Her Heart, Her Undoing novel Chapter 8

Julian called the police and reported Avery for intentional assault.

Avery had nothing left to fight with. Fresh off a forced blood donation and barely on her feet, she was booked and taken to a detention center.

Those three days were the darkest of her life.

The women in her cell noticed that she was a pretty university student and singled her out for amusement. They slapped and punched her, yanked on her hair, and twisted the soft skin of her arms until it bruised.

They took her tray, even though the food was barely edible. They shoved her to the filthy floor and laughed as she choked on the taste of blood and despair.

Every minute stretched like an hour. The pain in her body didn't come close to the ruin inside her.

Pride, dignity, and every dream she still held for the future—everything was trampled into the dirt.

All this while, she felt less than alive...

After releasing, she reached her apartment building and was searching for her keys when a sharp pain shot up her neck. Then, a sack was yanked over her head, and everything went black.

The next second, metal bars slammed into her shoulders and ribs over and over. Blood filled her mouth, and the pain was so sharp that she thought her bones might shatter.

Through the pounding pain, she caught a voice she knew all too well—Jace's.

A man asked, "Didn't Julian already punish her for messing with Tessa's brakes? Why are we..."

"Julian has punished her, but I haven't," Jace said coldly. "She dared to lay a finger on Tessa. She'll pay for it ten times over! This is just the beginning."

Rough hands yanked the sack open a few inches. Then, something cool and slick slid inside, coiling around her throat and wrist. A faint hiss made her blood run cold.

It was the thing she feared most—snakes.

Terror crashed over her, tightening her chest until she couldn't breathe. She struggled desperately, but no sound came out.

The sack cinched tight again. In the next instant, she was lifted off the ground and hurled into the air.

She crashed into water so cold that it knocked the breath from her chest. Water rushed into her nose and mouth as panic and terror swallowed her whole.

"Help... Help me..."

She had no idea how long she had fought before someone pulled her up and tossed her onto a deserted road like trash.

The sack was torn open, and Avery coughed violently, choking up muddy water as her vision blurred.

Soaked through, her wounds stung and went numb from the cold, her teeth chattering uncontrollably.

With the last of her strength, she clawed her way out of the sack as icy rain beat against her face and mixed with her tears.

She forced herself to stand, but her vision went black, and she collapsed into unconsciousness.

When she woke, she lay in a hospital bed again.

A nurse walked over and said matter-of-factly, "You're awake. Go pay your medical bill."

Avery pushed herself upright, swung her legs over the side, and leaned against the wall as she slowly made her way down the hall.

She turned the corner and almost ran straight into Julian and Jace as they stepped out of a VIP suite.

Both of them froze for a moment when they saw her.

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