Chapter 793

Eugenia:

I’d been hiding with Bodhi for the last few hours when I finally heard the footsteps recede.

However, we didn’t immediately go outside.

I could tell Bodhi was getting irritated.

He was a child, and at any moment, he could start crying or asking for food.

He must have been starving by now.

I didn’t have much food with me.

I’d only grabbed whatever packaged food I could find, and most of it was nothing more than snacks.

Once I was certain everyone had left, I put Bodhi down and told him to hide in the bathroom.

“I don’t wanna stand in there,” he whispered.

I gestured toward his cheek with my hand, warning him that I’d slap him if he made any noise.

“Go. I’ll make sure everything is safe, then I’ll come back for you, okay?” I instructed and he barely nodded.

I moved toward the door and opened it, trying not to make a sound, but the hinges creaked anyway.

I stepped outside and looked down toward the foyer.

Everything was silent, but I could see dirty footprints across the floor.

Very carefully, I made my way down to the foyer.

Then I heard chains rattling in the distance and immediately stopped, wondering whether I should keep going.

After another few seconds of silence, I cautiously moved toward the source of the noise.

The chains sounded heavy, as though something was moving around while dragging them.

Eventually, I reached the exact spot where the sound was coming from.

The basement.

But the basement door had been boarded shut.

It didn’t make sense. Had they come here to put something in the basement?

Was it a prisoner?

Why else would they put someone in chains? Of course, whoever was down there had to be a prisoner.

“Is anybody down there?” I whispered, taking a huge risk.

A faint growl came from inside.

I recoiled and stood outside the door, wondering whether I should open it.

I had to find out who was down there.

I couldn’t stay in this house knowing someone was being held prisoner in the basement.

But since when had they started keeping prisoners here?

Then I remembered that Rosetta was in charge of everything now.

Maybe Madeline had come up with some plan to lock someone in the basement,

and Rosetta had gone along with it.

After a few minutes of listening to the person moving around and the chains rattling,

I decided to open the basement door.

I needed tools, and I knew exactly where to find them.

My husband used to keep them under our bed.

Even though he had a separate space for his tools, he always preferred keeping his things in one place.

I ran back to my room and grabbed the tool kit.

Just then, I noticed Bodhi peeking out from behind Baxter’s door, and I almost gagged at the sight.

For a moment, it felt like my son was standing there, peering through the doorway.

“Come on. Come with me,” I told

Bodhi possibly speaking nicely.toet

him for the first time

well it

felt like I was talking to Baxter.

He came out and clung to me as we walked downstairs.

Having him follow me around like a shadow was exactly what I wanted.

Once we reached the basement door, I set the kit down and told Bodhi to step aside.

It took me some time to remove what was securing the door.

When I finally opened it, the rattling chains and growling became much clearer so much so that Bodhi

rushed toward me and wrapped his arms around my legs in fear.

“It’s all right. Whoever it is, they’re in chains,” I reassured him, picking him up before

I began descending the stairs.

My heart pounded in my chest.

For all I knew, the person making those sounds might not be the one in chains.

Maybe someone else was down in the basement, completely unrestrained.

There were too many possibilities.

As we made our way downstairs, the stress started to get to me because I could make out the figure of a man.

At first, I could only see his legs. He seemed very tall.

By the time we reached the bottom, I could see him clearly.

He was a tall, handsome man wearing a ripped shirt and pants, his body bound in heavy chains.

His head was lowered.

“Who are you?” I asked.

The man slowly lifted his head and smirked, though there was anger behind it.

As I watched, his expression softened.

His eyes settled on Bodhi.

I quickly pulled Bodhi closer, trying to shield him from the man’s gaze.

Then Bodhi said something that made my heart leap into my throat.

“Daddy?”

The man looked at Bodhi, and uttered, “my son.”

A hope filled his eyes as Bodhi began struggling to break free from my arms.

“No, wait. We don’t know who this

man is or why he’s in chains,” Bodhi, tightening my hold to stop

him

from running toward him.

“I’ve done nothing,” the man whispered. “Let him come to me. He’s my son.”

But I wasn’t some naive little girl who would believe him.

I was going to find out who this man was and why he had been chained up down

here.