Melinda and Philip seemed to age decades after leaving the room where the ice coffin had been placed. Their hair dropped in bunches and turned white overnight.
Chapter 16
Melinda had always taken care of her appearance but now looked haggard Her dark circles were prominent, and her wrinkles seemed to have doubled. Philip’s eyes also turned cloudy and hazy. They added an air of desolation and sorrow to his appearance.
“This is all Jasmine’s fault. Ro wouldn’t have ended up like this if not for her! I want her to pay!” Intense hatred appeared on Melinda’s face as she clutched Philip’s hand tightly.
He nodded. At their instruction, Jasmine was placed in the same prison cell that had once held Rowena. She trembled uncontrollably in the dim, damp cell. She was dressed in nothing but a thin prison uniform, which clung to her after a bucket of cold water had been poured over her.
“Let me out; I did nothing wrong! I’m the heiress of the Shore family, and they adore me! I’ll give you guys all the money you want once I get out of here, so let me out! Please!” she screamed while pounding on the door.
The prisoner in the cell beside hers looked numb, her gaze empty, but she couldn’t help snorting at Jasmine’s pleas. “How naive. She’s still dreaming after being locked in here!”
She turned on her side and continued sleeping. It wasn’t time for their labor reform session yet, so she could still rest. Anyone who’d been in there long enough knew there was no point in trying to fight back.
Just then, a prison warden came over due to the ruckus. He hit the door with his baton, reprimanding, “Shut up! What’s all this noise about? You call yourself the Shore family’s heiress? What a joke! They’re the ones who sent you in here! Mr. Shore himself has given us the order to ‘take good care‘ of you! We can do anything as long as you don’t die!”
He smiled ferally as he opened the door. Then, he sent Jasmine flying with a single kick. Without giving her time to catch her breath, he attacked her with a charged electric baton.
Just as she thought she would die, he stopped. Another prison warden entered the cell and threw a bag that reeked at her. Then, he and the first prison warden left the cell. As they walked out, one of them sliced the bag open.
Countless rats and insects crawled out of the bag and pounced on Jasmine, crazed by starvation. The blood that trickled down her body and her flesh itself were the sustenance they needed. She screamed in fright. “Get away from me, you beasts! Don’t touch me!”
She struggled like a madwoman and ran around the room, making herself messy and disheveled. She looked like a psychiatric patient who’d escaped from the asylum. She ran out of strength after a futile struggle and had no choice but to let the rats and insects roam over her body as they nibbled away.
A deep despair washed over her. For a moment, she felt death was a welcome respite.
At that moment, the cell door opened again. Jordan entered, looking frosty. He stopped at the door, not getting any closer to her.
He said, “This is what you deserve, Jasmine.”
Jasmine felt hope flare within her at the sight of him. She crawled toward him, wanting to beg him for mercy.
*
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