Chapter 2
933 Words
She did not expect Donovan's punishment to come so quickly.
"I am sorry, Mrs. Caldwell, but your bank accounts have been frozen. We cannot dispense any medication to you," the staff at the hospital payment counter informed her with a regretful tone.
After hesitating for a long moment, she said, "Then cancel the prescription."
The nurses nearby stared in shock. The wife of the powerful Mr. Caldwell could not even afford painkillers that cost merely three hundred and twenty bucks.
As she walked out of the hospital, Donovan's driver stepped toward her.
"Mr. Caldwell said that if you want access to any funds or medication, you must go and apologize to Miss Seraphina Carrington."
When she arrived at Donovan's company, whispers followed her from the employees behind her.
"So what if she's Mrs. Caldwell?" one woman scoffed. "She still has to grovel to the woman her husband favors."
"She can't even pay three hundred dollars and has to beg Seraphina just to get it," another sneered. "What a pathetic sight."
"That's what happens when Seraphina holds her life in her hands," a third woman said with a smirk. "After all, she's the only one who can save her. Got her completely wrapped around her little finger."
"Haha!" the group burst into laughter.
They followed her all the way to the top floor of the building, the private lounge reserved only for Donovan and Seraphina.
As soon as she stepped inside, she saw Seraphina sharing all the humiliating private details about her life with the group gathered there.
"Mrs. Caldwell, I was just telling everyone a few little stories. You don't mind, do you?" Seraphina said.
Everyone in the room turned to look at her with mocking and curious eyes.
"Yesterday, Donovan told us that you were excellent at acting like a dog. We were all wondering if it was true. Why don't you give us a little demonstration?"
As she spoke, the woman pointed toward a large pet cage standing in the corner.
Instantly, the terrifying memories from three years before rushed back over her.
She fought hard to control her rising anger.
"Don't push this too far..."
"If she asks you to crawl, you crawl. It's not like you haven't done it before."
The voice came from behind her... Donovan's voice, firm and commanding, leaving no room for argument.
She remembered clearly, back then, when those gangsters forced her to strip naked and crawl inside a dog cage, Donovan grabbed a brick and smashed it against their heads.
"I will make every single one of you pay for this with your blood!" he shouted then.
Now, standing in front of his entire staff, he was the one ordering her to crawl into that cage.
Her heart pounded wildly with grief and rage, and suddenly blood began to flow heavily from her nose.
For a split second, a flicker of hesitation and regret crossed Donovan's eyes.
He turned toward Seraphina and said softly, "Maybe we should stop here for today."
Seraphina's expression turned into a deliberate, playful pout.
"You promised I could decide what to do with her. If she doesn't crawl, I won't be happy. Who do you choose... her or me?"
For a brief moment, a tiny spark of hope rose in her chest.
After all, she was his wife, the woman he had sworn to protect and cherish for a lifetime.
"You, of course. I choose you," Donovan said immediately, stepping forward to wrap an arm around Seraphina's waist, smiling indulgently.
That small spark of hope shattered instantly, turning into a bitter joke.
She sank slowly to her knees, and while the whole room laughed and jeered, she crawled forward and slipped inside the cage.
"Acts like such a high-and-mighty lady, but look how easily she lets us touch her. Have you seen her figure? She must be a full D-cup. Incredible!"
Dozens of hands reached through the metal bars, touching and grabbing at her.
She pulled herself into the furthest corner, trembling and defenseless.
All the traumas she had suffered in the past felt like giant hands closing around her throat, choking her breath away.
When she was finally allowed to come out, the combined weight of her physical illness and the mental torture left her looking weak and broken.
Yet she still managed to walk over, her hands shaking, and handed the divorce agreement to him.
"Sign this. It will make her even happier," she said.
The smile on Donovan's face froze.
Without a word, he snatched the document and signed his name across the bottom.
"You think you can survive without me and Seraphina? I will wait for the day you come crawling back, begging me to take you back!" he snapped.
Then he called out, "From this moment forward, do not release a single cent of money to her!" With that, he turned his back and walked away with his arm still around Seraphina, never glancing back.
All around her, people began making bets... guessing how long it would take before the pain became too much, and she came back on her knees to be Mrs. Caldwell again.
Excruciating pain almost knocked her out.
She made it downstairs only to realize the blood from her nose had dried and crusted all the way down to her chin.
She swallowed two cheap tablets she carried with her to try and stop the bleeding.
Just then, her phone rang. It was the hospital calling.
"Mrs. Caldwell, your mother watched a video earlier and suffered a sudden heart attack. Her condition is critical... She is fighting for her life!"
- Writer
