"This is on you, understand?"


    Seth applied more and more pressure.


    "Wasn''t the lesson from five years ago enough for you? Why did you have to go after her again? I warned you, but you just never learn."


    The t of the de pressed a deep line into the skin of her trembling neck.


    In that moment, it was as if the air had been stolen from Sue''s lungs. She didn''t dare to breathe.


    She was terrified that the slightest movement would provoke the grim-faced man before her.


    She''d never seen such a terrifying expression on anyone''s face before. He was a handsome man, but the look he was giving her was enough to send a chill down her spine.


    "I was wrong. Please, let me go. I was really wrong," Sue pleaded, genuinely terrified.


    "I''ll never do it again. I''m begging you, please let me go."


    Tears instantly flooded her eyes, and fat teardrops mixed with cold sweat as they rolled down her face.


    Her whole body began to tremble violently.


    Seth slowly moved the dagger, and the tip slid down, slicing through the ropes that bound her.


    Sue thought he was letting her go and was about to weep with gratitude.


    But then Seth tossed the dagger aside, and as he turned to leave, he instructed the men still in the room, "Keep Miss Caldwellpany."


    Before Sue could process what was happening, Seth and Jude were gone.


    The door swung shut again, plunging the room into darkness.


    She struggled to get up, but her limbs felt like jelly, utterly devoid of strength.


    Her body was also having a strange reaction.


    She was burning up.


    It felt like a million ants were crawling all over her skin.


    "What did you give me? Why do I feel so awful?" Sue cried, frantically tearing at her clothes.


    "You shouldn''t find this unfamiliar, Miss Caldwell," one of the men said. "Isn''t this the drug you procured yourself? You should know its effects better than any of us." Its effects?


    Could it be the drug she''d had someone secretly give to Noreen?


    No!


    A look of pure horror washed over Sue''s face. "Let me out! Let me out now!"


    But no one paid any attention to her demands.


    ет


    Her consciousness was quickly consumed by the drug. She forgot about escaping, forgot her fear and only continued to rip at the few clothes she had left on her body.


    When the men remained impassive, she even started crawling toward them.


    "Help me," she begged. "Please, you have to help me."


    On deck.


    The sea wind howled, drowning out all other noise.


    The night on the high seas was exceptionally dark, like a ck hole in space that could swallow everything whole.


    Seth lit a cigarette but just held it between his fingers, letting the sea breeze burn it to ash without taking a single drag.


    Jude hesitated before asking, "Seth, isn''t this... a little cruel?"


    Seth''s face was a cold mask, his voice devoid of any warmth. "Five years ago, in these very waters, the weather was just like tonight. wind was raging, and the wa were churning. Even a strong swimmer would have a slim chance of survival if they fell in, yet Sue had her thrown into the sea."


    It was a scene he could never forget.


    Even after almost two thousand days.


    Even knowing that Noreen was safe and sound now.


    Thinking of it still filled him with an intense, suffocating fear and panic.


    As he spoke, his voice began to tremble, and he choked up.


    "If I had been even a momentter... I wouldn''t have been able to save her."


    He had nned his revenge for years. He''d even epted that he and Noreen would most likely go their separate ways.


    He could ept her living a life


    children, as long as she having another man and hal


    marrying


    happy.


    But the one thing he could never ept was her death.


    Especially not dying right before his eyes.


    "So, Sue deserves this."