Chapter 9
Surely a year of beatings and abuse had repaid the Bennett family for raising her, hadn’t it?
She had returned intending to sever all ties, to walk away forever.
Yet Annabelle’s cruelty, the Bennetts’ collective indifference, and Ava’s horrific death steeled her resolve to stay-for one reason only: to make Annabelle
pay.
If Annabelle wanted her gone so desperately, Elena would do the opposite-she would stay and watch each one of them weep.
It had been ages since she’d enjoyed a proper hot shower. After washing every inch of herself, she finally felt alive again.
Wrapped in a towel, she searched the room for ointment, sat before the mirror, exposed her battered back, and tended her wounds with painstaking
care.
A knock sounded suddenly at the door.
Victor Whitmore’s deep voice followed as the handle turned. “Elena?”
Elena yanked the towel down to shield herself.
