Chapter 21
Rhett had ruined Arabella.
Now he wanted the whole Grayscale family to feel it, too.
Because Isla no longer belonged to the Graysons, Rhett felt no obligation–not mercy, not restraint. He ordered his people to start quietly buying up Grayscale’s corporate shares while Regis and Viviana were still locked in Echelon’s cellar. At the same time, he he tanked their business deals, undercutting prices so aggressively that other packs started pulling out.
Within days, other companies blacklisted Grayscale.
Word spread. Their name became poison.
Then Rhett sent the headlines straight to
dungeon.
Regis collapsed the moment he read them. Viviana paced in circles, pulling at her hair. The company represented their life’s work it was crumbling.
Arabella, however, cared about only one thing: her freedom.
and
“Rhett, please let me out!” she sobbed when he finally appeared. “I’ve learned my lesson. I swear I won’t survive down here there are rats, cockroaches, they crawl over my feet at night–please!”
“Want out?” Rhett’s tone was lazy, almost bored. “Fine. One of you gets to walk free–just one. You or your parents.
You choose.
Arabella didn’t hesitate. “Me! Let me go. They’re old–I’m still young!”
“And the switch up with Isla? All your parents‘ idea, right?” he drawled.
“Yes!” she blurted. “It was theirs! Even that bracelet–Isla’s bracelet–they said it was mine. I only did what they told me. Rhett smirked – exactly what he’d expected. “You should know,” he said ally, “they’re lite
listening.
”
Arabella turned. Regis and Viviana stood in the corner, eyes glossy with hurt.
“Arabella,” Regis whispered, gutted. “After everything we did for you?”
THE TH
“No–Dad, it’s not what it sounds like! He’s twisting-”
Rhett waved a hand. Guards hauled her away. He glanced at Regis and Viviana.
“So. Still think she’s your perfect little daughter?”
Regis and Viviana wilted under his stare. Rhett let them stew, then announced his terms: he’d release them, bankrupt and title less if they signed an oath severing all ties with Arabella. Reeling from their daughter’s betrayal, the Graysons agreed without blinking.
By the time the dungeon door slammed shut behind them, Rhett’s revenge was complete: Grayscale Group had nothing, and Arabella had no one.
“What about the girl?” a Beta asked.
Rhett’s gaze hardened. “She’s going to feel every ounce of pain Isla ever felt.”
So she did.
A staged hit and run shattered her leg.
A tray of mango pastries–knowing her allergy–left her body inflamed with angry rashes,
They dunked her in a tub of ice water until her lips turned blue, then hauled her out only to shove her off a two story balcony into a tower of crystal flutes, glass splintering through her skin.
Morning, noon, and night, the whip sang across her back.
Chapter 21
GoodShort
Days bled together. Arabella’s screams faded to whispers, then to silence. When the pack doctor confirmed she’d slipped into psychosis, Rhett delivered her to a private asylum with one order:
Keep her breathing. Nothing more.
The director nodded. Message received.
Chapter 21
Lucia Morh is a passionate storyteller who brings emotions to life through her words. When she’s not writing, she finds peace nurturing her garden.