Eloise was currently bound by coarse ropes tied so tightly that lines of bruises had formed on her arms. There was a layer of dirt and dust over her face while her hair was a complete mess. It was a pitiful sight.
“Mom! Wake up, Mom. Eveline’s here. You wanted to see me, didn’t you?”
Niamh quickly unraveled the rope and carried Eloise to her feet before placing her against the wall.
“Mom.”
She called out a few more times but Eloise did not respond.
Niamh shot up and fumed when she saw the man opening the briefcase and staring at the money with greedy sparkling eyes.
“What did you do to my mother? Why won’t she wake up?!” Niamh questioned furiously.
The man dangled the cigarette in his mouth as he replied disdainfully, “The crazy b*tch kept wailing about looking for her daughter or something. It was so annoying, so I shut her up and dosed her with sleeping pills. That’s it.”
Niamh suddenly clenched her fists.
Watching the man happily counting the money, she looked down to whisper at the rose badge on her collar. “You heard him, didn’t you, Kendrick? Mom has been dosed with sleeping pills and she’s still unconscious. I can’t bring her out alone now. Call the police first, then—”
“F*ck! Who are you talking to?”
A man’s irritated voice rang out from behind. Niamh did not have the time to turn around when the man reached out to pull the badge off Niamh’s clothes.
While it seemed like a normal rose-shaped brooch, the badge also doubled as a locator and a contacting device.
Rough as he was, the man ended up tearing off the first button on Niamh’s shirt.
Niamh’s collar opened, revealing her slim neck and fair white skin. The man’s gaze shifted as he gulped lustfully.
“I see you’re Glendale’s prettiest lady for a reason. Mr. Waldburg’s wife, what a seductive figure!”
The man licked his lips wickedly as he spoke his vile words, the desire in his eyes growing.
“I’m rich now, so if I sleep with a beauty like you, wouldn’t you say that my life’s complete? Come on, baby!”
He spoke wretchedly as he reached out to pounce on Niamh.
Niamh gripped her opened collar and took hold of the baseball bat by the side, swatting it at the man with a sharp look in her eyes.
“Ow!” The man yelped in pain.
Niamh’s gaze was sharp, and her expression was void of fear.
After everything she had been through her entire life, why would she fear this mere man?
“Listen up you imp. My husband will be here very soon. You have two choices now. You can either waste your time here with me, but I can assure you that you’ll never touch a hair of mine, or you can turn and run for your life. There’s no third option.”
“…”
The man seemed taken aback by Niamh’s fierce aura, and admiration tinted his eyes.
“What a character you have there, Mrs. Waldburg, but I think you’ve forgotten something.” The man reminded and pointed at Eloise behind him. “My third option.”
Niamh’s gaze sharpened. “What are you doing?”
The man smirked sinisterly and walked toward Eloise before he pulled a switchblade from his pocket. Flipping it open, he aimed the blade at Eloise’s neck.
“Don’t you dare mess around!” Niamh shouted at him to stop.
“If you want your mom safe, then throw that bat away and come over obediently!”
Niamh tossed the baseball bat to the side and walked toward the man fearlessly.
“I’m standing right here. What more do you want? If it’s the money, just take it and leave.”
The man was stunned. He never expected Niamh to not fear him at all.
He admired Niamh’s courage, but her behavior made him feel undermined and it only enraged him. “You must really think that I’m a pushover, don’t you? I’m going to make you regret this!”
He tightened the hold on the blade and moved to stab Eloise.
Thanks to Niamh’s quick reflexes, she caught the man’s wrist.
“Don’t hurt my mom!” Anger crept up her gentle features.
The man was stunned for two seconds before he pulled himself out of Niamh’s grip and raised his foot to kick Eloise.
Still unconscious, Eloise fell to the ground with her head knocking heavily onto the floorboards.
“Mom!”
Niamh ran toward her nervously and saw Eloise frowning as if she was deep in pain. Niamh reached out to hold Eloise.
