Chapter 70: The Crimson Obsession
Chapter 70: The Crimson Obsession
The vast bedroom of Sterling Mansion was engulfed in a suspicious silence. Heavy curtains shrouded the windows, blocking out the moonlight, leaving only a suffocating darkness to reign. The only sound that dared to exist was the steady ticking of the wall clock—each beat drilling into the ear, underscoring the girl’s isolation.
Camila sat propped against the headboard, her fragile body swallowed by the oversized bed. Her dazed eyes drifted toward the pitch-black window, where the darkness stretched endlessly, blurring the line between sky and earth. In her chest, a foreboding dread coiled tightly around each breath.
Suddenly—
BANG!
A thunderous crash erupted from the ground floor, as if something heavy had fallen or a door had been kicked in. Camila jolted, cold sweat soaking her back. Before she could gather her wits, another sound followed: thud… thud… thud…—slow, heavy footsteps climbing the stone staircase. Each step tolled like a funeral bell, pounding against her ribcage.
Her chest constricted. Breaths shattered. Her heart hammered like a war drum, urging her to flee. Hands trembling, she grasped at the wheelchair beside the bed. The icy chill of metal seeped into her fingers, stiffening her body further. Biting her lip hard, she summoned the last of her frail strength, lowering herself onto the chair.
Creak.
The wheels screeched across the wooden floor, slicing the silence. Inch by inch, she rolled toward the door, desperate to escape before—
Click.
The door burst open.
A towering figure filled the frame. The faint light from the corridor illuminated his face, cold and unreadable: Leon’s driver. He had once been a silent, unremarkable man, merely the one who ferried Camila and Ethan home from the hospital. But now, in the dark, he loomed like a predator, blocking every path of escape.
Camila’s breath hitched. Her body froze, yet her eyes burned with a fragile defiance. Her voice, hoarse but unwavering, rasped:
“Was it… all you?”
The man stepped forward, each deliberate footfall hammering against the floorboards, reverberating through her chest. His lips curved into a thin, merciless smile.
“You guessed right,” he growled, his voice rough, like steel dragged across stone. “And it won’t end here.”
Camila’s breath seized. She spun the wheels, retreating—
But he lunged, beastlike.
His hand clamped onto the wheelchair, squeezing until the wheels froze.
SMACK!
His palm struck her cheek with brutal force. Her head snapped to the side, searing pain ripping through her temple. Light flared, then darkness swallowed all.
When Camila awoke, everything had changed.
A rancid, damp stench invaded her nostrils, twisting her stomach. Her throat was parched, desert-dry. Her arms were wrenched behind her back, bound tight with rope that dug into her flesh, burning and numbing her limbs.
She lay sprawled on cold tiles. Overhead, a dim bulb flickered erratically, casting a jaundiced glow on the mold-stained walls.
Camila struggled upright, every movement lancing pain through her body. The slap had left a blistering welt across her face. Her eyes darted around the room—and froze.
In the center of the gloom stood Celeste.
She was radiant in a crimson dress, its fiery hue a violent contrast to the suffocating shadows. Her dark eyes locked on Camila, glacial and venomous, like knives ready to carve.
Camila’s body trembled, yet she dragged herself forward on bloodied knees, desperate to ask, to understand. But before words could form, Celeste closed the distance.
CRACK!
The stiletto heel of her shoe crashed down onto Camila’s hand. Bone snapped with a sickening crack. Agony tore through her nerves, and a strangled scream broke from her throat.
Celeste bent down, her eyes blazing, lips quivering with hatred.
“You bitch,” she hissed, her voice fractured with rage. “You ruined everything I had!”
Camila shivered violently, sweat dripping down her temples. Her cracked voice stumbled out, broken and raw:
“I… I never did anything to you… What… what did you do to Leon?”
The moment his name slipped from her lips, Celeste’s face twisted. A flicker of shock—then a storm of fury.
“You dare speak of Leon?”
SLAP!
A second blow crashed down, harder than the first. Blinding white seared across Camila’s vision before her world collapsed into black.
—
Elsewhere.
The glow of countless monitors bathed Leon’s face in cold light. His bloodshot eyes locked onto every frame.
On screen, Camila writhed beneath Celeste’s torment. Her cries of pain reverberated from the speakers, piercing Leon’s ears, shredding his chest. He roared until his voice broke, wrists bleeding from the ropes that bound him.
“Stop! Don’t touch her!” he screamed, his voice torn with desperation.
A chilling laugh cut through the air. The driver emerged from the shadows, gun gleaming under the light.
He pressed the muzzle against Leon’s temple, voice rasping with menace:
“Shut up. One more word, and I’ll pull the trigger. You’ll never see her again.”
Leon ground his teeth, his body taut as a bowstring. But before he could react—
THUD!
The gunstock smashed into his nape. Pain shot down his spine. His vision blurred, then extinguished. His body collapsed, breath ragged.
The driver twirled the gun in his hand, chuckling darkly.
Then—heels clicked against the floor. Sharp. Rhythmic. The atmosphere grew taut, ready to snap.
Celeste entered. Her hair cascaded in disarray, her burning eyes fixed on Leon’s limp form. For a fleeting instant, her face cracked, panic flickering through.
“What have you done?” she whispered, her voice like ice.
The driver sneered.
“He was too noisy. I just helped you shut him up.”
SLAP!
Her palm crashed into his face, sending him staggering.
“Idiot!” she screamed, her voice breaking into madness. “Who gave you permission to touch him? Leon must stay awake! He must watch Camila break! Hear her every sob! Only then… will he belong to me!”
Her eyes burned red, brimming with fury and despair. She dropped to her knees beside Leon, trembling hands caressing his face.
“Leon… plese wake up…” she whispered, her tone soft, almost pleading. Then her gaze sharpened again, wild and consuming. “You will belong to me. Only me.”
Her distorted laughter echoed in the dark, mingling with suffocating silence—an omen of a nightmare yet to begin.