Chapter 1051:

Terrance stiffened, a sheen of cold sweat covering his prison uniform. Every nerve screamed that the slightest increase in pressure would shatter his windpipe.

“How dare you! There are officers out there! This is illegal!” he shouted, attempting menace, yet his gaze repeatedly darted toward the one-way glass, seeking salvation.

Rylie’s eyes traced his frantic glances. A faint, mocking smile curled her lips.

“Police?” she whispered, leaning close, her breath brushing his ear. “Do you know why the judge allowed this private session? Or why no one has intervened, despite all the chaos we’ve made?”

𝖶𝗵𝗮𝘁 e𝗏𝗲𝗿y𝘰𝗻е і𝘀 𝗋𝗲а𝘥𝗂n𝘨 оn g𝘢lnоve𝗹𝘀.𝗰𝘰𝘮

Terrance’s eyes widened, pupils pinning in stark terror. A chill, colder than the steel at his throat, surged up his spine. He snapped his head toward the glass, desperate for a lifeline. Beyond the glass, shadowed police figures remained motionless, occasionally peering in. They saw the instruments on the table but made no attempt to intervene.

This wasn’t a mere private discussion. It was sanctioned retribution.

Rylie. The Owen family. Gatlin, the lawyer. All orchestrated. They had meticulously arranged this, placing him in the room to beg for mercy that would never arrive.

“Y-you… all…” Terrance stammered, his voice trembling violently as icy dread surged through him.

Every advantage, every connection he had ever counted on, now meant nothing. He was powerless—a lamb dragged straight to the slaughter.

“And us?” Rylie’s posture straightened. The hammer spun lightly in her fingers like a plaything. “We’re only conversing, right? You managed my parents’ company for years, claimed to care for me as your niece, yet nearly erased me in Malvren… We have far too many old accounts to settle.”

Without hesitation, she let her wrist fall abruptly.

Bang! A dull, bone-shaking thud echoed in the room. The hammer crashed onto the back of Terrance’s left hand, which was cuffed rigidly to the table.

“Aaaah—!!!” Terrance’s scream cut through the room, far more tortured than before.

Agony surged through his hand as if every bone had splintered simultaneously, pain so intense it blurred his vision and made his arm spasm uncontrollably.

“This is for my parents,” Rylie murmured, her voice icy and void of warmth. “You could have joined the Owen family, but you chose Carter, letting your greed guide you.”

She offered him no respite, lifting the hammer once more.

Bang! The hammer struck his right shoulder blade with brutal precision.

“This is for every year I wandered and endured,” Rylie said, eyes unwavering and cold as ice as his agonized cries filled the room. “You can’t imagine the price I paid just to survive.”

“Ah! The Kirks sheltered you!” Terrance bellowed, desperation cracking his voice. “You lived in comfort for years! Don’t pin all this on me! Rylie—we’re family!”

Rylie’s lips curved into a small, cold smile. “I’ve been good at medicine since I was young, but the Kirk family never cared about that. To them, I was nothing more than a well-behaved pet. And after Stacey came along, I wasn’t even worth much. Still, I’ve always known how to survive—and how to claw my way out when I’m pushed into a corner.”

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