In an instant, crimson blood gushed forth, splattering across the floor.
Garnett Brown’s entire body convulsed violently. His eyes bulged wide with terror, the kind of gut-churning fear that seemed to swallow up the last trace of sanity in his gaze.
“No—please, I’m begging you, let me go! I’ll do anything you ask, just—just spare my life!” Garnett sobbed and pleaded, his voice raw with desperation.
Mandy stood to the side, her expression as cold and bottomless as a midnight lake.
She could still see Claire in her mind’s eye—lying pale and lifeless on the sterile operating table.
“If I let you go, then who will bring Claire back to me?”
“My Claire was born into privilege. She should have grown up surrounded by love, never wanting for anything. But because of you—because of the two of you—her life was ruined, stolen from her before it even began.”
Mandy’s voice dropped lower with every word, her hand never pausing as she drove the blade down again.
Garnett’s screams echoed off the walls, each one more agonized than the last.
“Claire was the best person I ever knew, and she’s gone—gone because of you. Why should you get to live when she’s not even here anymore?”
“You deserve to die. Both of you. You belong in hell—!”
The room was thick with the metallic tang of blood.
For three long hours, Mandy dissected Garnett Brown alive, methodically, never letting him slip into unconsciousness.
He watched every cut, every moment as his body was torn apart—forced to witness his own death inch by inch.
Sophia saw it all. The terror was so overwhelming she couldn’t move, her eyes glazed over, her body rigid—like a marionette with its strings cut.
When Mandy finally looked down at what was left of Garnett’s body, her face was utterly blank.
She turned to Sophia. “Your turn.”
Those two simple words struck Sophia like a bolt of lightning, snapping her out of her catatonic state.
“No, please—no!” Sophia shook her head frantically, tears streaming down her face as she crumpled to the floor.
“I’m begging you. Please, just let me go.”
Mandy watched her coldly, unmoved by the sobs and pleas.
“So, even monsters are afraid to die, huh?” Mandy’s voice was icy. “Turns out you’ll grovel like a dog if it means saving your own skin.”
Comments
The readers' comments on the novel: Where Petals of Vengeance Bloom