Eliza's expression froze for a moment, and something unreadable flickered in her eyes as she looked at me.

But soon, she snapped out of it.

She turned her face away and said in a stiff and unnatural voice, "If you hadn't laid a hand on Christopher, I would have treated you like my brother too."

I stared blankly at the ground. With my eardrum ruptured, I hadn't heard a single word. The next second, I could hold on no longer and fainted to the ground.

Eliza's heart sank, and a look of urgency appeared on her face. She abruptly stepped forward, ready to scoop me up.

But just then, Christopher grabbed her arm and whined, "Sutton probably just fell asleep. Eliza, my head hurts so much. Can you please take me to the doctor?"

The words had barely left his mouth before he tugged her out of the basement.

…

No matter the hour I awoke, the basement greeted me with nothing but darkness.

Feeling the familiar, unrelenting pain radiating through my body, I opened my eyes.

I had a premonition that today was the seventh day.

At some point, the basement door had been left open.

Gazing greedily at the light seeping through the crack, I propped up my stiff body and slowly made my way out. Even if I were going to die, I wanted to die in the sunlight instead of this basement.

The villa was extravagantly decorated with colored lights and red silk, all in celebration of Christopher's recovery.

Faint sounds drifted over from the ballroom.

I walked out slowly, my breathing heavy with every step.

At the corner, Jeremy suddenly appeared. I tried desperately to dodge out of sight, but he spotted me anyway.

In an instant, his face twisted with disgust. "What are you doing here? Get back to the basement right now!"

As he spoke, he grabbed my arm, intent on dragging me back to the basement.

I fought back with the very last ounce of strength I had left.

Jeremy, irritated by my resistance, dealt me a heavy slap, knocking away that final bit of life from me.

Carried by the force of his blow, I tumbled forward until I crashed through a door.

The lively atmosphere inside the ballroom fell instantly into dead silence.

The next second, mocking voices and laughter erupted all around.

"Isn't this the younger brother Ms. Parker found five years ago? How did he end up looking like this after all these years?"

"Today of all days, he rolls his way in. Look at him—all ragged and filthy like some beggar."

Eliza's expression gradually darkened, the fury in her eyes blazing even hotter.

"Sutton, are you so determined to ruin Christopher's celebration? It seems letting you go was far too generous of me. You deserved to die in that basement!"

I lay on the floor, my eyes hollow and without a shred of strength left in me.

When she saw my deathly pale face, a flicker of hesitation crossed Eliza's eyes.

She took a few steps forward, but Christopher stopped her with a cheerful grin.

"Eliza, let me have a proper talk with Sutton."

Under Christopher's obstruction, Eliza ultimately stopped in her tracks.

Christopher grabbed my arm with an iron grip and dragged me back to the basement.

The struggle just moments ago had already drained every ounce of my strength. I could only watch helplessly as I was pulled back into the darkness.

After mercilessly flinging me onto the ground, Christopher patted my face and said mockingly, "I know you're about to die, and I also know you don't want to die in the basement.

"But I just want you to find no peace even in death. After all, a rat should die in its own rat hole. Don't worry. I'll take good care of Eliza and everything in this family. So, you can just go ahead and die!"

With that, he laughed heartily and left.

The basement door slammed heavily shut, and darkness swallowed me once more.

I crossed my arms and hugged my own body.

The cold and pain closed in around me.

In the final moments before my awareness slipped away, all I felt was regret. If only I could have died under the sunlight, and if only I had never been found and brought back in the first place.

…

It was only after the party ended that Eliza thought of me.

She idly noted that I'd been fairly well-behaved this past week, so she decided to let me move out and live on my own.

She summoned Jeremy and told him to check on the situation in the basement.

Just then, she heard sounds coming from upstairs. Following the noise up the staircase, she discovered it was Christopher speaking.

His door was slightly ajar, so Eliza could clearly hear him smugly laughing.

"God, I'm exhausted from keeping up this act for five years. Good thing Eliza is such a fool. All I had to do was look innocent and clueless, and she believed me every time."

Eliza trembled all over.

Just at that moment, Jeremy rushed over, shaking.

"Ms. Parker, the person in the basement… It seems he died at some point."