24 Little betrayal- II

A sudden jerk to her neck awoke victoria. Gasping for a breath she opened her eyes only to come face-to-face with Mark.

It did not take her even seconds to realise what had happened.

They all had come here, and she had still been sleeping. They had caught her sleeping with the boy that they were keeping prisoner downstairs when she was getting the quality treatment.

"So, that's why the little whore has been?" He snarled, making her whimper in fear, "playing house with the prisoner? That's not very nice of you."

When did they come in? How the hell did she not hear them? Why in the world had she slept for so long and why here out of all the places?!

"What to do with you?" he mused and Victoria almost turned into a puddle on that spot. "because we can't let a traitorous bitch like you go unpunished."

"I.." she hiccuped, Unable to get a word out of her throat that was choked up on cries.

This was the worst thing that could possibly happen. They had caught her, red handed, with the boy that was receiving the worst end of the stick.

"I'll let Madam know," someone said from behind Mark, " Don't hurt her, mark. You know better than that."

"I am waiting!" Mark snapped. Victoria flinched the way he yelled. This was the time she felt the closest to death.

While Marc continued to argue with the man, Victoria sneaked a glance at the boy.

He was huddled into the corner, not that she would blame him for that. But he was already looking at her and a thought popped into her mind. Why had he not woken her up the moment the cars came?

With how they drove the cars, he must've heard something. If he had not heard the cars, then he must have heard them coming down the stairs and that should have given her enough opportunity to hide.

Could you possibly be thinking too much into this or did he not give her his support the very moment she needed it the most?

Mark squeezed her collar even more, cutting off her air supply for a quick moment before she heard the thumping of footsteps down the stairs and the same man appeared at the door.

"Let her go," She heard the woman say and for a moment Victoria's soul left her body.

Mark left her, then he left the prison cell all together along with the man who stepped out of the cell but remained in the view.

The woman, who was again wearing red and someone that Victoria still did not know the name of, came closer to the girl and just for once, Victoria hoped that she was going to get a reprimanding.

A sudden Sharp pain came to her cheek and her face wiped the other direction as she winced. Her hand reached to cover the area which she could feel burning and stinking. She had just been slapped…

"Look at him, little girl." The woman whispered before grabbing Victoria's jaw and pushing it into the direction of the boy. "Look at him, this is the boy who you have been feeding behind my back, giving him the food I brought you and this is what he did to you. You could not even warn you that we had come."

She chuckled, "You showed him care, you showed him kindness and what did he give you? Nothing. Not even cruelty. And definitely not loyalty."

Loyalty. What kind of foreign concept was that now?

"That's why I saw something in you but I guess it's too early for that. Learn from your mistakes, little girl. People like him will never care for you, so you don't care for them. Understood?"

If it was out of spite or true understanding of the situation, Victoria nodded anyway.

"Now," the woman smiled and left her jaw before standing to her height. "Because you understood what I wanted to say, I will give you one thing to redeem yourself. And that is to decide what punishment we should give him?"

Punishment?

The way the news had been inserted in his foot and a knife wound, never mind the fact that he had also gotten beaten repeatedly from them, what more of a punishment could they give him that he would actually survive?

"None," she whispered tiredly, "please none." Even if she wanted to punish him in the tiniest part of her mind, she was not strong enough to do it. Mentally not physically, Victoria was not in a condition to punish anyone.

"I see," The sudden change Of expressions on the face of the woman could not be missed. She was sharp, just once again. "You have not learnt what I wanted to teach you. So you will get a punishment. Come after me, little girl."

Without waiting for any word of reply from Victoria, the woman turned around and marched out of the prison cell. Before long, Victoria could hear her going over the wooden stairs just as the man followed her.

drained of every last bit of energy in her body, Victoria sagged her shoulders before looking in the direction of the boy who was still sitting, hurtled into the corner yet staring at her.

"See?" She chuckled , raising her hand and pointing to the direction of the door, "that's what happens to kind people."

Shaking her head to herself, she started to move, slowly but with some willpower so that this would not be continued for long.

"I'll protect you," she heard from behind her and stopped briefly.

"You are a kind person, Victoria. And I will protect you."

She chuckled at that. Without turning around, she replied, "for now, you just make me laugh."