She had just reached her mother’s side when Niamh felt a dull pain on the back of her neck. She lost consciousness the next second and fell beside Eloise’s body.
The man tossed the baseball bat away after seeing that Niamh had fainted. He then squatted in front of her with a wicked look and pulled her body toward him.
“Let’s see if you can keep being stubborn!” The man chuckled evilly as his hands fell on Niamh’s collar. He was impatient and wanted to quickly touch her.
It had not been a few seconds before he felt a strike on the back of his head.
“Ow!” The man cupped his head in pain and turned to see Eloise who seemed to have woken up sometime during the struggle. Eloise was holding the baseball bat while glaring at the man.
“You liar! I won’t let you bully this Eveline!”
“Fck! You crazy btch! When did you wake up? How dare you interrupt me?! I’m going to kill you!”
The man fiercely held the switchblade between them.
Eloise fearlessly raised the baseball bat again to whack the man.
“Ow!”
After taking a hit, the man lost his grip on the switchblade.
“You crazy b*tch. I’m going to… Ow!”
He roared and bent down to pick up the switchblade when he suffered another hit on his back.
“I won’t let you bully this Eveline! How dare you?! I won’t let anyone bully her!” Eloise glared as she continued to hit the man without restraint. He shrunk into himself and began to beg for mercy.
“Stop, you crazy b*tch! Ow, ow, chupse…”
“I’ll kill you, you stupid liar! How dare you bully Eveline?!” Eloise began to hit harder, her bat smashing the man’s neck.
“Ah!” The man yelped and fell onto the floor.
Staring at the briefcase of money not too far away, he tried to climb up and leave, but his head suddenly felt dizzy.
He did not know if it was reality or an illusion, but he somehow smelled the scent of something burning in the air.
In his confused state, he saw a flicker of flame from the corner of his eye. He was about to flee when he lost consciousness and fell onto the floor instead.
Seeing that the man had stopped moving, Eloise threw the baseball bat away and ran to squat before Niamh.
“Hey, wake up.” Eloise patted Niamh’s cheek softly. “What are you doing here, Eveline? Silly girl, why are you sleeping here? Don’t you know that people will take advantage of you if you sleep here?”
Vaguely feeling that someone was calling her, Niamh opened her eyes confusedly to see Eloise looking at her.
“You’re awake. Quickly get up, then. I’ll send you home,” Eloise said seriously as she helped Niamh up.
Niamh frowned when she felt a slight ache at the back of her neck. She was about to say something when she caught sight of what was happening behind Eloise and her expression took a drastic shift.
Niamh ignored the pain and suddenly shot to her feet.
“Hey, why are you ignoring me?” upset, Eloise grabbed Niamh’s hand. She had no idea what was happening behind her.
“Why would I ignore you, Mom?” Niamh held Eloise’s hand tightly. Her heart ached at the sight of the dirt and dust on Eloise’s innocent child-like appearance.
She did not have a clue what happened while she was unconscious, except that Eloise had woken up and the man was now unconscious on the floor by the door.
Niamh did not have the time to entertain those thoughts. Seeing the spreading flames that had started some time ago, she took Eloise’s hand and walked toward the exit.
The spreading flames blocked their way, and Niamh found herself coughing from the pungent billowing smoke.
It was only then that Eloise seemed to have noticed that the house was on fire. Staring dazedly at the raging flames, she seemed lost.
“Mom! Cough. We have to leave now!” Niamh squeezed Eloise’s hand. She tried to escape through the room’s door, but the piles of garbage and takeaway boxes ended up contributing to the rapid spread of fire.
“Cough cough!”
New Book: Back Home to Marry Off Myself
Loredana’s father left the family for his mistress, leaving them to fend for themselves abroad. When life was at its toughest, her father showed up with “good news” after 8 years of absence: To marry off Loredana to a paralyzed son of the wealthy Mendelsohn family.