Chapter 35If Nancy had fainted from that first slap, it would have been preferable for her because the pain that stung her cheek this time extended to her head, causing her an instant headache. The pain shot through her entire body before the belt landed on her side, a scream escaped her mouth without her realizing it, her eyes were still blurry from the first two slaps he had dealt her. She contemplated on begging him the moment the leather belt went up in the air again but she discarded that thought immediately, he might as well kill her, for she would rather die than apologize to him. "This is how a master treats a disobedient slave, Coffee. The next time you try to disobey me, you will remember it." Derek said as he raised the belt the second time.The belt landed again. In a bid to protect her face from the blow, it landed straight on her hand. Another scream accompanied the thrashing sound, she did not try to stop it this time. The pain was hell, her hand felt on fire from tha
Chapter 36The rest of the night was a sleepless one for everyone that had heard the commotion. Derek's brother, Daniel was careful not to touch Nancy's back when he carried her to the bed. She was placed flat on her stomach, it was a good thing the belt had not gone around to her stomach or her breasts, only one stroke had wound round neck, leaving a now swollen welt that was streaked with the now purple coloured blood on the surface. Derek watched from a distance, she was passed out cold on the bed. If she was dead, he could not tell. But the satisfaction he expected to feel was not there, there was no joy or happiness at what he had just done either, he could almost feel the guilt drumming in his heart. His own heart beat was accelerating by the minute as he watched them fuss over her. Had he not said he wanted her dead? He had told her that, and now she was lying there… dead or unconscious. But he felt nothing close to satisfaction. He watched on as Lucille, Daniels wife began t
Chapter 37Laurel walked furiously out of the castle, she stopped to wait for Kristen at the gate."How did it go?" Kristen asked curiously."You would not believe he is telling me to be his Luna! If he was going to get someone to marry him, I am not one. He should go look for someone else" Laurel said angrily."How about the cure?" Kristen asked, unsure of what her sister was talking about."The cure? That was his excuse for me marrying him. He wants me to marry him in exchange for the cure" Laurel could still not believe she had heard Earl tell her that. "That sounds funny, Laurel, I just hope you are joking," Kristen laughed, waving her hands in the air."Oh! You think I am trying to make a joke out of this, right?" Laurel raised her brows at her."You really mean it? He asked to marry you?" Kristen asked in surprise."He did!" Laurel gathered her long dress around her, it was becoming more difficult for her to wear it these days, especially when everything seems to be turning aga
Chapter 37The next few days in the house saw the end of the feast for the guest and the beginning of chaos for the inhabitants. For some reason, Nancy's fever only increased by the day, leaving Derek in a confused state of anger and guilt. Since she passed out that night, it was two days already and she had not woken up, even the sores on her back were beginning to close but the fever only burned stronger as the scalds disappeared on the open wound, almost like it was closing on the outside and opening on the inside. Derek spent the two days pacing his parlor, racing his horses in the morning or drinking himself to stupor. What manner of anger had possessed him to the point of beating a woman almost to death was something he was struggling to understand. He was not known to be so temperamental, especially not with women. But there were not many women around him, his mother knew him well and so there was never a need for him to be offended by her. Lucille, Daniel's wife rarely spent a
Chapter 39Derek raced outside with a speed he could not comprehend, he snatched Night Walker, his stallion from the stable boy without another glance and urged the horse towards the road with a single pull at its reins. As if understanding its master’s mood, the horse took off with a matching speed . His mood was now worse than it had been before, this time panic and anger filled him like a cursed meal. Who would dare poison her? Who wanted her dead and right under his nose? It was not far fetched that his family thought he would do such a thing, had he given them reason to think otherwise? No, but that was not totally his fault and they wouldn't blame him but they should have known that being the simple man that he was, he wouldn't go through all that trouble just to get rid of his rebellious wife. Thinking about it now, Derek realized he didn't even want her gone, not dead anyway. She has been half dead for two days already, thanks to him and it already felt like his life lacked a
Chapter 40That night, Derek was careful not to disturb Nancy on the bed, he had woken up sometime that night unable to sleep. But he couldn't leave her side until she regained consciousness, he had promised that. So he spent the remaining of the evening reading in the room or glaring at Victory who wouldn't leave the room too. It was almost like the cat was aware that its owner was in danger because it kept crying and scratching at anything and anyone who came into the room.For the first time, Derek did not look at the cat with resentment, he realized he could even use its company as a distraction for his own thoughts. At intervals, the cat would stop and sit beside Nancy's bed, just staring blankly at her unconscious form and waiting for any form of movement. And after each effort to shout the consciousness into Nancy, the cat would begin screaming and screeching. He did not try to stop it, maybe the sound of the cat's cries might wake Nancy up since it was the only thing she held d
