7 Chapter 7
They bound Tessa’s hands and feet, forcing her onto all fours. 1
She scrambled backward, her voice trembling. “No! I didn’t! There was nothing wrong
with my lungs! Isabella’s lungs aren’t in my body!”
“What did you say?!”
Vincent floored the accelerator, the car hurtling toward the Castellano family estate.
Luke was stunned. He clutched Vincent’s hand. “Papa, does Mommy still not want to forgive us?”
Outnumbered and terrified, Tessa had no choice but to obey.
The moment he spoke, raw terror seized Tessa.
Five minutes passed, but the second floor remained still and silent.
“Vincent… I’ll apologize to her, I swear! Please, just slow down!”
Aside from the sound of their three ragged breaths, the manor was utterly silent.
Inside the Maybach, the engine roared.
The powerful G-force slammed Tessa back into her seat. She couldn’t help but
She moved her bound limbs inch by inch, crawling across the marble floor.
cry out.
“I know I was wrong. I was wrong to let Tessa handle it, wrong to let your sister die locked away. I never should have made you give up your lung, and God, I never should have scattered your mother’s ashes.”
Tessa shook her head, stumbling backward.
A dozen tall, imposing Soldato flooded into the manor like a tidal wave.
Unfortunately, it wasn’t her decision.
Vincent’s eyes widened, a look of pure shock on his face.
15.08
Luke ripped the tape from her mouth.
Vincent stared at the empty hall, his lips a thin, hard line. His voice echoed in the vast space. “Isabella, it’s me!”
He snarled, “On your knees. Crawl. And apologize to my mother!”
“You’re already on your knees. Now crawl and beg my mother for forgiveness!”
As she crawled, she screamed, “Isabella! I’m sorry! I was wrong!”
The words had barely left her mouth when Luke, his face twisted in disgust, slapped a
piece of duct tape over her lips.
They screeched to a halt at the estate moments later.
A heavy hand pressed down on her shoulders.
When her shouts faded, Vincent and Luke stared up at the landing of the second-floor staircase, their faces etched with anticipation.
They waited for the woman who had always silently endured everything to appear.
“It’s all my fault. Every last thing. Please, just come out.”
A sharp clap echoed through the hall.
“That’s right,” he whispered, a horrifying realization dawning. “Your lungs. They belong to Isabella. You have to give them back.”
A minute passed. Luke panicked. He trotted over to Tessa. “It’s because I made Mom crawl for you. She’s angry, that’s why she won’t come out.”
No! She would never crawl for Isabella! She wouldn’t be humiliated like that!
“I shouldn’t have lied about your sister and the Don of the Torrino family! I shouldn’t have let her die in the cold storage! And I especially shouldn’t have let Vincent scatter your mother’s ashes! This is all my fault! It has nothing to do with Vincent and Luke! If you want to blame someone, blame me!”
With a sharp click, the entire manor was flooded with light.
The instant the car stopped, Vincent dragged Tessa out and hauled her into the manor.
Tessa didn’t dare touch the tape. She could only let out muffled whimpers as she fumbled
for her seatbelt and gripped the door handle.
One minute, two minutes…
“Shut up, you whore!”
He turned, his gaze fixing on Tessa’s chest.
Vincent didn’t answer.
