Winter's End, Spring's Reckoning

"I already told you you have a terrible life! First, you caused your husband's death. Now, your entire house has been raided. All you do is bring bad luck."

Adele suddenly appeared, followed by Jonah behind her, carefully holding her by the waist.

I wiped away my tears and glared at Jonah.

"I'm sure you both know the best whether this was done by thieves or someone that we know!"

My harsh words caused Jonah's gaze to flicker a little, but his tongue was still sharp.

"So, what if I took them away? Everything that you own belongs to the Lloyd family! I— I mean, my brother might have left all these, but even if I were to take this house for myself one day, it would have been right!

"I am the last and only son of the Lloyd family. Adele is pregnant with our first grandson. This will be all for them in the future!"

What Jonah said clearly struck a chord with Adele. She no longer hid her arrogance. She raised her wrist, showing me the gold locket that my parents gave me when I was ten years old.

My eyes instantly reddened.

"Give it back to me! Hand it back!" I pounced at her.

She was caught off guard by my sudden attack, and she fell to the floor.

Jonah glared at me.

"Adele!"

Adele first cast me a provocative glance before yelling, "Jonah, my tummy hurts!"

I was so focused on getting back my gold locket, yet I completely forgot about Jonah, who only had eyes for Adele.

Slap!

I was slapped so hard my head slammed against a rock. Warm blood trickled down my face, blurring my gaze.

Jonah didn't even look at me. He picked Adele up and said, "Fiona Gardner, how could a vicious woman like you be my— my brother's wife! If anything were to happen to Adele, I'll make you pay with your life!"

Then, he stormed off.

Tina, who had hidden by the side all this while, came out crying and trembling. "Mommy, y-you're bleeding!"

I pulled Tina into my arms, gently comforting her until she fell asleep. The blood on my head long dried. I took a towel and wiped it a few times before heading to bed.

Lying in bed, I quietly consoled myself. I was going home the next day. Finally.

However, in the middle of the night, someone opened the door. I woke up in alarm, only to see Michael Worrey smiling lewdly at me.

He immediately pounced on me when he saw that I was awake, pinning me to the bed. He covered my mouth with a piece of foul-smelling cloth.

It was so vile that my stomach kept churning.

"Listen up. Your family has already sold you to me! If you are good and listen to me, you'll suffer less!"

His free hand wandered around my body while he snickered lustfully.

"Noah Lloyd sure is a ruthless one. His brother has barely just died, yet he already had you sold. But it's a good thing for me. I profited from it."

I suddenly stopped resisting, unable to believe what I just heard. When Jonah said he was going to make me pay with my life, he was really planning to do so!

Michael took the opportunity and tore my clothes apart. I had no time to curse Jonah. I kicked hard and saw Michael in pain. He yelped.

However, the next second, he wrapped his hands around my neck. "You old hag! You need to learn a lesson!"

He tore my pants apart. I felt a hard object poking against my thigh. As a mother, I understood clearly what that was.

However, I was getting asphyxiated. I had no strength left to fight, so I could only watch with horror.

He smirked lewdly as his hand wandered all over me.

My heart sank gradually, and I shut my eyes in despair.

However, the next second, I felt the weight lifted off me.

"What the hell are you doing!"