Chapter 110

Dahlia was quietly shedding tears, recounting to Charles the torment she endured in the basement. Every word she spoke was like adding fuel to Charles’ already simmering anger. She had vowed that she wouldn’t let Evelyn off the hook once she got out. As Dahlia continued her tale, Charles’ demeanor grew darker and more intense. Snuggled up in his arms, Dahlia couldn’t help but let a sly, triumphant smile slip.
—
Evelyn decided against spending the night at Charles’ place and instead headed over to Rosa’s, settling into her own room. She was deeply shaken. That evening, Rosa had the staff prepare some calming herbal tea for Evelyn and lit some soothing lavender incense in her room. Evelyn hoped it would help, but as soon as she shut her eyes, the haunting images from the basement played over and over in her mind. Sleep evaded her.
Frustrated, Evelyn got up and fished out a couple of sleeping pills from her purse. She finally slipped into a restless sleep after tossing and turning for what felt like forever. But just as she was dozing off, she was yanked out of bed by a strong hand and startled awake by Charles’ icy voice slicing through the air. “Evelyn, how can you possibly sleep so soundly?”
Groggy from the pills and the rude awakening, her mind was a foggy mess. It wasn’t until Charles flipped on the light and gripped her chin that the sharp pain snapped her back to clarity. As she stared into Charles’ furious eyes, Evelyn’s expression turned icy. Why was she woken up like that?
She reached up to wrench his hand away, spitting through gritted teeth, “Let go! Charles, are you out of your mind? Why did you wake me up at this hour?”
“Out of my mind? Are you seriously asking that?” Charles didn’t let go. Instead, he tightened his grip. Evelyn winced in pain, tears springing to her eyes involuntarily. Unable to shake him off, she kicked at him in desperation. “What exactly did I do?” Evelyn retorted with a cold sneer.
Her nonchalant tone only made Charles’ voice even icier. “You know exactly what you did. You know Dahlia’s petrified of snakes, yet you filled the basement with them just to scare her.”
Hearing this, Evelyn smirked even colder. “She used my worst fear rats against me. Why wouldn’t I do the same to her?”
At the mention of rats, Charles flinched. His grip on Evelyn’s chin slackened. He had forgotten about the time when Evelyn was eight, and Sena locked her in the basement, but he remembered her deepest fear-rats. “Dahlia used rats?”
Evelyn quickly brushed his hand away, her voice frosty. “I don’t want to wake Grandma. Leave.”
Charles left Evelyn’s room, his mind swirling with images of Dahlia crying and accusing Evelyn. His expression grew even darker. As he stepped out, his phone buzzed-it was Dahlia calling.
“Charles, I’m so scared, I can’t sleep.
Can you
come over and keep me
company?” she asked, feigning
ignorance about Charles going after Evelyn for her. She timed her calt perfectly, curious to see how
Charles would handle Evelyn for her sake.
“Dahlia, why did you put rats in the basement where Evelyn was confined?” His sudden question blindsided Dahlia. She was about to deny it when she remembered-the basement had surveillance cameras. Greenrose was originally wired with cameras everywhere, but she had insisted on removing them, keeping only the ones outside. However, she forgot about the basement camera.
“Charles, it wasn’t on purpose. I thought Evelyn had sent that man to hurt us, and he hurt Sandy. When I saw Sandy injured, it tore me apart as a mother. And you wouldn’t send Evelyn to the police and only chose totock her in the basement