The Princess and the Pauper (Arabella) novel Chapter 1675

“It’s almost your turn,” Carol's words sent a shiver down Katherine's spine. What should she do? They were in the middle of nowhere; how could she cry for help?

She should have screamed for help when Carol shoved them into the trunk of the car and took them to this place. She should have called out, had her relatives call the cops.

Dennis was relentlessly beating Meredith, having harbored a grudge against him for ages. Meredith, terrified, wailed, "Mom, help me please, mom."

Maureen was too preoccupied with her own pain, cradling her head and shouting, "Don't hit my boy."

"Mama, help me." Meredith cowered behind his mother, trembling as he pleaded with Dennis and Carol, "The thing that happened back then was my mom's doing, not mine. Sure, I ran someone over with my car, even stole some cash, but I never hurt you. There's a rightful owner of every debt; just let me go. Whatever scores you need to settle, take it up with my mom."

Katherine nearly passed out from anger upon hearing this, "Meredith, are you even human? Mom's getting beaten to a pulp; she could die!"

"Why drag someone else down with her if she's about to die?" Meredith shouted back, "I'm the heir to the family fortune; I can't get into trouble."

"Please, just spare him." Maureen, already badly beaten, instinctively protected her son as she begged Carol, "He's innocent."

"Did you hear that? My own mom says it's not my fault. Can I go now? I swear I won't call the cops. I'll pretend I know nothing about what happened here."

It was then Maureen's heart sank piece by piece, forcing out a bitter smile. To think the son she had cherished for so many years didn't care if she lived or died. Katherine was equally disappointed in her brother.

The sound of bone shattering was chilling. Meredith screamed, the sound echoing through the valley.

"Don't hurt my boy." Before Maureen could finish, Carol delivered a vicious kick to her knee.

"Mom," Katherine couldn't believe it. The once quiet and seemingly meek siblings were ruthless - far from the pushovers she had thought they were; they were downright lunatics.

After crippling them, Carol and her brother left them with the driver's family, who, upon seeing Maureen, couldn't hold back their fury and lashed out with punches and kicks. The chaos subsided only when the sound of police sirens filled the air and the perpetrators were taken away.

"Mom, may you find peace in the afterlife," Carol looked at the smiling photo on the gravestone, bowed deeply, and whispered her silent farewell.