"Did you hear me?" Nancy shouted in a raised voice.
"I heard you," Flora replied calmly, finally understanding why Nancy was displaying jealousy toward her. It seemed that in Nancy's mind, being Maxwell's bed-slave was quite an honor.
Flora also took a serious look at Nancy for the first time. She appeared to be around thirty years old, slightly overweight, with a moderately tall frame. She was the type of woman that you wouldn't easily remember. Perhaps she had been deceived by Maxwell's breathtaking appearance? Who else besides her knew how much of a sadistic demon Maxwell was?
Nancy walked away, leaving Flora dumbfounded for a few minutes, realizing she had no room for resistance. She entered the bathroom and cleaned herself thoroughly with hot water. After turning off the faucet, she exited the bathroom and stood in front of the mirror, gazing intently at her own body.
Her once pristine body was now marked with the imprints of that man, new, old, red, purple...
She closed her eyes. Even she couldn't bear to look at herself anymore. She hastily put on a long, white bathrobe and left the bathroom, exiting the bedroom. Maxwell's bedroom was right next to hers, so despite her deliberate dawdling, she quickly arrived.
Standing at the door of Maxwell's room, Flora gathered her courage and knocked on the door. Two knocks, three knocks, yet there was no response. So, she turned the doorknob and walked into the room.
The room was dimly lit by a small, dim lamp. It looked rather dark. Flora glanced around the spacious bedroom but didn't spot Maxwell. However, she noticed an unusual jigsaw puzzle on the wall. It was strange not because of its size, but because of the picture on it. It wasn't a landscape, a person, or any other discernible pattern; she couldn't make out what it was.
What surprised her the most was that the puzzle on the wall, the one Robin had given her four days to complete, appeared to be the same as this one. No wonder she couldn't figure it out; it was such a complex design.
Flora forgot where she was, forgot whose bedroom this was, as she silently memorized the pattern and etched it into her heart, all her attention focused on finding the solution.
While she was absorbed in her search for a solution, her waist suddenly tightened, and she fell into someone's embrace. Flora was startled by the unexpected embrace, but her panic only lasted a moment, and she quickly regained her composure. After days of interaction, she was no longer as easily rattled as she had been at the beginning.
Maxwell noticed her swift change of expression and found it intriguing. He liked the feisty ones. The more defiant she was, the more it piqued his conquering instincts, and the more he was reluctant to let her go.
Flora allowed him to throw her onto the bed, accepting his body pressing against hers. She turned her face slightly, her eyes moist with tears, gazing through the floor-to-ceiling window at the vast, faintly visible sea.
The sound of the waves roared like an angry lion, surging and crashing, reaching the ears of the two people.
Maxwell seized her chin, forcing her to look at him with an eerie smile.
"Miss White, you must find the scenery here particularly beautiful, right? This will be your dwelling place for the latter half of your life. Are you satisfied with the accommodation I've chosen for you?"
Flora ignored him and closed her eyes. The latter half of her life... such a long time. Did she have to spend it here, under his control?
It was only when she felt the weight lifted from her that she opened her eyes, staring at Maxwell, who was now sitting on the edge of the bed with his back turned to her. No, she was staring at that same Dragon tattoo, the one she saw every time she was violated, with its expression that seemed to declare victory. That expression, as arrogant as its owner – Maxwell!
Maxwell casually donned a robe, walked to the liquor cabinet, poured himself a glass of wine, and then turned to look at Flora, who was lying weakly on the bed. He poured a second glass.
He sipped the liquid from the highball glass. Then, he approached Flora, offering her the second glass of wine. With a faint smile on his lips, he swirled the glass and said, "Hmm?"
Flora gave him a stern look and forcefully pushed away his hand holding the glass. She struggled to get out of bed, picked up the robe that had been tossed on the floor, and hastily put it on. She walked to the door, opened it, and left quickly.
Maxwell watched the door slamming shut, and he sneered, finishing the drink in the glass.
Flora returned to her bedroom in a daze, moving extremely slowly due to the pain in her body. She pushed open the wooden door to the "freezer room," and in the darkness, she once again saw Robin.
Reaching out, she turned on the light switch with a "click" sound and looked at Robin on the floor. Indifferently, she asked, "What are you doing here?"
"I came to check on your work!" Robin pointed to the puzzle on the floor. "Big brother said that second brother will be coming back a day early, so I need you to finish the puzzle tonight."
"But I don't want to help you," Flora said coldly. She hated Maxwell! And her hatred extended to Robin as well. The dull, lingering pain in her body was a constant reminder of the man who had brought it upon her.
"Aren't you afraid of my big brother?" Robin, growing anxious, mentioned Maxwell again.
Flora sneered and stared at him, "I'm not afraid of him."
Because right from the beginning, he had shown her no mercy, and she had experienced the worst. Therefore, she had no reason to be threatened by this little boy.
Seeing that his previous tactics weren't working, Robin, with a touch of anxiety in his beautiful eyes, stood up and said, "Alright, fine, I'm begging you. Can you please help me?"
"If you want me to help you, I need you to do something for me as well," Flora said, raising an eyebrow.
After a moment of thought, Robin nodded, "Okay, tell me what you want, and I'll help you."