He Gave Her Strawberries, Gave Me Hives (Ford and Sylvia) novel Chapter 206

Chapter 7

ut Melody, standing to the side, was displeased by the atmosphere between them. She quickly and intimately linked her arm with Liam’s, cooing, “Liam, I’m ungry. Let’s go eat.”

fter dinner, Seraphina got up to go upstairs, but Melody stopped her at the foot of the stairs.

Seraphina, can’t you see? Liam’s heart already belongs to me,” Melody said, crossing her arms, a smug look on her face. “Look at you. How much do you even hatter in his eyes now? I bet you’re not even worth my little finger.”

eraphina stopped and shot her a cold glance, looking at her as if she were a piece of trash.

he look infuriated Melody. She took a step forward, tilted her chin up, and smirked. “Let’s say we get into a fight. Who do you think Liam will believe? You or

ne?”

he moment the words left her mouth, Melody let out a piercing scream and threw herself down the stairs.

jam heard the commotion and rushed over. Seeing Melody crumpled on the floor and Seraphina standing on the stairs, he roared, “Seraphina! What are you loing? How could you become so vicious?!”

eraphina’s brow tightened as she denied it coldly. “I didn’t do it.”

If it wasn’t you, then who was it?” Liam didn’t believe her for a second. He felt that he had spoiled Seraphina rotten over the years, and it was about time she

earned a hard lesson.

With that thought, he ordered the bodyguards beside him, “Break her hand and lock her in the basement!”

wo bodyguards stepped forward, mercilessly grabbing Seraphina’s hand and giving it a sharp, violent twist.

Ah-!”

The crisp snap of bone, mixed with the bodyguard’s brutal force, echoed through the empty living room. Seraphina didn’t even have time to let out a full scream.

Her wrist was twisted at a sickening angle, and cold sweat instantly soaked the hem of her dress. But at the edge of her vision, the back of Liam turning away with Melody in his arms didn’t pause for even a second.

The moment the ornate wooden door closed, even the last trace of his presence was shut out.

The heavy footsteps of the bodyguards fell behind her. A cold metal chain was wrapped around her uninjured ankle, and she was dragged toward the basement.

The rough concrete floor scraped her knees raw, causing beads of blood to ooze out and mix with the dust, forming dark red scabs. With every inch she was noved, the sharp pain in her wrist felt like a thousand needles stabbing into her bone marrow.

With a bang, the basement door was slammed shut. The only small window was sealed with a steel plate, and darkness completely engulfed her.

he collapsed onto the cold floor, her injured hand hanging limply. The intense pain made her whole body tremble, but what was even more piercing than the pain was the chill surging from the bottom of her heart.

he curled into a ball, her fingertips touching the damp mildew on the wall, and memories suddenly flooded back uncontrollably.

t was a stormy night three years ago. The villa’s electrical system had been struck by lightning, plunging the entire house into darkness.

Thunder rolled outside, and she remembered that he was all alone in the Blackwood villa–she had once overheard the butler mention that as a child, he had been locked in a basement for a whole day by a careless nanny, leaving him with a deep–seated fear of the dark.

As if possessed, she ran out into the rain wearing only thin pajamas.

The moment the villa door opened, she threw herself into his arms, her voice trembling with feigned fear. “Liam, no one’s home at my place, and I’m scared of

the dark…”

Chapter 7

She remembered clearly how stiff his body was that day, how his fingertips were still trembling slightly as his arms wrapped around her.

But he still pretended to be calm and comforted her, “Don’t be afraid. I’m here.”

3

from then on, wherever she was, there were always enough lights on. He always thought that, like him, she was afraid of the dark.

But only Seraphina herself knew that she wasn’t afraid at all. Pretending to be scared of the dark back then was just an excuse to stay with him.

And now, for the sake of another woman, he had locked her away in this sunless basement with his own hands.

she suddenly recalled the words she had unintentionally overheard, “Then we’ll just make sure she can’t participate.”

she suddenly let out a low, hollow laugh, a sound filled with despair and sorrow.

so, had all of this been waiting for her from the very beginning?

Two days felt as long as a century.

t wasn’t until the third day that Liam, having brought Melody back from the hospital, finally had someone let Seraphina out of the basement.

Liam looked at the haggard Seraphina, his face a mask of indifference. “Good thing Melody is okay. And she’s forgiven you. Don’t go after her again. As for the

inals tomorrow, your hand is injured, so just withdraw from the competition.”

Without hesitation, Seraphina nodded.

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