Chapter 41On the evening of the fourth day, Nancy stirred from her unconsciousness. She slowly opened her eyes and tried to adjust it to the blinding light in the room, but the light was too much so she shut her eyes immediately. And then she heard the faint voices of people around her. And then she tried to move, to tell them how much her throat burned with dryness but the sharp pain in her neck had her lying back. She tried again, but that was when she realized that she was lying on her stomach, and surely that was odd. In the next instant she realized that her entire body was stiff, especially her back which felt like it was on fire.Pain swamped her, and she hissed out her breath, trying hard to breath slowly without gasping. She heard the room go still for an instant before someone ran to her side, and then another person followed. She heard them gasp in relief and felt someone take her hand. She couldn't even feel the touch, it almost felt like her entire body had shut down. Na
Chapter 42A good number of people were delighted that Nancy was awake, she learnt that the next day when Derek's parents pulled up in front of the house. It was like a welcome ceremony for her, a big dinner to be held that evening in the big hall. The same hall she had been prohibited from entering earlier, the same hall where she had almost been gang raped by those three men who had the time had only cared about the bear in their hands and the hard on between their legs. Nancy was not very happy with the big reception held for her, she was even surprised that they had gone through the trouble to come and see her. Left for her, she would have preferred to lie down and sleep the rest of the day away since her strength was still itchy from all that inactivity of her lungs and organs. But she couldn't reject the invitation when Derek showed up in the room that evening to inform her of the impending dinner in her honor. The way he said it told her there was no room for argument and that
Chapter 102"ls Daisy asleep now?""Yes, My Love," Nancy answered as she crawled into bed to snuggle close to Derek. “I'm sure she sensed that her father was about to trouble her mother for the third time in one night. I bet that was why she woke up." Derek chuckled sweetly and drew her closer to himself, "Her mother loves the trouble." "She doesn't have much of a choice, does she?" Nancy grinned. "I'm afraid not." Derek said and kissed her tenderly, Nancy kissed him back with everything in her. When his hands began to roam down her breast and his kiss deepened, she didn't know when a loud moan escaped her mouth."Shh… you know we should be quiet if we are going to do this." Derek whispered softly.Nancy stopped and said with a frown, "We can always let Lydia keep Daisy or let her stay the night with Mitchelle in her room. You know I don't know how to contain my moans, especially when you touch me the way you do." "I won't let someone else keep Daisy until she is old enough to take
Chapter 101The woman was too old to run and she knew that she had been made, but she wasn't going to give up easily, no, she wouldn't let them catch her. She ran towards the only exit she had had her man make for her, but now that he was dead and she was running through this big house with an infant who won't stop crying, it was more difficult than she thought. She ran back the way she had come, and that was when she saw the guards, by now words had gotten out that the new baby was missing, and the entire house was in jeopardy. Guards were running helter skelter to secure the place, and the hope of her getting out of her was too thin. Hell, she had done this easier twenty four years ago, it had been easier! Old age sure came with it's own disadvantages, and regrets. She had a lot of them, why had she let the opportunity to keep that whiny little girl out of her sight and her hand? She had never thought her dreams would take her this far, back to her roots! Back to the very place sh
Chapter 100Nancy was too scared to breath, her breath was hitching and she was sobbing loudly as they ran through the hall. Derek was beginning to fear for her, but he knew better than to try to stop her from joining them on the search.When they found Scarlett, there was no question as to whether she had a hand in what was happening, the woman was beyond shaken and too scared to even get out any sensible word."What have you done with my child!" Nancy yelled in despair as she grabbed Some by her dress."Nothing! I didn't do anything!"Derek was beyond angry, in his present mood, he knew that he would kill her if he got his hand on her, which was why he maintained his distance and waited for her to say something sensible. "Where is my child, Scarlett?" He asked coldly. "I don't have her!" Scarlett began, hoping that her pity game would work, "Derek, why would you believe I would want anything evil to happen to you?" She tried to go close to him but Nancy dragged her back and gave h
