Thunder rumbled in the dark sky.
As lightning flashed overhead, the blustery wind lifted up Fiona's skirt. She tried to stay calm as she looked at the sight in front of her. Around twenty to thirty armed bodyguards were standing behind Charles with their guns aimed at her.
Charles walked toward her with a light smile on his face, as if meeting an old friend at the park. "What's the matter? Are you surprised that I'm here?"
As Charles inched closer, Fiona stepped further away from him, her face turning as white as a sheet. Trembling with fear, she asked him, "What are you doing here?"
Charles laughed mirthlessly as he raised his head and looked up at Cherry Grove Residence. "This is my home. Why shouldn't I be here? But you, on the other hand... what are you doing here? T Country isn't safe at night. You shouldn't be running around at this hour."
Fiona opened her mouth to say something, but stopped and reevaluated the situation she was in. She closed her eyes, feeling disheartened and upset. But when she cleared her mind and slowly opened her eyes, she had a strong and determined expression on her face. "You've known the truth for quite a while now, haven't you? You knew about my plan to escape and you were waiting here to catch me, weren't you?"
"Fiona, sometimes you're so brilliant that it almost pains me." Charles nodded. "I just came here to see if you would really go back to Spencer. It looks like the answer is yes. Be that as it may, you have a price to pay for your choice."
As soon as he finished his words, Charles raised his hands in the air and clapped loudly. Two bodyguards stepped out of the darkness, dragging a woman with torn clothes and unkempt hair.
As the street lamp gradually illuminated her face, Fiona realized that the woman was none other than Leona!
"Leona?" she cried, unable to control herself. When she tried to rush to Leona's side, the bodyguards stopped her.
Charles stared at Leona coldly and watched her get knocked down to the ground by his bodyguards like she was a bag of sand.
"Leona! Are you okay?" Fiona cried, desperately struggling against the bodyguards as she tried to save Leona. The sight of the curled up Leona on the ground was too much for her to bear. "Charles! What are you doing to her?"
Charles merely shrugged and smirked in response. Leona clutched her top with her scrawny hands and groaned, "I... I feel terrible..." Before she could finish her words, she completely collapsed on the ground and groveled to the bodyguards to stop hitting her.
At that point, she was devoid of her honor and dignity. She grabbed onto the pair of feet she could reach and begged helplessly. "Please..."
At this moment, Charles casually turned to Fiona. "Do you know what was Leona's mistake? She knew about your plan to escape, but she chose to keep mum and pretended to be unaware of it! I don't need someone who doesn't obey me."
Then, he raised his leg and brutally kicked Leona in her abdomen.
"Leona!" Fiona screamed in a mixture of horror and agony.
Leona groaned in pain as her body rolled a few feet away. "Leona!"
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