𝐓𝐡𝐞 𝐀𝐜𝐭 𝐨𝐟 𝐄𝐯𝐢𝐥 ✔️

♡ Chapter 21 ♡

I let out a scream as the belt strikes my back for the fourth time.

It hurt. It burned. It was agonizing.

"I'll ask again, where is Ricci?" my dad asks from behind me.

The back of my shirt is stained in blood and my shirt sticks to the parts where the belt hit. It only makes it hurt more, paired with my knees that dig into the concrete ground.

He snaps the belt at my back once again. This one hurt more than all of the others combined.

I screamed. I screamed so loud that it felt like it came out of my stomach, and not my throat. My blonde hair stuck to my face as my head dropped forward. My hands clenched, my wrists stuck from the chains.

My eyes burn. My bottom lip trembles. Tears drip out of my eyes, but not only from the physical pain, but the emotional pain.

To have my dad be the one to do this to me hurts. My dad that called me princess every morning. My dad that bought me anything I even mentioned. My dad that I watched movies with nearly every night.

Now, he walks around to stand in front of me. Since my head is hanging, I can only see his shoes, as the tears drip from my cheeks and hit the floor below.

"I told you that you don't belong in this world," he says coldly.

My entire body is shaking from the pain. I slowly bring my head up, and look up at the man I didn't even recognize.

His phone rings. Without even looking at who it was, he declines it.

I force myself to smile, "Well. At least you don't need to worry if it's Michael, because I killed him."

Seeing him tense and clench his teeth made me feel victorious for a split second. But when he steps and whips my back once more, the feeling completely evaporates.

"Where is Reese Ricci!" he bends down and spits in my face, not giving a single shit about the tears rolling down my cheeks. "I don't particularly enjoy hurting you, Azalea. You're my family, and a man takes care of his family. Just give me his address, and this will all be over."

Although my back hurts so badly, my heart hurts worse. To look into the brown eyes that I inherited from him, I couldn't even see him anymore.

"I loved you, dad," I choke, making me swallow before continuing to talk. "I really did. You were my hero."

For a second, just a split second, I caught a glimpse of my dad. Of the man I was familiar with.

"But turns out your just a piece of shit," I spit and try and move even closer to him, but the chains prevent me.

And once those words leave my mouth, his face goes back to the same one that whips me. His jawline goes sharper as he clenches his teeth, and he angrily licked his top teeth.

He quickly stood up to his full height. He moves his arms around a lot as he shouts, "You think you're so much better than me, huh? Is that it, Azalea?"

"You don't have the guts for this world! You don't have what it fucking takes!" he keeps yelling, his face turning a shade of red. "I kill who I need to kill, don't give a damn about it, and then move on! But you? You're weak. You can't do what I do. All of these deaths that you're responsible for, all of these murders you do, they will break you, and they will fucking haunt you!"

His harsh voice echoes off the wall and makes it feel as if I were getting struck by lightning.

I'm tired of being told that I'm weak.

He kneels back down in front of me, but the anger never leaves his face. His chest rises and falls quickly.

"So," he says calmer than before, "Where is Reese Ricci."