapel was empty, the gripped the emerald pendant tightly in her hand.
With a thought, she entered the pocket farm within the pendant
She had intended to find some herbs to stop the bleeding, but the moment she stepped inside, she slipped and fell into the small stream running through the space.
"Ugh
The cold water hit her open wounds, sending a sharp pain that nearly made her pass out again.
"That stings like hell" Eliza hissed, scrambling out of the stream. She ripped off a piece of her corn clothes and checked her back.
What she saw took her breath away-part of the wound on her shoulder had already started to heal. It wasn''t fully closed, but the raw, bloody flesh had transformed into soft, pink skin.
Sue couldn''t believe it and gently touched the spot, just to make sure she wasn''t dreaming,
Eliza was stunned by the miraculous power of this pocket farm. She hadn''t expected something as simple as stream water to have such healing properties. No wonder the rare herbs in this space grew so easily
But with that awe came a wave of caution. She knew the secret of this pendant had to be kept hidden, or it could spell disaster down the road Especially with Sophie-Eliza still couldn''t wrap her mind around why, in her past life, Sophie had tried to steal the pendant from her.
She had to get to the bottom of it. Eliza gently r ran her fingers over the stream''s clear surface, but despite the healing water, she wasn''t going to use it on her wounds again.
Not because she was afraid of the pain, but because she couldn''t let her injuries heal too fast. Even the parts that had started to heal couldn''t be seen by anyour
With a sigh, Eliza gritted her teeth and, forcing herself through the pain, made the wounds open up again. She didn''t stop until her hands were shaking from the agony. Only then did she pause.
"It''s time to leave the Stonor family," she told herself.
After putting on her blood-soaked clothes. again, Eliza returned to the chapel. Looking out at the dark sky, she already knew she was leaving the Stonor family behind.
That night, Eliza didn''t get a wink of sleep. Before dawn, she quietly opened the chapel door, tiptors past the servants who were dozing off against the columns, and slipped out without a sound