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This chapter contains an explicit writing of abuse.

I advise you to not read this chapter if you find this topic too triggering.

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It was a whip.

With no hesitation did she pull her arm back and swing it onto Violet. Violet shrieked in response, feeling the wrath of the whip wounding her delicate skin.

"Your screams sound very blissful. I want to hear more." Audrey taunted as she raised the whip that sliced through the air, and crashed it down onto a gasping Violet.

Adrian knew he needed to do something fast to save Violet. He couldn't watch the disastrous sight.

"Stop!" He shouted at the top of his lungs, so loud that he stirred Darcy out of unconsciousness. Darcy regained his consciousness by coughing. His body, like Adrian's was drowsy. But he managed to open his eyes and encounter the scene before him. He yelled in horror as soon as his eyes landed on Violet.

Adrian wanted to distract everyone from Violet. Knowing that his voice would sound lower with the cloth around his mouth, he shouted louder. Luckily everyone heard him and stopped and turned around.

Mark and Christy eyed Adrian whilst keeping hold on Violet, who twisted her head toward Adrian, noticing him. "Well, well, well, look at who decided to join us." She sneered whilst throwing her weapon away at Mark.

"Adrian... what's happening?" Darcy whispered from beside Adrian, perplexed at the scene. Adrian ignored him since it wasn't the best time to answer a question. Instead, his attention was focused upon Audrey, who had hauled Violet up by her hair and dragged her as she sauntered towards him.

Violet didn't even have the energy in her to resist Audrey's force. The only thing that she could do was stare at Adrian, hoping to get some safety while drowning in those sapphire blue eyes. "I would've been pleased to meet you two, but that changed. My hitmen did a good job, bringing you both here. But it did cost us a very costly sum of money."

A trail of blood painted the mud as Violet was dragged ruthlessly. "For that I'll have to make this quicker. We need to get out of the country soon anyway."

When Audrey reached Adrian, she pulled the fabric down his and Darcy's mouths. Then she scrunched Violet's hair with her dagger like nails and shoved her face at Adrian. "Tell me Adrian, did you fall in love with this?" She pointed at Violet as if she were an object.

"Let her go...d-don't hurt her." Adrian stuttered, his fists clenching at the sight of Violet up close. Blood was dripping from the side of her lips, nose and an open wound near her jaw.

Adrian saw the true flicker of Audrey's demonic thoughts as she continued to talk. She was truly crazy. "I thought that we were on the same team. But seeing you both cuddled up in that park, explains another story."

Audrey paused and casted a glare at Violet. "I'm so sorry that she has you wrapped around her sl*tty finger. It's sad, Adrian, but I'll give you a second chance cause I know she brainwashed you."

Adrian saw tears pour down Violet's face. He grit his teeth at the scene whilst his heart was crushing. "She didn't brainwash me you f*cking b*tch." As the words left his mouth, he felt a force slam against his cheek.

"Shut up!" Mark aggressively questioned as he kept punching at Adrian's face. Adrian felt every punch, grunting as he prevented the urge to shout in agony, though he didn't care about it. He remained expressionless, knowing that he wasn't even tolerating half of what Violet had been.

Darcy was at a lost of words for what he was seeing. It was like he was living through a real crime movie. His best friend was being tortured by her own family right before him. "Why a-are you doing t-this?" He managed to squeak out as he eyed Violet, who was pleading with Mark to stop punching Adrian.

Audrey smirked at Darcy as her eyes lit up in excitement. "Violet made mistake. She was born, and it was all her fault. She stole Farris away from me. She needs to receive her punishment for all of her mistakes. Mark, you can stop." She finished explaining and mentioned for Mark to stop his assault on Adrian. By the end of it, Adrian's face was bloody.

"Now, since you've given me a bad impression of yourselves, I will have hurt you two too. But don't worry, it won't be planned as bad as it will be for Violet." Audrey giggled, she had a devilish aura surrounding her.

"I'll give you as much money as you want if you leave Violet." Adrian proposed, a cold shiver shooting down his spine. He knew that something foul was lurking beneath Audrey's words.

Audrey clicked her tongue at him disappointedly, as if he made a mistake. "Your love for her doesn't change my mind. I don't care about your money anymore. It's all about revenge. My revenge. Which I will fulfill today." She had a distant look on her face as she spoke, a look that resembled victory.

