Chapter 248 Drowned to Death
Juniper turned around, wanting to escape back into the truck's metal cargo box. She wanted to go back to the Spencers' villa and curl up in the dog cage.
She did not dare look at that perfect past. It would only remind her that she had lost, completely and miserably, losing everything she had once relied on.
Now she was Rusty, an ugly monster.
A hand blocked her way back.
There was not a trace of human emotion in Dylan's cold eyes.
Even he was surprised by William's arrangement.
William's mental state was clearly alarming.
But having Lester undergo plastic surgery to look like Juniper, and then making the two of them meet face-to-face in reality,
That really was a brilliant move.
Because he finally saw panic in those eyes.
That kind of fear and unease was definitely not an act.
"No one can change what Mr. Spencer has decided."
"You know very well what happens when you anger Mr. Spencer."
Juniper could already feel a gaze from behind, stabbing into her heart like a knife.
Just thinking of those words made her heart tremble. Reluctantly, she turned back around.
She had given up on escaping, but she did not dare look at Lester either.
Ever since Lester's gender reassignment surgery, the words coming out of his mouth had grown more vicious each time.
"Never thought I would see so many old friends today."
"Look who that is. Is that not Isabella's mother? Why is she dressed up like a prostitute?"
"Instead of staying at the hospital with her critically ill husband, she runs out here to fool around with these men. An old body with a young heart."
"Looks like before your husband fell into a coma, he definitely did not take care of your sexual needs, huh?"
"Is Isabella's father impotent?"
"Lady, do not tell me Isabella is your daughter with some other man."
Isla, inside the cargo box, finally exploded.
"I do not care who you are; do not you dare insult my family like that."
"Benjamin is perfectly healthy. He is not impotent."
"Isabella is my biological daughter with him, not some other man's child."
She forgot the shame she felt about her own body and jumped out of the cargo box.
Head held high, back straight, she refused to step back even half a step.
William had someone bring him a chair. Holding a wine glass, he watched the show with great interest.
The fact that Isla could actually overcome her own shame truly surprised him.
Especially that first line: Do not insult my family.
Family. Did she still have a family?
Lester's sharp tongue targeted everyone.
He not only humiliated Juniper and Isla but also hurled abuse at all those homeless men.
In the end, he even wanted to curse William.
But his mouth was quickly stuffed with a pair of underwear.
The homeless men had taken William's money and were still willing to do things for their benefactor.
This was a filthy, chaotic feast.
Juniper went from shrinking away at first to later clinging to the homeless man's waist on her own.
It made William feel disgusted from the bottom of his heart.
He was disgusted with his former self for having been fooled by a woman like Juniper.
He had even held Juniper, almost treating her as a stand-in for Beatrice.
Fortunately, Isabella had been there, stopping him from making an even bigger mistake.
But the price paid for that was too heavy, more painful than losing all his wealth.
Lester was still struggling. Three days had passed.
For three days, he had been nothing but a tool for these men to vent their desires.
William wanted to turn him into a complete woman.
Lester could not do it, and he did not want to let William have his way.
Every time those men used him, he cursed William in his heart.
He cursed him to suffer a fate worse than death, cursed him to receive the punishment he deserved.
Isabella's jump from the rooftop had been God's greatest punishment for William.
The more cruelly William tortured Lester now, the more it showed how much William cared about Isabella in his heart.
William would never be able to be with his beloved Isabella. He could only hold her cold corpse day after day.
When Lester thought of these things, the pain and humiliation in his heart gained a reason to endure.
No matter what he did, he could not make up for the mistakes he had made in the past.
The only regret was that William still had the upper hand.
Lester could not take back the wealth and status he had lost, but he would wait for the day William went to hell with him.
Only Isla kept her eyes closed the whole time.
Isla repented again and again in her heart, replaying the past over and over in her mind.
Now, even if her two daughters came back to life, she no longer had the dignity to return to that family.
She had no dignity left to face her family.
Isla remembered that once Isabella had specially bought fruit to visit her. Isla had made her sweep the floor, treated her like a servant, and blamed Beatrice's death entirely on her.
She had not allowed Benjamin to show her any concern.
Because she had never recognized this daughter.
So when Isabella died, she, her mother, had been kept in the dark.
What kind of mother was she, not even knowing that her own daughter had died?
Isla did not resist; she just shed tears.
She did not cry out loud, only endured silently.
She was a sinner. She had to atone.
William had someone set up a camera to record the entire process.
He wanted to capture their filthy faces on video and make them watch themselves being violated.
When the chaos finally ended, William did not want to get any closer.
The stench there had polluted even the air.
He could not let his own body come into contact with that defilement.
Because this body still needed to accompany Isabella.
He could not let that filth taint Isabella's purity.
"William, I am begging you, let me be alone with Isabella for a while."
Isla suddenly knelt down.
She knocked her head against the ground in front of William, pleading.
"I am begging you, let me talk to my daughter."
The smile on William's face vanished at once. This Isla was truly troublesome.
As William turned around, he heard the sound of flowing water.
At that moment, he understood how to punish this disobedient sinner.
"In the past, people liked to lock unchaste women in cages and throw them into the river to drown. Someone like you, who betrayed her husband and slept with so many men at once,
even drowning a hundred times, would not be enough."
William turned to look at Dylan and had someone tie Isla up with ropes.
She was bound like a mummy, stiff and straight, unable to move her hands or feet.
"Today, I will pass judgment on you, this unchaste woman, on behalf of Isabella's father."
"Let the river water wash your filthy soul."
Isla could only move her head now. She was still crying and begging William.
"You can do whatever you want. I just want to talk to Isabella."
"William, I am begging you."
William stood by the river and let out a cold snort.
"If you are still alive afterward, I will mercifully grant your request."
Isla was thrown into the river.
She was naked, with only those inescapable ropes on her body.
But William would not let her die. He tied an even thicker rope to her feet.
With a splash, Isla fell into the water, sending up a spray.
He watched Isla sink to the bottom of the river until he could no longer see the expression on her face.
Only the rope that connected them remained, the other end floating on the river's surface, tied to the car.
William drank his red wine and waited quietly.