Chapter 17
Dorian’s hands froze. Kneeling on the floor, Sierra lifted her head to look up at him.
“You care about me.” Gisele’s smile grew wider as she continued, “That’s why it bothers you
if I turn out to be a wicked person, or if I’m pinning my faults on someone else.”
Dorian and Sierra’s expressions shifted in unison. At the sight of this, Gisele’s mood. improved drastically.
“Don…” Sierra stood up, wobbling.
Dorian let go of Gisele before scoffing in contempt. “Being concerned about you is worse than having concern for a stray!”
“Really? But you’re clearly so affected.” She batted her eyes and teased him. “Do you really know what your heart wants?”
His anger immediately quelled, and he glared at her with disdain.
Although hurt by his sharp gaze, Gisele picked up her uniform and headed inside as though nothing had happened.
She swiftly changed into the pink attire and pulled her hair back into a ponytail, revealing the entirety of her small face. Her features were refined, but she still looked slightly under the weather.
After getting changed, she put on a white face mask and headed outside.
At the sight of her fragile figure, Dorian felt a pang of heartache on top of his
Sierra stared at Dorian, who was now silent.
annoyance.
She felt slightly regretful about stirring up discord earlier. She had assumed that Gisele would continue to stay silent and put up with the insults Dorian threw at her.
She hadn’t expected Gisele to behave out of the ordinary.
Outside the door, Gisele followed Bernard around and got to know the cast of the show.
This time around, the oldest among the participants was 95–year–old Collin Doug, while the youngest was 85 years old.
Another man in the group was Michael Lourdes. He was a recent transfer from another old folks‘ home and was 65 years old. That made him the new youngest person among them.
Being the main guest on the show, there were many things Sierra had to personally attend to. Gisele only had to assist her and make the former stand out.
Dorian sat and watched Sierra through the camera. However, his gaze was constantly drawn to Gisele instead.
Gisele sat quietly next to Sierra. Every time an elderly person felt unwell, she would promptly offer them massages and converse with them in a gentle voice.
The day passed by in a relaxed manner. When evening came, the crew started preparing for the welcome banquet.
The banquet started around 5:00 pm to accommodate the elderly’s early bedtime.
“Stop working, Gigi.” Bernard exclaimed, “Come out and have fun with us!”
Gisele was sorting out herbs for a prescription. He dragged her out of the kitchen excitedly, insisting that she shouldn’t stay in there.
But she was extremely cautious.
“I don’t really like crowds,” she said as she shook her head with a smile. “Besides, Mr. Doug is heading to bed soon; I should give him his medicine so he can sleep in peace.”
“It’s fine. It’ll only take a while,” he replied before shoving her into the crowd.
Sierra and Dorian were huddled together like a loving couple. At the sight of Gisele, Sierra picked up a glass of champagne and handed it over to her.
“This is made from fruits, Gisele. You won’t get drunk off of it; have a taste.”
While Gisele had been changing earlier in their room, Sierra had mentioned that there was a surprise waiting for her.
She suddenly remembered the conversation. Champagne might not be enough to get her drunk, but it would make it easier for her to get into trouble.
“No, thank you,” she declined with a smile. “I’ll just have some milk.”
Sierra shrugged and redirected her focus back to the movie, leaning into Dorian’s chest. She wrapped her arms around him and turned to look at Gisele intermittently, as though she were showing off.
Gisele found it mildly amusing. She picked up a box of unopened milk and poured herself a glass.
The milk tasted oddly sweet. She cast a confused glance at the packaging and realized that it was flavored. Upon seeing the various artificial flavoring on the ingredient list, she eased
her mind.
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“What do you usually like to do, my idol?” Bernard had poured himself a glass of milk as well. He took a sip and stared at her.
He was awfully curious about the kind of person she actually was since she had been given the cold shoulder by Dorian for three years.
Gisele subtly glanced toward Dorian from the corner of her eye. She kept telling herself not to look, but she couldn’t help it. Even though she appeared nonchalant, her heart still ached.
