“She’s been wronged?” Effie scoffed, her anger boiling over as she slapped him across the face.
“You foolish child! Can’t you see through her tricks? You still feel sorry for her? This infuriates me! If I don’t teach you a lesson today, you’ll probably fall for this wretch again!”
She grabbed him by the ear once more and pushed him out of the room.
Then, she requested the whip that Rickey usually used to punish Valerie.
Soon, a blood-curdling scream echoed through the yard. Declan dodged desperately, pleading for mercy.
Valerie listened intently, her face now serious.
She hadn’t expected Effie to catch her with Declan. This meant they would watch her even more closely from now on, subjecting her to harsher treatment and beatings.
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She realized that she needed to be patient and play by their rules for a while, biding her time until the right moment presented itself.
Perhaps then, with Declan’s help, she could escape this torment.
As the door to the room was violently flung open, Effie stormed in, wordlessly dragging Valerie out of bed.
Without uttering a single word, Effie shoved her into the yard, leaving her at the mercy of Rickey and his daily whipping routine.
Without any hesitation, Valerie endured Effie’s wrath.
Whoosh!
The first lash sent her crashing to the ground with a resounding thud. She hadn’t even recovered from the pain when the next strike followed.
As she predicted, the recent incident had only fueled Rickey to unleash even more cruelty upon her.
This time, there was no respite, no chance to catch her breath between lashes. Rickey relentlessly struck her again and again, each strike biting into her flesh.
Valerie clutched her head and gritted her teeth.
The pain was so intense that she could hardly think straight, her mind consumed by agony.
In that moment, her thoughts drifted to Atticus and Graham, and she yearned for their affection.
Despite not making her identity public, they had truly loved her.
They had showered her with anything she desired and provided her a life of comfort and luxury.
If she had never harmed Lucinda and her true identity remained unknown, she could still have lived a life of comfort without this torment, couldn’t she?
Was she truly in the wrong? Was there a way out of this misery?
Valerie’s misdeeds remained a weight she couldn’t shake off, unable to travel back in time and alter her actions.