Connor's men strap Sophia to the chair, trembling in fear of what will happen next.
"Young Master, please, I'll do anything you'll command me, spare my life, and mine will be yours."
"Don't overreact, as I said to Serlina, I'm only here to talk to you."
Serlina can't do anything but watch, speechless, as to reason why, if she says anything that will irritate Connor, it will make it worse.
Connor pats Serlina's shoulder and says,
"This will happen to your closest people if you disobey me again."
Connor signals one of his men, and they start to slap Sophia in the face multiple times, leaving her face to swell, and her nose starts to bleed.
Serlina can't take it anymore and starts to speak.
"You said you'll only talk to her, command them to stop."
"Well, I'm not doing anything to her. Do you see me hurting her?"
"No, but you're letting them."
He only smiles at her and says,
"I'm only doing this for you, as your older brother, I need to teach you a lesson. Don't disobey me; it's my sole duty to protect you. Don't question me and do as I say."
Connor's men start to pull the fingernails of Sophia, one by one. The excruciating pain is unbearable for Sophia, which makes her pass out, but they continue. Serlina is begging for them to stop, but the maids are holding her back. She hopelessly falls on the floor while crying and regretting being too close to Sophia, who is like a sister to her. Sophia makes her happy and cares about her even though she's locked up in the mansion. Serlina is the one who requested Sophia to be her personal maid. Memories flash back to the happy times, and laughter changed into a nightmare in an instant.
"Escort Serlina back to her chambers," Connor commands the maid.
While the maids are struggling to pull Serlina up, Connor's men splash the water on Sophia to wake her up. Sophia saw her state and started to cry because of the pain.
"Thank the Young Master because you're still alive." One of Connor's men said.
Sophia bows in front of Connor and thanks him for letting her live.
"I don't wanna see your face again, so leave this mansion."
At the end of the Flashback, Serlina sees that they are near their carriage while her brother is dragging her along with him, holding her tightly, but Serlina can't complain.
'What an absolute monster.'
Serlina is still in a state of shock, but Aizen interrupts them.
"Count Cassidy, may I speak to your sister?"
Connor looks at him dumbly.
"Ohh.. It's you, Aizen. My apologies, my sight is a bit blurry. But I need to take her home and talk to her privately." Connor said while tipsy.
"It's not going to take a while."
"Okay, just bring her back to me immediately."
Connor let Serlina go, leaving her with red marks on her arms.
Aizen gently held her hand, and he took her to a garden nearby. By the look on Aizen's face, he was worried about her.
"You don't need to go with him, come with me, I'll take you somewhere safe."
Serlina let go of Aizen's hand aggressively.
"Why do you care? Aren't Abigail will be jealous?" Serlina replied.
"Listen to me, nothing is going on between Abigail and me."
"Like I care about what's happening to both of you. I don't need your help, I just want you to stay away from me."
"Really? Then why are you trembling right now?"
'Why is my body not cooperating with me at times like this?'
"Just come with me, and I'll talk to your brother tomorrow when he's sober," Aizen said worriedly.
Serlina didn't answer because she was holding herself together so as not to cry in front of Aizen.
Aizen told his men to relay the message to Connor that he would take Serlina to his estate, and he would visit him tomorrow.
They go to Aizen's carriage while Serlina is staring into the abyss, she's thinking about the memory that suddenly flashes out to her, and she's still worried about what happened to Sophia.
'I wonder where Sophia is right now. What happened to her? I want to remember everything, but I can't. I didn't know that he could do that. I want him to suffer and vanish.'
A woman like Serlina, without any title, is only considered a trade for wealth and connection for their family. She refrains from making choices, like her sister, because she doesn't want the same thing to happen to her.
While thinking of a plan, she looked at Aizen, but she suddenly felt dizzy, her vision became blurry, and she passed out due to exhaustion.
Aizen caught her right in time.
"I'll take care of everything. You may rest now," Aizen said while holding her in his arms.
She woke up from her slumber as Nayla Anne, her vision was adjusting, but it felt like she was getting used to it. She knows she came back as Nayla Anne, but she notices something different.
Her room is a mess, up to the kitchen.
"WHAT HAPPENED HERE?!"
"Did someone break in??!"
She checks her important stuff and every corner of her apartment, but nothing has been stolen. She also checks the door, but it's locked. She's confused about what's happening, but it's not important now since she has an event to manage. She fixes what she can before she leaves for the sale. She didn't notice Luna's messages and hurriedly left.
When she arrived at the shop, she noticed the crowd.
"Excuse me, let me through."
Serlina asks the customers to let her through, but it's a tough crowd.
'Wow, I can't remember when I had this crowd. They must be lined up so early for sale, I'm not sure if we can accommodate all of them.'
She can't contain her happiness at the thought of the income she'll receive.
While Nayla squeezes into the crowd looking for the door, she sees Anna with her ex. The guy looks a little bit chubby, with tan skin, and is wearing a semi-formal outfit.