My mother vomited blood and died from the shock. He didn't show a shred of remorse. He just smiled and gripped my chin.
"Your mother got off easy, dying that quick. What she owed Agatha? That debt falls to you now."
To treat Agatha's depression, he used me as a test subject for experimental drugs and forced me to serve as her personal blood bank.
Five years of marriage. Five years of a living hell.
Until Agatha slit her wrists again and lost too much blood. She needed emergency transfusions.
He had me strapped down at the hospital. They drained nearly every drop of blood from my body.
When he saw me writhing in agony, he leaned down and held me.
"Elaine, just hold on a little longer. This is the last time."
"Once Agatha's better, we'll start over. You and me."
But what he didn't know was that five years of experimental drugs had destroyed every cell in my body.
I could no longer produce new blood.
The debt he claimed I owed — I would repay it with my life.
There would be no "starting over" for us. Not anymore.
——
I lay on the hospital bed, my body seizing, but my throat couldn't produce a single sound.
When no answer came, Blake stood up, irritation plain in his eyes.