[Flashback]
Kathrine had no idea how long she had been sitting there.
Time had blurred into something shapeless—minutes or hours, she couldn't tell. Her small body trembled as she curled into herself, her face buried in her knees. Her shoulders shook uncontrollably, quiet sobs escaping her lips again and again, as if they had become the only sound she knew how to make.
It had been a day since she was taken.
A whole day since she had last seen her home… her father… safety.
Fear wrapped tightly around her chest, suffocating her with every passing second.
The "bad uncle" hadn't given her food. Not even water.
Her throat burned from crying, her stomach ached from hunger, and her tiny heart felt like it might break at any moment.
She had begged.
Again and again.
But he never listened.
"Argh… this little brat!"
The sudden roar shattered the silence like glass.
"What will it take for you to stop crying?!" Collin snapped, completely losing control as Kathrine's sobs continued.