Christy appeared from behind Mark, her eyes piercing through Violet's head. "Mother, I think that we should let our dear princess say her last words." She reached forward and stepped on Violet's leg, earning a weak whimper.

A proud smile grew onto Mark's face. "Good idea Christy!" Audrey shrugged her shoulders and sighed dramatically. "If you say so." She nudged Violet forward, causing her to loose her balance and fall over onto Adrian. "Go on."

Violet used her elbows to push herself up, her eyes refilling with tears when they made contact with Adrian's eyes. "I'm s-so sorry, A-Addie and D-Darcy, this i-is all m-my f-f-fault." She paused and averted her gaze to Darcy who shook his head with widened eyes, before turning back.

"Addie, I-I love y-you. If I don't make i-it-" Adrian cut her off harshly, his jaw clenching. "Don't say it, Violet. I'll save you." he glared at her, trying to reflect his anger but the tears that trailed down his cheek proved his expressions wrong. He felt hurt for her cause she was suffering in pain and he couldn't do anything.

Audrey was having a laugh amongst herself, viewing the love exchange between them.

Violet knew the power her family had, they could kill her. And even though she wanted to say it, she realized that Adrian disliked the thought. She wanted to tell him that if they get their revenge, he needed to take care of Alora. But instead she grimly smiled and leaned forward to place a kiss on Adrian's lips.

"I love you, Addie."

Audrey rolled her eyes coldly whilst tugging Violet backwards, away from Adrian and Darcy. "Mark, Christy, take her back to the tree." She ordered and they obediently replied, dragging Violet away to her previous spot. Violet's eyes never left Adrian's. Nor did his eyes leave hers.

He loved her too. Every fiber that made him loved her. And he was determined to save her, even if it meant losing his life.

Audrey knelt down in front of Adrian and Darcy, a smirk evident on her face. "You two will watch us as we have our own fun time with Violet. Christy will be watching you two. If you dare to look away for even a second..."

Adrian furrowed his eyebrows, still holding the connection with Violet, he found it hard to breathe. "Please... don't hurt her. Hurt me, but not her."

Audrey let out a satanic laugh, while Adrian noticed a tear leaking from the corner Violet's eye as she was handled to the ground that had become her bed of abuse.

"Either way, I won't hurt her.

No. I'll kill her."

———

"Hurry up, Darcy. I need to save her."

Minutes passed by and every second of them were petrifying. Adrian and Darcy were left alone, under the surveillance of Christy, while Violet was being used as a punching bag by Mark and Audrey.

In all the time, Adrian and Darcy communicated with each other in the form of muttering or whispering. They soon found a way to break through the tape and it was only aided by Christy's careless lookout as she was far more interested watching Violet.

Darcy luckily was able to find the flash of a rusty old blade hidden under a bark of wood left a few inches away from him. He maneuvered it into his palm successfully without the acknowledgment of Christy.

The trickiest part of the plan was to cut open Adrian's duct tape. Since they were tied to the same tree, they had to move opposite to each other. This way Darcy could cut Adrian's duct tape apart.

"This is for your existence." Audrey grunted as she hit Violet. "My life was in ruins because of you." Mark kicked her in the stomach so hard that had her coughing blood. "Why are you doing this?" Violet sobbed.

Audrey scowled and dug her nails into Violet's scalp, eyeing her with disgust. "You deserve this. Farris loved me. But what did you do? I slept with another man and you decided to enter this world, and ruin our relationship. He wouldn't look at or even talk to me. Do you know how much I struggled? Raising you after my own husband died? Do you?" Audrey yelled.

"I had everything. Money and attention. Until you came along and stole him from me. It's all your fault!" She repeated the last sentence as she kicked at Violet. Violet was her play toy at that moment, not her daughter that she should've protected and cared for. She was a failure of a parent.

Violet's emotions changed when Audrey had finished speaking.

Money and attention? She never loved Dada. She only wanted his money. If she did love him, then why did she cheat on him? None of this was my fault. It was her fault!

She thought internally, fury building up inside her. It wasn't confidence but it was truthfulness that made her want to stand up for herself.

