The True Heiress: Legend Mode novel Chapter 248

When Chuck didn't answer, Lorcan sighed, clearly bored. He figured a guy that smart already knew exactly why all of this was happening.

Shifting in his expensive chair to get comfortable, Lorcan smirked. "A hundred grand per strike. How about it?"

Maia’s debts were easily in the tens of millions.

"Not the face," Chuck said. That was his only condition.

If Juno saw his face ruined, she would never accept the money.

Lorcan casually wagged his finger. "Beat him."

Over a dozen men, already waiting in the wings, flooded into the room.

Each of them carried a solid steel baton. The cold overhead lights glinted off the unfeeling metal.

The first man swung brutally, forcing Chuck to his knees.

The rest of them immediately swarmed in.

The sickening thuds of steel against bone echoed through the room.

Unable to stay upright, Chuck collapsed onto the floor, the metallic taste of blood rising in his throat.

Standing in the doorway, Miles clenched his fists so tightly his knuckles turned white, his eyes burning with helpless rage.

Someone deliberately stepped on Chuck's head, grinding their boot into his skull with sheer malice.

The sound of the batons connecting with flesh was utterly horrifying.

Every so often, there would be a sharp, sickening crack.

The unmistakable sound of bones snapping.

Chuck coughed up a mouthful of blood.

Watching from his throne, Lorcan lazily raised a hand. "Alright, that's enough." Killing him outright would ruin the fun.

Twirling a black-tier bank card between his fingers, Lorcan leaned forward, looking down at the broken, bleeding mess on the floor. "Crawl over here and beg like a dog. Make sure you bark loud enough, too. If I'm in a bad mood, my hand might slip, and this card might just fall into the fireplace."

Chuck could barely breathe, let alone stand.

He twitched his fingers. Miles, struggling to hold back tears, rushed over. "Let me help you."

He was completely out of strength.

Miles tried to pull him up, unable to just tell him to give up.

They were so close to the end.

Cold sweat beaded on Chuck's forehead. Pressing his shaking, bloodied hands against the floor, he dragged his shattered body forward, inch by agonizing inch.

One of the thugs kicked him hard in the ribs. "Bark!"

Tears finally spilled down Miles's face.

One day. One day, he would flay every single one of these bastards alive.

Veins popping on his neck, Chuck used the absolute last ounce of his willpower to crawl to Lorcan’s feet. "Bark."

Lorcan threw his head back and roared with laughter. "Hahahahaha!"

He mockingly slapped Chuck's cheek with the bank card. "You really are nothing."

He tossed the card onto the floor.

Stepping directly over Chuck's broken body, Lorcan walked out.

The moment the room cleared, Miles threw himself onto the floor, his voice cracking. "Sir."

"I can't reach Juno," Chuck whispered, his breaths short and shallow. "Track her location."

Something was wrong.

"I'll take the card to her. You need to get to a hospital immediately."

She couldn't bring herself to hand it back and act tough. She was entirely out of options.

This piece of plastic was the only thing on earth that could save her sister.

"I'll take you home."

Hearing him say that, Miles opened his mouth to protest, but stopped himself.

Juno’s heart was racing, her chest tight with an unbearable sense of dread. She pulled out her phone to check if Maia had made it home.

The tracking app pinged at a nearby hotel.

Her stomach plummeted.

...

When Juno finally kicked the door in, she found Maia lying perfectly still on the bed.

She was completely naked, surrounded by a pool of crimson, her pale skin covered in horrifying bruises.

Juno’s eyes turned bloodshot, practically weeping blood.

Beside the bed sat a camcorder on a tripod, aimed directly at the mattress. They hadn't even bothered to take it with them.

She didn't dare imagine the footage it held.

Maia had been tortured to death.

Standing right behind her, Chuck gently placed his hand over Juno’s eyes.

The nightmare ended there. Juno’s eyes snapped open, tears spilling silently into her hair.

The antidote was at Skyreach Tower.

She could feel it in her bones.