Chapter 5

Aurora POV

My footsteps froze in place.

Not because I was afraid of being kicked out of the Owens family, but because I was still a member of the Owens family.

If I completely broke ties with Eric now, the marriage alliance with the Vance family might run into complications.

I had to endure it for another half month.

I took a deep breath, turned around, and sat on the far edge of the sofa.

Eric looked at my compromise, a flicker of cold satisfaction in his eyes.

"Mr. Reed, Aurora is all yours. You two chat nicely."

Eric stood up, wrapping an arm around Serena Miller's waist as he walked out.

As they reached the door, Serena glanced back at me, a malicious smirk playing on her lips.

The private room door closed, shutting out the outside world.

Victor Reed eagerly moved closer. The pungent smell of cheap cologne mixed with alcohol, making me nauseous.

"Aurora, don't be so cold. Mr. Owens has given you to me. Follow me, and I'll guarantee you a good life."

He said, picking up a glass of wine and handing it to me.

"Come, have a drink, let's be friends."

I coldly pushed his hand away.

"I don't drink. Mr. Reed, Eric is being crazy; you don't have to follow suit."

Victor Reed's face darkened, then he smirked again.

"I like feisty women like you. Today, you'll drink this wine whether you want to or not!"

He lunged forward, grabbing my chin and forcing the glass of wine towards my mouth.

I struggled desperately; wine spilled all over me, but a small gulp still went down my throat.

Victor Reed released me, looking at me triumphantly.

"That's right. This wine has some 'good stuff' in it. You'll soon see how amazing I am."

My heart sank.

The drug acted fast.

Within minutes, I felt my body burning, my limbs weak and powerless, and my vision began to blur.

Victor Reed grinned, unbuckling his belt, and lunged at me.

"Get off me!"

I bit my tongue, using the sharp pain to regain a sliver of consciousness.

The moment Victor Reed lunged, I grabbed the heavy crystal ashtray from the coffee table and, with all my might, smashed it hard onto his head.

"Ah!"

Victor Reed screamed, clutching his bleeding head, and collapsed onto the sofa.

I seized the opportunity, stumbled out of the private room, and ran out desperately.

The drug's effects intensified. My steps were unsteady, and I nearly fell several times.

The wound on my left shoulder reopened from the violent movements; blood stained the bandages, but I couldn't care less about the pain.

I don't know how I escaped the club, how I hailed a cab, or how I got back to the Owens mansion.

When I pushed open the Owens family's front door, I was met not with my mother's concern, but with an interrogation.

The living room was brightly lit.

Eric sat in the center of the sofa, his face iron-grey.

Serena Miller stood beside him, a smug look of schadenfreude on her face.

And opposite them, Victor Reed's parents were pointing their fingers at me, cursing me.

"Mr. Owens, our Reed family came to discuss this partnership *solely* out of respect for you! But this little slut actually caused my son a concussion! Today, your Owens family must give us an explanation, or we'll call the police and have her thrown in jail!"

I lay on the floor, gasping for breath, my whole body burning with discomfort.

"He... he drugged me..."

I weakly argued.

"Drugged you?"

Victor Reed's mother shrieked.

"What kind of women does my son not have that he'd need to drug you? Clearly, you, this little slut, seduced him and then attacked him viciously!"

Serena Miller also spoke up opportunely.

"Yes, Aurora, Mr. Reed is so wealthy, why would he do such a thing? You must have just been too hot-headed. Why don't you apologize to them?"

I looked up, staring intently at Eric.

"Eric, do you believe me?"

A complex emotion flickered in Eric's eyes.

But in the end, he spoke coldly.

"Aurora, you've disappointed me greatly. I gave you a chance to do something for the Owens family, but you repaid my kindness with malice, almost causing a death."

He stood up, looking down at me, like he was looking at an incorrigible piece of trash.

"Since you're so disobedient, don't blame me for not cherishing old ties. I can only punish you according to family rules!"

Family rules.

Owens family rules for punishment involved a whip with barbed tips.

I looked at him in disbelief, my heart completely dead in an instant.

"Eric, I still have a knife wound..."

My voice was hoarse.

"That's what you get for bringing it on yourself!"

Eric coldly interrupted me.

"Kneel!"

Two bodyguards walked over, forcibly pressing me to the ground.

Eric took the whip and, without hesitation, savagely struck my back.

Skin ripped open, flesh exposed.

I bit my lip hard, not uttering a single scream.

Each lash drew beads of blood.

After ten lashes, my back was a bloody mess, compounded by the reopened knife wound on my left shoulder, staining a large patch of the carpet.

I lay on the floor like a dead dog, even breathing felt painful.

"Lock her in the basement."

Eric threw down the blood-stained whip, his voice devoid of any warmth.

"No one is to give her water or food without my permission. Let her reflect properly!"

The basement door was heavily slammed shut.

Darkness completely swallowed me.

I curled up in the cold, damp corner, feeling my life draining away, yet my heart was filled with relief.

Eric, in this life, I have finally repaid what I owed you, principal and interest.

Only three more days until the Vance family comes for me.