Bernard wanted to cheer her up and get to know her better, but he was interrupted by one of the editors.
“Could I have a moment of your time, Mr. Murray? We need to talk about the post- production editing.”
“Sorry, you’ll have to excuse me.” He shot Gisele an apologetic smile and got up to leave
with the editor.”
She shook her head with a smile. After finishing her glass of milk, she returned to the kitchen to prepare the medicine.
It had been brewing for three hours and was perfect for consumption right now. She also added in some ingredients to help with sleep.
Collin was already asleep when Gisele got to the room. She took the medicine inside and realized that Michael was there as well.
An incense had been lit. The original fragrance in the room was replaced by the thick smell of mosquito repellent.
The odd mix of smells made her feel like something was amiss. She drew a deep breath in order to figure out what had been used in the incense, only to feel her head grow heavy.
“Mr. Doug, Mr. Lourdes, have some of this before you go to bed. It will help you sleep,” she explained softly with a smile.
Michael swiftly walked over and handed the medicine to Collin. He then said gleefully, You’re so hardworking, Gisele. You’re always so sweet with your words, too. If only my granddaughter was half as caring as you are.”
After inhaling the overbearing incense for so long, Gisele felt herself growing more and more light–headed. Her entire body felt weak, so she sat on the nurse’s bed.
Collin took a few sips of the medicine before waving his hands in dismissal. Seemingly uncomfortable, he then lied down and shut his eyes.
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Michael set the bowl down and walked toward the door. He locked it before walking toward Gisele and sitting next to her.
At the sight of this, she immediately got up and headed toward the chair instead.
She took two steps before her head started spinning. She narrowly avoided a fall by grabbing
onto a table to stabilize herself.
“Are you okay, Gisele?” Michael asked with a wide grin. He then stretched out his hand to help her stand.
Gisele avoided his rough, dirty hands and furrowed her brows. “I’m alright. I’ll leave Mr. Doug in your care and head back to rest,” she said.
“Don’t leave yet. Let’s have a chat! How am I supposed to know about their lifestyle habits if I don’t get to know you better?”
Michael chuckled as he yanked on her hand.
In a swift moment, she lost her balance and fell to the floor.
There was a loud noise.
Gisele’s head hit the table during the fall. Her forehead knitted together, and her face paled from the pain.
“You know about everything, don’t you?” Michael closed the distance between them with a
quick move.
Seeing his hideous face up close scared the wits out of her. She tilted her head back to look at him before asking, “Did Sierra put you up to this? Are you not afraid of getting found out?”
She tried to calm herself down. She was drenched in a cold sweat, but she didn’t dare to let
her guard down.
Michael paced arrogantly in front of her. “So what if they find out?” He scoffed. “Who would believe anything you say?”
She slumped to the floor. Her nails dug into the palm of her hands as she tried to keep herself awake. 1
“Since you already know everything, I can just be straightforward.”
He kicked her in the chest and continued with a sinister laugh, “You should’ve died with that short–lived child of yours that day. Why are you still alive?
“Since you’re adamant on staying alive, here’s a taste of hell on earth!”
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As soon as he finished talking, he took out a whip and started lashing her with it.
On any other day, Gisele would have been able to dodge. However, she could barely move her body at the moment. So, she couldn’t save herself at all.
o consecutive lashes fell on her body with loud smacks
Three
Her skin stung from the whip, and the pain made her significantly more clear–headed.
She stumbled onto her feet and hid behind Collin’s bed, only to find Michael laughing.
“Did you think this old man could save you?” He laughed. “Soon, everything is going to go black!”
He grabbed Gisele, who was covered in blood, without any sympathy and wiped the blood on Collin’s body.
Collin had been resting. Suddenly, his eyes shot open, and he began having spasms. His eyes were wide open, but they looked incredibly dazed.
He reached out his hand as though he were asking for help. Soon, he went listless.
Gisele watched on in horror.
Were they trying to frame her for his death?
“Did you see that?” Michael’s eerie voice rang out across the silent room once again. “Now, it’s your turn.‘