Chapter 99When Scarlett saw Phil being dragged into the house by Derek's men a few minutes after she saw the other man in bounds too, she became alarmed. But that was not the end of her troubles, following closely behind them was a woman who looked too much like Nancy, if she had not seen Nancy leave the room with Derek a few minutes ago, and of she didn't know that the woman had put to bed just yesterday, she would have thought that this woman was really Nancy because the resemblance was uncanny.Scarlett was too scared for herself because Phil did not look like he could withstand pressure. The foolish man had taken too long to finish the task she had sent him to complete, and had nearly lost his own head in the course of it. And now he was being taken by the very same people he was supposed to be running from, Scarlett knew Derek too well, he would not hesitate to kill Phil, or even her if she found out that she had masterminded this whole thing. As she waited behind the shadows f
Chapter 98Nancy stood rooted to the spot, her mouth agape and her eyes widened, she was too shocked to speak, and too stunned to even move. But it appeared she was not the only one who was momentarily paralyzed by the shock in the room, Derek was equally transfixed to the spot, he could definitely not believe his eyes. Lydia on the other hand had to see and feel things for herself, she had heard the stories and witnessed a few horrors herself, but when she set out on this journey to return to her parents and to see the imposter pretending to be her, it had been because she probably just wanted to help her parents even though they did not deserve it. And she had come with the mind to let them know her disappointment in them for their inability to tell her apart from someone else.But now, seeing this person for herself, it was like looking at her own reflection through the mirror. She reached out and touched the person in front of her, she herself appeared shocked and stepped back in
Chapter 97Derek received Harvey's news with mixed feelings of happiness for his friend and misery at his own misfortune. Harvey had returned to his own house where his new family awaited him after congratulating Derek on the arrival of his daughter and soliciting for Rosey's freedom, which Derek had no trouble giving. His father had come the previous evening too, to see his new granddaughter after his mother sent him the news. Barry Gates, his supposed in-law was present and they were all celebrating the arrival of the child down with the rest of the house. But Derek was far from happy, his last conversation with Nancy left him with a mixed feeling of guilt and emptiness, an emptiness that felt all too familiar yet repelling.He didn't want to spend the rest of his days like that, no. This was the second time he admitted to himself that he loved a woman, and yet again, he could not have her, because of that little bridge between them. He had lost her before, and now that it seemed li
Chapter 96Nancy was led into the room, the same room she once shared with Derek. She recalled what Mitch and Rosey had told her, how he had ordered everything that would remind him of her to be burnt and yet here she was again. She was angry at herself for having let him bring her here, but then at the time, the thought had given her so much joy. When she entered the room, the first thing that caught her eye was the large portrait on the wall, Lydia's portrait. She was first filled with mixed feelings, but then her anger grew. How dare he leave the portrait there? Was it to mock her? Or to make her think there was still a place for her here? She shook her head and slowly walked to the bed but she stopped short at the sight that met her eyes. Derek was sitting on a chair beside the bed, holding the baby and playing with her little fingers. He looked up and was surprised to see her walk in, but Nancy did not notice. She saw only the way he held her baby lovingly and how happy he was. H
Chapter 95For the first hours after the baby's birth, every time she opened her eyes, she was filled with fear, and she could not dispel her feelings of apprehension until she assured herself her baby was all right. Lauren had told her that her child was safe and being fed at the moment, because according to her, the baby was too weak to wait for her own milk. Nancy asked if Derek had been allowed near her child, and she was told of how he had been of great help during the birthing, but she could not bring herself to believe it. She recovered slowly from the birthing, and all the pains were forgotten the moment Lucille brought her baby, wrapped in warm sheets and now dressed in sweet little clothes for her to hold for the first time. It was a grievous disappointment to Nancy that most of the child's features had been gotten from Derek, and very little from her, but Lauren told her that all that might go away as the baby grew. She wanted so much to give her baby the nourishment she
Chapter 94Roberts had exhausted every ounce of his strength on this wild goose chase, but the man he was going after was having a field day running through the steep path. He considered swinging his knife into the horse's back like he had seen Derek do several times in the field, but he decided against it, the animal did not deserve such barbaric treatment, and he was certainly not a heartless man. Luck smiled on him when he saw the black horse on which his target was riding stop and let out a sudden deafening neigh, the animal went ballistic, raising to legs in the air and then he launched forward and flung the man on his back off. The hooded man came flying off the horse with a thud that surprised even Roberts. His first impulse was to circle the man, who was now totally at his mercy with his own horse, then he drew his sword and slashed, first at the area above the man's knees and then his hand, this was to stop him from drawing his own sword or making any attempt to run. "You a