"It's your fault, not mine!" She screamed as loud as she could, after twenty four years of keeping her thoughts to herself, she revealed them. "You cheated on my father. It was always your fault. It was your fault for everything that happened to me and my father. It was never my fault!"

The attacks on Violet stopped, but only for a short moment before resuming. "I'll show you who's fault it is!" Audrey gritted.

Adrian panicked as he watched Violet slowly loosing the spark of life due to the pain she was enduring. "Darcy!" He whisper-yelled, growing impatient. Darcy quickened his pace, moving his palm faster to rip the duct tape.

On the other side, Violet was pushed onto her knees. A glint emerged into Adrian's sight. He turned his head just in time to see Audrey pull a sharp knife out from a pocket within her cloak.

"No!" He yelled shaking his head whilst Darcy did the same. This couldn't happen. This had to be stopped. Violet looked at Adrian and stared into his eyes, for some source of safety, she never noticed the depraved weapon in Audrey's hands.

His vision was messed up by black spots popping in and out. Adrenaline pumped through him at a faster rate.

Adrian cried as he projected himself ahead, placing an immense amount of stress between his hands and ripped the duct tape.

He sprinted towards her as fast as he could. He watched Audrey reached back, a twisted grin etched onto her face. Violet kept her eyes glued to Adrian's as she watched him run towards her. Time was slowing down for Adrian, he was only meters away from Violet.

Adrian saw Audrey push her hand forward and with one final leap, he pushed Violet away from the knife that was about to injure her. Violet slammed against the ground screaming. Adrian prevented the knife from impaling Violet, his heart was leaping as he hovered over her.

Violet turned towards Adrian and her eyes widened in shock. Adrian groaned as he felt the knife graze his arm. He could feel his blood dampening his shirt. "Adrian!" Violet cried as she saw his bloody arm.

Adrian hurriedly pilled himself and Violet away from Audrey, not caring that his arm was hurting. "Get away from her!" He shouted, his whole body trembling. "Get away!"

Audrey, Mark and Christy watched the scene unfold in fury. Audrey wanted to end Violet's life. But her wish was snatched by Adrian. "You ruined everything!" She screamed, throwing the blood stained weapon on the ground. "I'm gonna end you both!"

Before she jumped forward to attack them, a voice interrupted her. The chief of the police force, Alicia Stone pointed her gun at Audrey from behind, two other police behind her. The rest of the force imitated her action by surrounding Mark and Christy, three police surrounded each criminal. "Drop your weapons! Put your hands in the air!"

A bead of sweat trickled down the side of Audrey's face as she froze. Mark and Christy looked at each other in shock, not anticipating the situation.

This wasn't meant to happen

Audrey thought whilst dropping the weapon. "I said put your hands in the air! Turn around!" Alicia shouted, her gun ready to fire if any suspicious activity happened. Audrey raised her hands and turned around, scowling.

"It's not what it looks like!" She yelled foolishly, hate lacing her voice. Audrey dreaded being caught, she thought that she had it all planned out.

And fortunately, she was wrong. It occurred to Alicia that Audrey was definitely the criminal that she was searching for. "You are under arrest! Stay where you are or else I'll shoot you."

Alicia fished her back pocket for a pair of handcuffs and motioned the other police to do the same. She dropped the level of her gun and slowly walked, while the other two police trained their guns on Audrey.

"I didn't do this! Those b*tches are framing me!" Audrey cried as the cold metal of the handcuffs were wrapped around her wrists.

"Take them away!" Alicia commanded the police force. They obliged her and pushed the arguing criminals away. While the criminals were taken into custody, Alicia and four other police members stayed back and spotted for the victims, taking precautionary steps toward the scene.

When the police approached Darcy, he had been in a state of shock. His eyes trained on the two figures in front of him. When the police followed his gaze, they figured that he was looking at Adrian and Violet.

Adrian and Violet were on the ground, hugging each other as if their lives depended on it. Tears flowed down their cheeks, however they weren't sad tears, no, they were tears of relief.

The sun had dipped behind the scenery of the cliff and displayed an orange sky, adorned by purple and blue shaded clouds that sunk into the background.

From heaven, an angel fell.

This time, will the angel stay far from the gates of hell.