Hearing his words, I stared coldly at the little boy in front of me and said sharply, "I’m not a bitch. Your mother is."

"You’re the bad one! You tried to steal my dad and now you're calling my mom a bitch!"

"I'll beat you up!"

As he spoke, he lunged at me, his small fists swinging toward my body.

I looked at the boy without a trace of emotion and pushed him away.

He fell to the ground and immediately burst into loud, pitiful cries.

Sabrina’s expression darkened. Without hesitation, she turned to the bodyguards and snapped, "Hold her down!"

At her command, the bodyguards forced me to the floor. Sabrina stormed up to me and slapped me twice across the face.

Pain stung my cheek, but I glared at her, unyielding.

"Celine Rivers, let me tell you the truth. Gideon and I are the ones truly in love."

"Do you really think he ever loved you?"

"You don't even know the truth that the kidnapping was all a setup. Gideon planned it with the kidnappers."

"He knew you would give up everything for him, so he used that to his advantage. Do you know what he did after you paid the ransom? He took back half of it!"

"That money became the foundation of his business empire today."

Sabrina looked at me with an icy smile and said coldly, "Because, at that time, I was already pregnant with Gideon's child."

At those words, my expression darkened even further. I had not expected that everything had been orchestrated by Gideon himself.

So back then, every sweet word he said to me was a complete lie.

"Celine, you must’ve been sold countless times in a place like that, right? I bet you’re excellent at serving men."

"Women like you are only fit to live like dogs."

As she looked at me and spat out those cruel words, a basin was placed on the ground before me.

I watched as she took out a bowl filled with dog food and poured it into the basin. Her voice was cold as ice as she spoke, "People like you don’t deserve real food. You only deserve this."

Then, without warning, she slapped me across the face. Before I could react, she grabbed a handful of dog food and stuffed it into my mouth.

I struggled to spit it out, but she clamped her hand over my mouth tightly, forcing me to swallow.

At this moment, Sabrina leaned close to me and hissed, "Celine, let me tell you something. Gideon won’t be back for the next two days. You’d better behave and stay right here."

"And as for food? This is all you're worthy of."

With that, she flung the rest of the dog food at me.

The little boy watched as his mother pressed me to the floor and shoved handfuls of dog food into my mouth. He burst out laughing, clapping gleefully.

"Serves you right, bitch! You should eat dog food!"

"You’re just a stray and no one loves you! And you still want to steal my dad from my mom?"

Still unsatisfied, he ran up to me and stomped on my face with his tiny feet before turning and walking off proudly.

Sabrina looked down at me one last time and said mockingly, "What? Can’t handle this?"

"You should be used to it by now, no? In a place like that, serving men day in and day out. This is just your normal life, isn’t it?"

"Hmph, maybe they let you go because you were too sick and even they didn’t want you anymore."

I glared at her furiously, but she only smirked with satisfaction before turning on her heels and leaving the room.

I knew then Sabrina would not be paying attention to me any time soon.

I watched as the two bodyguards shut the door behind them. Once I was sure they were gone, I quietly took out my phone and called my boss.

"Sir… they won’t even give me food."

I swallowed my pride and added softly, "Sabrina… she made me eat dog food."

Over the years, I had followed this man with unwavering loyalty and in return, he gave me unimaginable wealth. Not only had I lived a life of dignity, I even had the tastiest food, the finest clothes and the most comfortable house and transportation.

I had not felt this humiliated in years.

From the other end of the line, his voice came through coldly, "After tonight, I’ll be there. You’ll see me with your own eyes."

I could hear the anger boiling beneath his words.

After hanging up, I quickly hid my phone. That device was the last thread keeping me connected to hope.

I did not call the police. I knew it would be useless. Even if I did, Gideon would find a way to trap me here.

He could easily claim I was mentally unstable after the trauma abroad.

And once the police were gone, the consequences for me would be far worse.

So I endured the hunger in silence… and eventually drifted into a deep sleep.

By early morning, I saw Gideon again.

The moment he stepped into the room, he slapped me across the face.

"Celine, you vicious woman!" he roared.

"How dare you lay a hand on my son?"

"So what if I didn’t rescue you? That doesn’t give you the right to hurt a child!"

His expression grew darker as he spoke and a harder slap landed again.

After that slap, my cheek swelled instantly. When I tried to open my mouth, it was filled with the metallic taste of blood.

I knew that my lips were bleeding from the force of his hit.

But even after seeing me like this, Gideon did not stop. Without hesitation, he stepped forward and kicked me hard.

The blow landed on my stomach and pain twisted my face as I let out a cry.

Gideon’s kick landed hard and I crumpled to the floor with a sharp scream.

Even seeing me curled up in pain, he showed no mercy. Instead, he continued to punch and kick me without restraint.

His son stood at the doorway, clapping and cheering excitedly.

"Yes! That’s right! This bitch needs to know how strong I am!"

"Dad, you are amazing! You made her cry!"

The boy kept applauding, his face lit up with twisted delight.

Then Gideon grabbed a fistful of my hair and growled viciously, "Celine, listen carefully. If you ever touch my son again, I’ll kill you!"

I looked up at him, fear clouding my eyes.

He was completely insane.

"Dad, let me hit her next! Beat her to death, now!" the boy shouted, pointing at me with cruel enthusiasm.

Hearing his son's words, Gideon turned to him with a smile and nodded. "Of course, my good boy. Don’t worry, Daddy will make sure this woman learns her place today."

Then he glared back at me, raising his hand to strike again.

At that moment, all I could feel was raw terror.

Even when I had been kidnapped, the abductors had not been this brutal.

I truly believed I might die here, beaten to death by the man I once trusted. Just then, Sabrina's scream pierced the air from outside the room.

"Who are you? How dare you break into my house?"

And in that instant, I knew that my boss had arrived.