Shadows Gathered Under Fading Lights by Nyx Rowan novel Chapter 81

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Chapter 16

The Carrington family’s basement was pitch–black, devoid of light. The only time it lit up was when the

bodyguards came in to check on the situation.

Lillian had only been locked in there for two days, yet her mental state was already on the brink of collapse.

Ethan’s footsteps echoed down the stairwell as he descended. Lillian huddled in the corner, trembling from

head to toe.

Clack!

The door swung open.

Lillian looked up and met Ethan’s bloodshot eyes. Her body trembled even harder.

“W–What are you doing?!” she screamed in panic..

Ethan didn’t answer. Instead, he turned around and stepped aside as two bodyguards wheeled in a man–sized

industrial oven.

The moment she saw it, Lillian knew exactly what he planned to do.

As the oven was opened, the guards yanked her up and strapped her limbs tightly with rope.

The door slammed shut.

Scorching heat rushed out and engulfed her!

“Ah-!”

She let out a gut–wrenching scream. It felt like thousands of needles were stabbing into her skin. Sweat beaded up but evaporated the instant it emerged.

The suffocating heat made her feel like every inch of her flesh was being melted alive.

She slammed her fists against the oven door, desperately begging for mercy.

But Ethan stood there, unmoved, expressionless, listening to her screams as if they were background noise.

When the time was up, the guards pulled her out.

Her skin was red and blistered, bubbling in patches. As the guards handled her roughly, some of the delicate skin peeled off entirely.

Before she could even catch her breath, a bucket of ice water was dumped over her.

Chapter 16

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The sudden temperature drop shocked her burned skin into deeper agony.

This brutal cycle of alternating heat and cold repeated several times until she collapsed like a lifeless heap.

“Don’t let her die.”

That was all Ethan said, coldly, before walking away.

Over the next few days, Ethan subjected Lillian to every form of torture.

She was tied to a pillar and hit by a moving vehicle.

She was forced to crawl barefoot up the steps, each one scattered with shards of broken glass and rusted nails, begging for Olivia’s forgiveness.

Every torment was a reenactment of Olivia’s pain.

After days of relentless suffering, the basement door finally opened again.

Lillian was taken to a hospital by the bodyguards. Just when she thought they were finally showing mercy, a group of men walked in behind Ethan.

She immediately understood what was about to happen.

She thrashed and screamed, begging for mercy, but Ethan remained unmoved.

“Ethan, please, don’t do this! I’m begging you!”

But he showed no pity.

“Isn’t this exactly what you once arranged for Olivia?” he said calmly. “So what are you afraid of now?”

“These men… I picked them specifically. The exact same kind you chose for her. Don’t worry, this is just your lesson.”

His voice was calm, unnervingly gentle, but to Lillian, it was chilling, so cold it made her blood run ice.

This was a private hospital owned by the Carrington family. The entire wing was secured under Ethan’s

control.

No matter how much she struggled, screamed, or begged, no help would come.

One of them clamped a hand over her mouth. They slapped her across the face, again and again, then roughly tore her clothes apart. Their movements were rough, violent.

When they were finally led away by the bodyguards, Lillian was left lying there like a discarded doll.

Chapter 16

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“Ethan…”

Barely clothed, Lillian suddenly called out to him.

“You can torture me to death, but it won’t bring Olivia back. She’s gone. She’s never coming back!”

On the day of Olivia’s memorial, the Sinclair family held a private service at the old estate. Lillian was dragged there under guard, forced to beg for forgiveness before Olivia.

Catherine wept uncontrollably as Victor held her upright. She clutched a framed photo of Olivia to her chest, grief etched across every line of her face.

Sebastian stood silently to the side, his eyes bloodshot, grief boiling beneath his calm expression.

Lillian looked at them and suddenly let out a bitter laugh.

“You Sinclairs really are natural–born actors. When she was alive, you couldn’t be bothered to care. And now that she’s dead, here you are, putting on this pitiful little show.”

“Anyone who didn’t know better might actually think you cared. But I know the truth–you’re the ones who truly killed her.”

Sebastian snapped. He lunged forward and grabbed Lillian by the throat, his voice shaking with fury as he growled between clenched teeth.

“Lillian, during all this time, you still feel no remorse?!”

Lillian laughed hoarsely, the sound echoing through the mourning hall. Her voice, twisted and venomous, sounded like the whisper of a ghost.

She looked up at Olivia’s portrait on the altar, her face twisted in rage and madness.

“Remorse? You’re the ones who should be drowning in it.”

“Why should I regret anything? She’s never haunted me in my dreams. Never once.”

“I wasn’t her childhood friend. I wasn’t the sister she protected with her life for over twenty years. Whatever hatred she had for me, it could never compare to what she must’ve felt toward you.”

Suddenly, as if possessed by some final burst of strength, Lillian broke free of her restraints. She grabbed a nearby candleholder and hurled it at Victor and Catherine.

The old estate’s wooden walls and the flammable cloth around the altar caught fire almost instantly.

Within seconds, flames engulfed the entire room.

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Lillian stood in the chaos, holding the candleholder, laughing wildly as fire consumed everything around

them.

“If we’re repenting,” she said with glee, “then let’s all go down together. No one escapes.”