Chapter 127: The Punishment
Isabelle’s Point of View:
“She gets one wish before fulfilling her punishment, boss,” one of the men pointed out as the guards were dragging me away from the main room, and I saw that it was Romero.
I looked over at Achilles who was staring right at me, his face stone cold. “What do you want?” he asked me across the room and I took a deep breath. I didn’t want anything but one thing—and this was probably the last chance I’d get.
“I want to talk to Lucy once. In private.”
He was confused at my request, but didn’t think about it much. “Let her. I will give you one hour. Her punishment will continue after that.” He looked at his men mid-conversation and then walked out of the room.
I took a deep breath and looked over at Romero, passing him a small smile. He nodded slowly and I looked away. I searched for Lucy in the background and finally found her. From her expressions, I could tell she was also as shocked as everyone at my request.
I ignored all the glaring and walked over to her. “Come on, Lucy.”
She nodded and followed me into my room. We sat down and I took another deep breath before I started the conversation.
“I, uh, I wanted to tell you everything before they… started my punishment.” I looked at her with a small smile. Her face carried a worried expression, mixed with confusion. “I’m looking at a… very long one.”
She was still confused so I continued. “Look, Lucy, what you heard… you know, I mean, obviously you—you think I umm I cheated on him and betrayed him and everyone. But the truth is I didn’t.”
“What?” she asked, shocked. “What are you saying? Why didn’t you deny it then?”
“It is much more complicated,” I said as I looked into her eyes. “Uh. Do you remember when Mr. Roman came over that day?”
“Yes.”
“He asked me to do this,” I exhaled. “He asked me to—to lie and say that I cheated on him.”
“But why would he do that to his own son?” she asked, surprised at the cruelty he exhibited. I guess she was unaware of how heartless people were. I’d expected that, considering the beacon of hope she had been in all of the days here. I shook my head, “He’s a monster, Lucy. He said that if I didn’t do what he said, he would kill his own son.”
“Oh my god,” She exclaimed as her eyes softened. “So this all—this all is his fault?”
“Yeah,” I looked at her, “I think you can say that. But I didn’t tell you to gain your sympathy, Lucy. I told you to keep your friendship. I lost Achilles and I know that. I can not lose you too.”
She stood up and came to me, hugging me unexpectedly. “You will never lose me, Isabelle. I will never doubt your loyalty again.”
I smiled. I knew I had found a good friend in her.
“Thank you, Lucy,” I said as she pulled back. “I also just wanted to tell you because…” I took a deep breath and stood up. “I wanted to tell you in case something… happened to me and no one found out how low Mr. Roman can go. I wanted you to know so you can tell Achilles and warn him that his life is threatened by his own father in case it was too late for me to tell him anything. But please only tell him if I—if I don’t make it. I don’t want his life in jeopardy for no reason. As long as I’m alive, I—I am sure I’ll be here. They want me to be… to be one of their slaves.”
Her eyes moistened at my words. I knew she felt really sorry for me, but I didn’t. Even after everything, a part of me wanted this punishment. I wanted to feel pain for all the hurt I has caused.
“I’m so sorry, Isabelle. This is so wrong. I wish I could do anything to change it.”
I shook my head in a no. “It’s okay, Lucy. I’m gonna be fine. You take care of yourself and of Robert, okay?”
She nodded and smiled. “You should stick around for this hour,” She said as I started to leave, knowing that this was the last free hour of my life—probably. There was no timeline in the punishment about how long it would last and how long would I be the slave, so I just assumed it was for lifetime.
I turned back to her. “It doesn’t matter. I don’t want to delay Achilles because he has to leave tomorrow.”
Her expressions made me feel pity for myself. I shared a smile with her before walking out and then one of the guards took me to the basement—to one of the prisons.
The place was dark, and they gave me a stool to sit on. I sat down uncomfortably, but hey at least I wasn’t tied up.
They told me to hold still while they get on with their beating. I had never, ever got a beating in my life—I was sexually harassed a couple of times but never beaten. I knew it was gonna hurt like a bitch, but I strengthened myself and closed my eyes tightly, anticipating the hit.
The first whip of the rope on the back came like a strong knife piercing through my skin and I couldn’t help but yell out loud. The pain ignited my nerve endings like electricity sending me panting.
“Quiet!” The one hitting me shouted and my shouting succumbed into whimpers. The second whip burned my skin almost as bad but a little better. I didn’t know how many times I was gonna get whipped, I didn’t know how long I had to hang in for—and it was the worst feeling. This could go on for hours, or it could end the next minute and I had no idea how long I had to be strong for.
I could just hold on for as long as my body could. I thought it would at least be an hour. Being a traitor in a mafia was probably the worst thing, right?
But the beating stopped after ten whips. My back was numb and I was in an enormous amount of pain, but it was unbelievable that that was it.
“Get up!” The man said and I tried to stand with my back literally feeling like it’s torn apart. As I stood up, he grabbed my arm and took me out. He threw me on the floor of the main room once again. The pain of my body colliding harshly with the cold floor was nothing to the pain in my back.
“You’ve already been bidden upon and sold.” He yelled at me, the ruthlessness fleshing through his words. “Your owner will come and take you now.”
He left me alone, and I wondered who “bought” me. As I stayed there, I waited for at least a few minutes before someone walked up to me. I looked up and my eyes widened.