Chapter 73: Where Monsters Are Born
Danielle's cheek felt like it was being roasted from Ethan's slap. Her ears started to ring and the lights above her hummed like insects feeding on her fear.
The strap pressed into her ribs so tightly that each breath felt like a battle lost before it even began.
Ethan who was standing before her and admired his work like a sculptor who believed pain was art.
Danielle's pulse fluttered weakly. She wished she could hate him without shaking, wishing she could erase the fear stuck in her bones. But everything about Ethan was designed to break strong hearts.
"Every time you speak back to me," he spoke gently, "someone pays. Sometimes you pay. Sometimes someone else pays. But someone always pays."
Danielle lowered her gaze, but not to submit, but to remember that she still had something inside herself to protect-dignity, identity, and hope that Theo lived.
Ethan noticed her silence and smiled. Not pleased, of course…but he was curious.
