Inside the White Family villa, the weary Henry, who had been searching for Flora for two days, returned home. As soon as he entered, he saw Mr. White and Mrs. White sitting on the sofa leisurely sipping coffee.
A surge of intense anger rushed to Henry's head. He abruptly approached his parents, staring at them and shouting, "Dad! Mom! Flora has been kidnapped, and you don't care at all?"
He was almost frantic, and yet these two acted as if nothing was wrong, not even bothering to ask a single question.
Mrs. White lifted her head from her coffee cup, glanced at him, and said, "Why rush? The other side will call for ransom tomorrow. Just give them the money." Soon, she added, "But if they ask for too much, that won't work."
"If they wanted money, they would've called by now! There's something seriously wrong with this whole situation!" Henry exclaimed angrily.
Mrs. White sneered, "What else would they want besides money? Except for that foolish boy Joshua, who would want her? She's too clueless to marry him. Joshua is the only son of the Smith Family, and their family's assets will eventually belong to her, Flora. But what has she done...?"
"We're talking about Flora's disappearance now. Why bring up old matters?" Henry responded with annoyance. "Mom, when you wanted to use Flora, you worried every day that she would run away with another man. Now that the Smith Family is in ruins and Joshua is disabled, you don't even care about her life or death? Do you have any conscience left?"
"Shut up!" Mr. White shouted angrily, reprimanding Henry. "You, brat, how dare you speak to your mother like that? Flora was originally the daughter of our enemy. It was your insistence on bringing her back to be a companion. Our White Family has already done a lot by raising her. Do you expect us to treat the enemy's daughter well?"
"That's right... It's my fault that I've harmed Flora. I shouldn't have brought her into such a selfish and inhumane family. I'm sorry, Flora..." Henry said with regret.
"You bastard! Get out!" As Mr. White's words fell, he viciously threw the porcelain cup at Henry's head. The cup eventually passed by his eye, making a loud 'bang' as it hit the floor.
"Oh, Henry..." Mrs. White saw the blood at the corner of Henry's eye, and her heart raced. She rushed over, uncertainly examining the scratch at his eye corner. After a while, she realized and told the maid next to her, "Quickly call the doctor!"
The maid hurriedly ran out.
After being hit, Henry didn't even groan. He wiped away the blood from the corner of his eye with his hand and coldly glared at Mrs. White before turning and quickly walking towards the door.
"Henry! Where are you going?" Mrs. White anxiously followed him and shouted at him.
Without looking back, Henry replied coldly, "You wait and see; I will find Flora!"
"The kidnappers haven't said a word; they might have accidentally killed her and disposed of her. Henry, don't go! Be careful not to get into trouble!"
Mrs. White's words pierced into Henry’s heart like silver needles.
She was killed...? No! His Flora would not be dead! Absolutely not!
This time, Flora was awakened by Nancy's less-than-gentle pushing and shoving. Upon waking up, she was met with a face that seemed even more malicious than a witch's. Flora stubbornly turned her head aside, refusing to look at her.
Nancy couldn't tolerate her cold attitude and was about to give her a hard slap when another maid standing nearby stopped her, saying, "Nancy, Big Young Master said not to kill her all at once."
Seeing that Flora was already so weak that she couldn't withstand a slap, Nancy reluctantly withdrew her hand and shouted at her, "Until you get Big Young Master's permission, don't think you can die so easily. Get up and eat quickly!"
Flora seemed as though she hadn't heard her words, still turning her face away. Even if she starved, she wouldn't eat! Death was preferable to humiliation, and Flora had too much pride to give in so easily!
"Did you hear me?" Nancy shouted again, frequently rubbing her arms. Staying in this freezing room, she was about to freeze to death; she didn't want to stay for another moment.
"I'm not eating," Flora coldly uttered those words, completely ignoring her threats.
Although she hadn't eaten for two days and had grown so weak that she could barely speak, she'd rather starve if that man insisted on torturing her so brutally.
"Don't you want to eat?" Nancy rudely grasped her jaw and forcefully shoved a handful of food into her mouth.
Flora struggled, shaking her head from side to side, coughing repeatedly from Nancy's forceful feeding. She clenched her teeth tightly, and no matter how hard Nancy tried to force-feed her, not a single food entered her mouth.
Nancy angrily slapped her across the face and cursed, "You bitch!"
Flora let out a low sigh, stubbornly staring back at her, a hint of a cold smile on her face. It marked her temporary victory. Yes, she was a bitch, enduring humiliation over and over again. She wasn't just cheap; she was dirty too.
However, that didn't mean she would beg Nancy to spare her, like a slave. She understood all too well that the man would never let her go; sooner or later, she would die. But she felt that her death was too unjust, and before dying, she wanted to know why he treated her this way.
What kind of hatred did they have, for him to be so ruthlessly cruel? In her entire life, she hadn't wronged anyone, except for the White Family's elders who disliked her. Everywhere she went, people loved her. Even when she was with Joshua, he treated her like a princess.
"Let me tell you, this isn't your White Family, where you can still act like a noble lady. You'd better eat up and work!" With these words, Nancy left the freezing room as if fleeing.
This room was probably unbearable for anyone except Maxwell.
Flora had already turned purple from the cold. The only advantage was that her injuries didn't require antibiotics or risk infection.
Hungry and freezing, Flora stared blankly at the snow-white ceiling, lying still. She couldn't tell how long she had been lying there, but she strangely started to feel that the cold wasn't that terrifying. Was it because she had become numb from the cold, or had she lost all feeling before death?
As she extended her hand from the blanket, she sensed that the temperature seemed to be rising, but she didn't feel excited. She was just curious about how that man had suddenly become so kind, raising the temperature for her.