Chapter 55

The dogs became agitated at the presence of a stranger.

As Violet entered the dog mill with closed eyes, the dogs went wild, crashing around.

She lost her footing and was knocked to the ground, with one of the dogs stepping harshly on the back of her hand.

Terrified, she yelled loudly and raced toward the fence for help, but ultimately collapsed on the ground.

There, she looked up at Lucius.

Her hair had come undone in the scuffle, clinging to her face, dampened with sweat, making her look utterly worn and haggard.

Lucius remained seated, observing the scene with a detached demeanor.

He sat in the dog mill like an emperor, remaining composed and unaltered despite being in such a filthy setting.

The dog mill’s manager kicked Violet without mercy, and chastised her. “Can’t handle this? Master Lucius once spent three days and nights chained up here because of you! He was bitten by starving dogs, and nearly died!*

This incident, which occurred four years ago, was still fresh in the minds of everyone at the farm. The resentment they had once harbored against Lucius was now redirected towards Agatha.

The manager grabbed Violet, offering a cruel ultimatum. “Either you fuck the dogs, or clean the dog mill.

Choose.”

Violet cast a wary glance at Lucius, who watched with an icy demeanor. There was a satanic air about him.

Gritting her teeth, she declared, “I’ll clean the dog mill.”

That day was a nightmare. She would later struggle to recall the details, only remembering that by the time she finished, her body was marred with wounds and her clothes were stained with spots of feces.

Lucius walked out of the building slowly, leaving the chilly atmosphere behind him.

Violet leaned against a wall in the corner and vomited violently, yet she stubbornly refrained from crying.

“Aggie,” a gentle voice came as someone supported her.

It was Naomi, her eyes brimming with tears, reddened with emotion.

“You’ve endured so much.”

Naomi embraced Violet, her tears flowing even more. Violet returned the embrace, feeling a bit of the breath of life.

“Was he always like this with you?”

Having a pack of wild dogs close in on you was terrifying beyond comprehension.

+15 BONOS “It’s our fault,” Naomi replied. She didn’t admit it directly, but her words implied she too had endured much suffering.

Naomi took Violet to a simple dormitory, and provided her with clean clothes. After cleaning up, Violet felt somewhat revived, as if she had been brought back from the brink.

When she couldn’t find Naomi, she got anxious and started looking for the latter. She soon found Naomi in a quiet corner, kneeling before Lucius and pleading, “The fault is mine. Master Lucius, please stop punishing Aggie. Direct your anger at me instead! I’m the one who failed to raise her properly.”

This was Violet’s first time witnessing Naomi beg for her daughter’s sake. She was deeply moved.

The pain and fear she had experienced seemed less significant in the face of Naomi’s protective stance.

Violet pondered how her life might have been different if her own mother were alive. Would her mother, like Naomi, have steadfastly shielded her from harm?

That evening, both Violet and Lucius shared the same helicopter ride back.

Silently gazing downwards, Violet eventually said, “Next time, if you want to punish me, please don’t do it in front of…my mom.”

Lucius turned around, fixing her with a meaningful look.

“You despise me, don’t you? Why drag others into this?” she asked, spreading her hands and feigning nonchalance.

As night descended, Violet lost track of the number of nights she had spent in this place since her arrival. Her words to Lucius earlier were partly motivated by not wanting to see a mother suffer, and partly from a sense of self-abandonment.

She had been missing for so long, yet her own family never cared about her whereabouts. Her situation mirrored Lucius’s past, and it filled her with despair.

The door creaked open, and Lucius swaggered in.

Violet’s eyes widened in surprise at his presence. “Did you…walk into the wrong room?”