Chapter 20
The basement reeked of mold and rot. Damp air clung to every surface like a second skin.
Madeline knelt in the center of the room, her arms shackled and strung high by chains on either side.
The white dress she once wore had turned into something stiffer than iron, blacker than coal–just a filthy rag clinging to her bones.
Her hair was matted and tangled, plastered to her scalp in clumps, so filthy it was hard to tell where her hair ended and the grime began. When the door opened and a sliver of light cut through the dark, she slowly lifted her head, almost mechanically.
Layers of dark circles stacked beneath her hollow eyes, her face so caked with filth it was hard to read any expression.
Years of total isolation had stripped her of language. Her vocal cords had withered in the silence.
But when she saw Savannah step into the light, she let out a broken, animal–like cry–pitiful, cracked sounds that didn’t even sound human anymore.
A sudden spark lit up her once–dull eyes.
For a moment, Savannah couldn’t even recognize what she was looking at.
“What… is this thing?”
Grayson smiled proudly. “That’s Madeline. The bitch who tried to ruin your life.”
“You hated it when I was with her, didn’t you, Savannah?”
“Well, the second you left, I locked her down here. Been keeping her for you–just waiting for you to come back and finish it.”
“She’s a complete wreck now. Useless. Do whatever you want.”
Terror burst into Madeline’s eyes. She shook her head frantically, pleading with her eyes, making strained, broken sounds as she stared at Savannah. Grayson had promised. He said once Savannah returned, he’d let her go.
Why was he going back on his word?
Now that she was in Savannah’s hands–this woman who hated her so deeply–there was no way she’d survive.
But to her shock, Savannah only said coldly, “Break one of her legs and toss her out.”
She and Madeline had never had real beef.
All that scheming, the lies, the resentment–it all started and ended with Grayson.
He was the root of everything.
The second those words left Savannah’s lips, Madeline’s eyes filled with tears. She looked at her like she was her savior. But a heartbeat later, Grayson drove a knife straight into her chest.
Grayson turned to Savannah, his eyes blazing with a madness that reeked of bloodlust.
“She hurt you, Savvy. She made you suffer. I would never let someone like that live.”
In that moment, Savannah knew–Grayson wasn’t just unhinged. He was completely insane,
