The Princess and the Pauper (Arabella) novel Chapter 1532

"Ah, who are you? What the hell!" Serena screamed, her voice sharp with shock. She couldn't believe that, for the second time in a month, she found herself being bagged and beaten to a pulp.

The assailants didn't utter a word in response. Instead, they doubled their efforts, raining down blows on her with a ferocity that seemed to multiply with each hit. Through the thick fabric of the sack, Serena could sense at least seven or eight people surrounding her.

"I'm Serena Collins, the Collins family heiress! This is right outside Reflections Villa."

She thought dropping her prestigious family name would deter them, but their punches only grew more ruthless.

Instinctively, Serena curled up, trying to protect her head, but kicks landed hard against her sides. The pain was so severe that she started to see stars and nearly passed out.

"Who sent you? How much are they paying you? I'll double it, triple it, hell—I'll pay ten times, twenty times more."

The group seemed to sneer at her offer, their fists and feet not showing the slightest sign of mercy.

Serena could do nothing but curl into a tighter ball.

It felt like her shoulders were being trampled into the ground, her limbs almost snapped from the force of the stomping, and her front and back bruised from countless kicks. This feeling of helplessness and fear was all too familiar, a nightmarish echo of the last time she was beaten by her aunt.

"Stop, please, enough already." Serena was in agony, "What do you want from me?"

They didn't cease their assault but intensified the beating instead, as if they intended on punishing her to the very brink of endurance.

"Stop, I beg of you." Serena couldn't help but plead, "Just stop, and we can talk this out."

They showed no intent of finishing their brutal work, and after a while, tossed something onto her body. Serena was on the verge of passing out from the pain when she felt something crawling on her.

Something slithered up her neck, accompanied by a sinister hissing sound.

Terrified, Serena ripped the sack from her head to find herself covered in snakes, their numbers astonishing.

She screamed and flailed wildly, but her wrist was promptly bitten several times.