Chained in the Don's Repentance

Meanwhile, Rosie gazed up at Porter, her voice a fragile sob.

"Porter, you're so good to me. If you hadn't gotten there in time that day, I would have drowned."

Porter held her even tighter.

"I'm sorry, Rosie. I failed to protect you."

"But I promise you, after this ordeal, Alessia's pride will be shattered. She cares so much about her dignity—soaking in filthy water for days is a humiliation she'll never want to experience again."

"If she ever dares to disrespect you again, I won't be so lenient!"

His words were poison-tipped needles in my soul, leaving an excruciating phantom pain.

So he knew. He knew how much I valued my dignity—and he let me die stripped of it.

Porter had dragged me all the way, scraping my feet raw and bloody.

Without a single glance, he threw me into the cellar and ordered his men to flood it with icy lake water.

Survival instinct took over, and I struggled desperately.

I kept trying to climb up, but he personally brought a heavy chain and shackled my hands high above my head.

Whenever exhaustion made me sag, the chain would jerk taut, forcing me onto my tiptoes.

The icy, filthy water pricked my skin like a thousand needles, draining my body heat and strength bit by bit.

I screamed his name, my voice raw and hoarse.

But the next second, his voice rang out from outside the door—cold and merciless.

It carried the oppressive weight of the Don's absolute command.

"All this fear over a little water? Can you even begin to imagine what Rosie felt when you sent her into that icy lake?"

"The water level will rise every half hour. Stay in there and repent your sins."

With that, he locked the door and walked away without looking back.

For the next three days, the cold, foul water kept rising, submerging me again and again, sapping all my strength.

On the fourth night, Rosie snuck into the cellar.

She had somehow dismissed the guards. With a twisted smile, she took a broken wine bottle and stabbed it viciously into my abdomen.

The wound quickly became infected in the putrid water, igniting a searing, instantaneous pain.

Every organ felt like it was on fire—an agony beyond words.

"Ahhhh!!!"

My face turned deathly pale. A desperate wail tore from my throat.