Chapter 66 Please, Help Me
The faint click of metal echoed in the dim room, and the restraint around her wrist slipped loose.
Then the other wrist. Then her ankles.
Without warning, Caroline's frail body slid from the cold steel frame, hitting the unforgiving concrete floor with a sickening thud. Pain jolted through her bones, but the sudden taste of freedom left her momentarily stunned.
No one was touching her?
Impossible.
A sharp wave of suspicion jolted her awake. She tensed, ready to fight—only for her breath to be cut short as something tightened around her neck.
The cold bite of a chain closed with another metallic snap, locking her in place. She looked down and saw it—an iron collar, crude and heavy, like something meant for livestock.
The other end of the chain was gripped by the same man who had just forced her chin up moments ago.
"Crawl." His voice was low, almost amused, before he yanked the chain hard.
The pull sent her stumbling forward, choking, her knees scraping against the floor.
"Look at her… like a dog."
Another man laughed, slapping his thigh before spitting close to her hand. "Yeah, that's it. Crawl over here and maybe you'll get something in return."
No… no…
Caroline shook her head frantically, tears blurring her vision. But the heat burning through her veins—the cruel aftereffect of whatever they had dosed her with—only surged with every jolt, every humiliation.
Her muscles weakened, her limbs trembling as if they no longer belonged to her. The emptiness inside gnawed at her, a relentless ache she couldn't fight.
"Don't want to?" The man holding the chain sneered, tugging again. "Do you think you get a choice? Look at you… you're already halfway there."
A shadow moved behind her. A heavy boot pressed into her waist, forcing her down. Pain exploded across her spine, bending her forward until she felt exposed, vulnerable in ways she couldn't bear to think about.
"See? Mouth says no, but the rest of you tells a different story."
"Crawl!" The man's bark was followed by the hiss of leather. A whip—barbed and cruel—lashed down across her back.
The burn was instant, searing through her skin. She bit back a scream, but the pain was relentless, each strike driving her closer to the edge of collapse.
"Pathetic mutt… the more I hit, the more you break."
Her mind was unraveling, but the agony made one truth clear—if she didn't obey, they would kill her.
She wanted to die, but not like this. Not in this filth. Not with this image burned into the memory of anyone waiting for her in the afterlife.
So she moved. Slowly. Painfully. Crawling.
"Boss, we're done waiting."
"Patience." The man holding the chain circled her, forcing her to follow. "This is fun. Alexander's wife, crawling like a dog. Come on—bark for me."
The words cut deeper than the whip ever could. Every inch of her skin screamed with humiliation, but her body kept burning, kept aching, kept betraying her in the most horrifying ways.
Then she heard it—the sound of a belt buckle being undone. Heavy breathing behind her.
"Hold her still," one of them said. "Let's see how well she can use that pretty mouth."
The next second, she felt it—something hard and hot pressing against her lips. One more movement and he'd force himself inside.
No.
Not this. Never this.
Summoning strength from some hidden corner of her soul, she lifted her head. Less than three feet away stood a rough, stained concrete wall.
Without hesitation, she wrenched the chain from his grip and hurled herself toward it.
"Stop her!" someone shouted.
Caroline shut her eyes.
She thought, 'Almost there… just pain, then nothing…'
But before her forehead could meet the wall, a hand shot out, clamping around her arm with unyielding force.
No.
Her eyes flew open.
Why wouldn't they let her go? Why—
Warmth.
She blinked, disoriented, as something soft and heavy wrapped around her shoulders. A blanket.
Through the blur of tears, a face came into focus—sharp, tense, and achingly familiar.
Alexander.
He was kneeling, one arm locked around her, the other pointing at the three men now pinned to the floor by his team.
"Take them down."
The air filled with the dull thud of fists, the crack of bones, and the guttural screams of men who had thought themselves untouchable.
The sounds seemed far away, muffled, as if she were underwater.
She was safe.
The tight knot inside her unraveled all at once, and the drug's cruel grip surged back, flooding her senses.
A soft, involuntary sound slipped from her lips, shocking her back into awareness. She bit down hard, tasting blood, but couldn't stop the tremor that ran through her.
Her mind screamed at her to stay still, to hold on to sanity. But her body… her body betrayed her completely.
Alexander's presence—his solid warmth, his familiar scent—was like a spark thrown into dry tinder. She shifted in his hold, desperate for something she couldn't name.
Her trembling hand found his, guiding it to the frantic beat of her heart beneath the blanket.
"Help me…" The words were broken, pleading. "Please… I can't…"
His eyes widened in shock. "Caroline, do you even know what you're saying?"
He pulled his hand back sharply, leaving her hollow and shaking. Tears slid down her cheeks.
"Please… I'm begging you… I can't take this…"