He didn’t speak. He just stared at me, his gaze sharp enough to cut through flesh, as though he wanted me to die with Grandma. I twisted against the chair, desperate to explain, but my mouth and limbs were bound with tape.
After a moment, one of the bodyguards handed Walter a glowing hot branding iron.
He stood, pulled off his tie, took the iron, and circled me like a predator.
“I can’t believe I kept a snake like you in my house! If I hadn’t come home early, Grandma would be dead by now because of you!”
“All I did was have dinner with Carmen, and you stooped so low as to poison Grandma just to drag me back home? I really underestimated how vicious you are!”
His eyes glinted with cruelty as he pressed the red-hot iron against my face without hesitation.
The pain was searing, ripping a scream from deep within me—but no sound escaped my gagged mouth.
“Grandma treated you so well. Do you know why my parents never made things hard for you? It was all for her sake. And you dared try to kill her? Then you can die first!”
I thrashed until the chair toppled, and Walter crouched beside me.
He ripped the tape from my mouth and grabbed my chin, forcing me to face him.