Chapter 4
He locked Ranger in an iron cage. He had someone bind my dog’s mouth shut. Then he ordered a knife pressed against his body.
As long as I refused to beg, the blade would cut into him.
My pride shattered piece by piece that day.
I watched Ranger struggle in pain and fell to my knees before Damon, sobbing and knocking my forehead against the ground.
“Please don’t hurt him.” “I was wrong.” “I know I was wrong.” “He’s all I have.” “Please let him go.”
My forehead bled from hitting the floor. I begged like a madwoman. All I wanted was to take Ranger and leave the Locke family forever.
I can never forget the look in Ranger’s eyes that day.
Pain. Loyalty. And helplessness.
I can never forget the hatred carved into my bones.
Facing Damon now, all I felt was that hatred, still burning, never extinguished.
“Damon,” I said quietly, “you’re nothing more than Yvette Vale’s dog.”
His expression twisted. I continued, “Your grandfather handed the Locke family to you, and if he could crawl out of his grave right now, he’d probably do it just to take it back. The Locke family is finished.”
His hand shot to my throat.
He squeezed until I couldn’t breathe.
Oxygen drained from me, little by little, but I stared straight into his bloodshot eyes and listened to his poisonous voice.
“Don’t think I wouldn’t dare kill you,” he snarled. “You were always just the Locke family’s dog.”
He threw me to the floor hard.
Broken glass from the champagne bottle pierced my skin, leaving countless tiny cuts all over my body. Pain shot through me. My whole body trembled. He grabbed my hair and forced my face up.
“When I tell you to kneel, you kneel.” “When I tell you to die, you die.”
He smiled, but it was the smile of a madman.
“But today,” he said, patting my face lightly, “I don’t want you to die too quickly. A toy as good as you shouldn’t be wasted so easily.”
At that distance, staring into his face, I remembered the message Yvette had once sent me.
She had shown off shamelessly.
“I only told Damon that your dog was scary, and he skinned it for me. Tell me, Serena, if I say you’re scary too, do you think he’ll skin you next?”
She had laughed and mocked me.
“You may be Mrs. Locke in name, but even the servants rank above you.”
Now, staring at Damon again, I tasted blood rising in my throat.
And when he raised his hand to slap me, I spat a mouthful of blood and phlegm straight into his face.
He froze in disgust.
I laughed.
“That’s right, Damon. How could you die so fast?”
Then I copied his tone back to him.
“A game this good has to be played to the end.”