Leland hated Winifred.
He hated how easily she could provoke his emotions, how she didn’t take his love seriously, how she treated him like any other man, and most of all, he hated that she never had any feelings for him. How could her heart be so cold and hard?
Leland was smart enough to know that Winifred was intentionally behaving this way, trying to make him despise her.
Did she think that if she degraded herself and became dirty, he wouldn’t want her anymore? Winifred underestimated his feelings.
When Winifred heard the conversation at the door, she shrank in fear. She fell off the bed, but her arms were still tied to the headboard, hanging in a strange position as if they would break with just a little force.
Her back scraped against the edge of the bed, causing a burning pain. Winifred tried to comfort herself, telling herself not to be afraid and to forget about the pain. It was nothing. She gritted her teeth and endured it…
She tried to brainwash herself, dealing with her ambivalent emotions. On one hand, she was weak, sensitive, and timid; on the other hand, she was impulsive and restless.
The weak personality suddenly emerged, and no amount of brainwashing could suppress it. If self-comforting brainwashing worked, she wouldn’t have suffered from daily episodes back in Midlands.
She struggled with all her might, but her wrists felt no pain. Leland had tied them too securely, and no matter how hard she struggled, it was futile.
Helpless and unable to move, Winifred sat on the floor curled up like an armadillo waiting for fate’s arrangement.
The long wait was unbearable. Winifred heard footsteps again as Leland entered through the door.
“Don’t you prefer it on the floor rather than on the bed?” Leland didn’t lift Winifred onto the bed. His eyes roamed over her body without looking at her injured hand.
As he leaned down next to her, Winifred visibly trembled. She pretended to be calm and strong but deep down she was timid like a mouse.
Her lips lost their color, and the two pale petals trembled as they lightly touched each other. Due to nervousness, she seemed unsure of how to breathe. Every breath caused her body to tremble. She swallowed saliva and kept her shoulders hunched, lowering her head with her chin tucked in: “What… What do you want…”
“What do I want?” Leland seemed to have heard a joke as he laughed with a hoarse voice. “Don’t you understand what I want? I’ve told you before that besides making you leave, I’ll give you anything you want. If you want men, I’ll give them to you personally. But I don’t think one man can satisfy your promiscuity. So I’ll personally pick a few for you tonight to satisfy your desires!”
With her eyes covered, Winifred couldn’t see Leland’s menacing expression or his mocking gaze.
Winifred suddenly raised her head and kicked towards Leland’s direction. Her feet flailed on the bed as she didn’t know where she could go. Her hands were bound and struggling at this moment was like a wild bird trapped in a cage desperately flapping its wings to fly out. Even if it ended up battered and covered in blood, it still fought relentlessly to escape.
As she struggled, someone arrived outside. The sound of footsteps varied in intensity but Winifred couldn’t distinguish who they belonged to. When the door closed, it seemed like there were many people in the room.
For a moment, Winifred dared not move. She felt a mix of shame, anger, and sadness welling up inside her. Tears uncontrollably streamed down her face until two spots on her tie became wet from crying.
Leland looked at Winifred biting her lower lip while sobbing uncontrollably. He could imagine how red her eyes were beneath the tie.
Winifred knew how to use anything that benefited her. At first, she disdained crying but after being mistreated on the bed so many times and realizing that her tears had some effect on Leland’s behavior towards her, she resorted to crying as a means of gaining sympathy.
Before today, if Leland saw her crying, he would definitely comfort and indulge her. But now all he felt was disgust.
Winifred was like a snow wolf he had brought back from the wild-seemingly obedient like a dog until one day it would suddenly bite him and run faster than anyone else. A living white-eyed wolf.
Thinking this way, they truly were a perfect match. Didn’t Winifred used to treat him like a little puppy? Birds of a feather flock together indeed.
“Even if you beg me now, I won’t spare you,” Leland declared coldly.
He commanded those around him: “Give me the medicine.”
What medicine?
As if knowing what she was thinking, Leland answered: “I know you’re afraid of pain, so I specially prepared painkillers and anesthetics for you.”
A pill was forced into her mouth. Winifred wanted to spit it out but Leland pressed down on her tongue root. The bitter taste of the pill spread in her throat as she gagged but couldn’t vomit it out.
Her tears flowed even more fiercely.
In the darkness, she felt something approaching her mouth. She shook her head but another pair of hands held it firmly in place while others controlled her legs and shoulders. The hand gripping her tongue should be Leland’s.
Finally understanding what was near her mouth-it was a needle or more accurately a syringe-Winifred’s tongue stung as it lost sensation in her mouth. She stuck out her tongue helplessly; this time she couldn’t even utter a complete sentence let alone bite it.
Was it really an anesthetic? Winifred didn’t know; perhaps due to fear or maybe because of confusion caused by an already hazy mind.
“This way you won’t feel any pain anymore, and I won’t have to worry about you biting your tongue off later,” said Leland with a touch of sarcasm in his voice.
At this moment, Winifred seemed trapped in a nightmare. She heard Leland ordering a group of people to approach her; they tore off her clothes while she couldn’t even scream. The eyes beneath the tie should be wide open-two black holes oozing icy liquid.
It hurts… It’s so disgusting…
Winifred struggled silently while “they” whispered vulgar words into her ear; “they” forced food into her mouth; “they” made her suffer…