Meanwhile, in a dilapidated house in a mountainous village, Rachel Wood was tied up and left on a cold brick bed, shivering in the corner of the room.It was pitch black in the room, where the old man and two of his sons were asleep next to her.The three of them were snoring loudly, annoying Rachel.They rarely showered, and the entire room reeked of their body odor and the stench of their feet. It was disgusting.A cold breeze came in through the broken window, making her shiver. She had nothing else on other than the clothes she was wearing.She’d never had a change of clothes since being there for a month. She was confined to the brick bed apart from going to the bathroom.The men watched over her day and night. Three of them would sleep at night, while another would keep an eye on her.One of them would keep an eye on her in the house even during the day.They only fed her half a bowl of rice every two days in fear that she might gain enough strength to run away. They didn
Outdoors, Rachel Wood had trouble seeing anything as it wasn’t as bright as being in big cities.She wasn’t familiar with the area, and she had no idea where to go. She continued to run forward in the darkness, completely disregarding her surroundings.Behind her, she could vaguely hear the men chasing after her, but she ignored them. She continued running despite her dizziness and feeling weak in the knees. She knew it might be her only chance of escaping after the only opportunity for her to break free presented itself.Moreover, Rachel wouldn’t want to spend the rest of her life in this mountainous village sleeping with those men.She wanted to return to Atlantis to live a normal life and grow old with Sebastian Brenand.When she thought of Sebastian, she felt the adrenaline energizing her once again.“Everybody! Quickly, get up! The b*tch ran away from our house. Come out and help us chase her down!”Rachel heard the man in his thirties shouting before the sound of doors s
Rachel Wood could see many rays of light through the gaps in the bush.Her heart was racing.It might be her final chance.If they caught her this time, her captors would certainly take more precautions in the future.Everyone in that family had some form of mental illness. The husband, especially, frequently lost his temper.People like them were capable of anything.It was the first time she’d ever encountered something as horrendous as this, making her feel genuinely terrified.Rachel bit her lip to prevent herself from shivering, tears streaming down her face.Feelings of fear and worry, among other emotions, were like a beast that would soon devour her.She wanted to be safe.Closing her eyes, Rachel started praying silently in her heart—‘God, please watch over me. Please don’t let them find me.’She didn’t want to go back to the house and get raped by those crazy men.She wanted to leave right away. She didn’t want her life ruined like this.She refused to accept h
If only time would go by faster, and the villagers would tire, returning home to sleep sooner. The more Rachel Wood hoped for those things to happen, the slower time seemed to pass.Every minute felt like a century until dawn finally arrived.Sounds of roosters crowing around the mountainous village were like beacons of light in the darkness that gave her hope.The entire village had grown quiet. The loud footsteps had also ceased.Rachel knew that those people had probably grown weary, with most of them already returned home.However, she was weak, cold, and hungry after lacking food and water for a long time.Her tongue felt dry, and she felt as if there were needles in her stomach.She reached for a handful of straw and began to eat to avoid collapsing from exhaustion and hindering her escape.The straw was tasteless and difficult to chew, which made it hard to swallow.Rachel didn’t care, however.With strong willpower, she believed that she could overcome any obstacle.
Gritting her teeth, Rachel Wood soon saw a pathway up a hill that wasn’t too far away.It meant she would soon be out of the village. Then, she’d be free from the risk of being surrounded by the villagers.She kept running forward, ignoring everything else.Terrified, she couldn’t stop crying. Tears blurred her vision, but she kept running and didn’t dare to stop.Desperation tends to bring out one's hidden potential.Rachel ran faster than she'd ever run in her life.Meanwhile, the villagers continued to chase after her. She was fast, but she wasn’t as fast as those men.Ten minutes later, they were only approximately fifty meters behind her when she made it to the pathway up the hill.It was a crossroad of sorts, and Rachel had no idea which one to choose.Out of time, she chose to turn right and kept running forward while the villagers pursued her relentlessly.She was barefoot with cuts everywhere. She had no idea when her soles had become wounded so badly. It almost
Rachel Wood scrambled to hide inside the cave. She knelt in front of its entrance to see her pursuers running in the opposite direction.They hadn’t realized she had gone uphill.She released a long sigh as she sat in front of the cave’s entrance to catch her breath.The others were still running.The road split into two at the bottom of the hill, with one leading to the forest while the other led to the farmland.The villagers split into two groups to head in different directions.Rachel knew that they wouldn’t find her there in a short time.She decided to wait until nightfall and figure out a way to get out of there when nobody was around.She was too exhausted now and severely dehydrated. She couldn’t run any longer.There would be nothing but doom if she fought against them now with brute force.It was pitch black and freezing in the cave, but she wasn't afraid.She had already experienced the worst thing in the world back in the house, so nothing could make her feel mo
Rachel Wood still felt afraid when she thought about her experience of escaping from the village.She didn’t dare imagine what could’ve happened to her if she hadn’t hidden in the bush and got caught.She also didn’t dare to think about what could’ve happened if she hadn’t decided to go up the hill.Would she have been caught?Perhaps God was on her side. Or He probably pitied her.Rachel was eating some grass outside when the sky gradually turned so dark that she couldn’t see anything within the cave.She had been waiting, so after a long while, she finally walked out of the cave.Tonight was different from the night before. It was cloudy last night, and she could barely see a thing.However, the moon and stars shone brightly tonight, helping her to have a vague view of her surroundings.Perhaps God really was helping her.She was halfway up the hill and could see the terrains below her from there.Realizing that nobody was around, she carefully made her way down the hill b
Everyone felt sorry for Sebastian Brenand when they saw the state he was in, but none of them could do anything about it.Rachel Wood was nowhere to be found as if she had disappeared into thin air.Even Stanley Batton, who was seemingly capable of anything, couldn’t find her.The other wedding guests, who had no idea what happened, were clapping, chatting, and laughing.Meanwhile, Sebastian's inner circle of friends couldn’t even smile, knowing what went on.The bride and groom made their vows in front of the priest before quickly exchanging rings.Sebastian felt like a puppet throughout the process, wanting to flee from the wedding. However, he didn't dare oppose his parents, who still held Rachel's life in their hands.At that moment, guests in the wedding hall started applauding loudly, flowers scattering from above.It seemed very romantic.It was the wedding he had dreamed of, but the bride before him wasn’t the one he wanted to marry.He'd felt out of sorts when he put