Chapter 13 Her First Gift to Courtney
Natalie wasn’t someone who cried easily.
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She’d always believed tears were for the weak–for losers. And Natalie! She had never allowed herself to be vulnerable.
But now, she was a failure as a mother.
She wept loudly, the kind of sobbing that came from deep in the chest, uncontrollable and raw. Her son stood in front of her, bruised and badly injured, and all she could offer was a choked–out apology. “I’m so sorry.”
Her cries echoed in the office. Christopher frowned, clearly annoyed.
“Geez, you’re so noisy. That pill in the bottle wasn’t poison but vitamin C.
Jeremiah was a close friend of his father. He had secretly swapped out the poison in the bottle long ago.
“But the doctor said you didn’t have much time left,” Natalie said, her voice trembling.
Oh, that? I asked him to say it.”
Christopher shrugged like it was no big deal.
He had planned to record Natalie’s reaction–to expose her cruelty and convince Jonathan to finally divorce her. But things hadn’t gone the way he expected.
Natalie was relieved when she discovered her son wasn’t in danger, but the guilt didn’t lift. It sank in deeper.
“Chris,” she whispered, wiping her tears, “I’ll protect you and Eve from now on. No one will Hurt you again–not even me. So please, can you trust me one more time?”
The boy challenged him. “Sure. Cut off one of Jacques’s hands, and I’ll believe you.”
His tone was casual, like he didn’t take her seriously at all.
Natalie’s eyes turned cold. “One hand? That’s not enough. I’ll take everything from him. His money. His power. His family.”
Christopher didn’t think she had it in her to actually go that far until two days later.
He received two photos.
One showed Jacques in a prison cell, screaming as his right hand was hacked off.
The second photo showed that same severed hand was fed to a snarling dog
Those were bloody scenes, and someone had considerately added adorable bunny stickers to both photos.
Christopher furrowed his brows and stared at the photos. He hadn’t thought she’d actually do it.
“Natalie, what game are you playing?”
A few days later, two luxury cars pulled up outside the prison gates,
A white Bentley and a black Bugatti Veyron.
Courtney stepped out of the Bentley with her daughter in her arms; the mother and daughter approached the prison gate to -bring Jacques home. As soon as she saw her husband, she gasped. “Oh my God, what happened to your hand?!”
Jacques lowered his head, glancing at the stump where his right hand used to be. His body trembled involuntarily.
The past few days had been a nightmare. He had suffered a fate worse than death.
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Chapter 13 Her First Gift to Courtney
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He didn’t even know how he had pissed off the prison gang leader, but from the first day, he’d been beaten senseless, morning to night. He couldn’t sleep at night for fear of what might be forced into his mouth while he dozed.
When they were in a good mood, they stuffed his mouth with excrement. On worse days–cockroaches. Rats.
And then, they took his hand.
Jacques shoved the memories aside and ignored Courtney. Instead, he walked past her, heading straight to the Bugatti.
“Ms. Oracle,” he said, reaching for the door, “thank you for getting me out.”
He tried to open the car–but it was locked.
The window slid down smoothly. Natalie sat inside, her face mostly hidden behind an exquisite mask. She glanced at him in a good mood.
The trap she’d deliberately laid for Jacques had worked, but this was only the beginning. He needed to suffer a worse torment. She declared, “Jacques, our partnership is over.”
The car started to pull away. Panic rose in Jacques like a tide.
Those days in prison had taught him one brutal truth–if he wanted to survive, he needed power. Influence. Protection. Without it, he’d always be a target.
He rushed in front of the car, blocking it. “Please! Ms. Oracle, could you please consider giving me another opportunity? You want to save your daughter, right? Take my daughter’s blood–take as much as you need, just work with me again!”
Courtney hit her husband and berated him, “What the heck are you saying?! Gwen is your daughter! How can you trade her for money and power, treating her like a walking blood bank? You’ll kill her!”
Jacques didn’t flinch. “Didn’t Yvonne do it for Gwen before? Gwen’s my kid. She should be willing to do the same for me.” Courtney lost it. “How could you compare that little bastard to our daughter? It’s fine for Yvonne to died, that’s that. But Gwen? I won’t let anything happen to my baby. I don’t care what you say–I’m not agreeing to this!”
Jacques grabbed her wrist tightly, eyes wild and ruthless. “If it weren’t for Ms. Oracle, I’d be dead in the prison. And you’re telling me a kid matters more than power? Than money? So what if she’s my blood?”
“We can have more kids,” he said coldly. “But a chance to rise to the top? That only comes once.”
Every word they exchanged drifted into Natalie’s cars.
She leaned back in her seat, calm as ever; her tone suggested she was doing the couple a favor.
“Jacques, I’ll give you one more chance. But first, show me your sincerity.”
Courtney stepped forward, tears running down her cheeks.
“Please, Ms. Oracle. My daughter is sick. She can’t handle being your daughter’s donor. You’re a mother–you can’t do this to
Natalie didn’t blink.
“It’s exactly because I’m a mother that I have to do this.”
Everything Yvonne–had suffered–every drop of blood taken from her–Natalie would make them pay for it all as her mother.
She wanted Courtney to watch as her daughter was turned into a walking blood bag, her daughter blood being drained again. and again.
Natalie would let Courtney and her daughter feel every bit of suffering that Yvonne had gone through.
And she had come prepared.
Chapter 13 Her First Gift to Courtney
She tossed the blood–drawing kit through the car window, right into Jacques’s hands.
He picked it up, confused. “You want me to do it?”
Natalie smiled faintly. Her voice was flat, like the devil whispering in his ear.
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“From now on, every time blood needs to be drawn, it’ll be you who does it, she said, nodding toward the trembling Gwendolyn. “You’re her father, after all,”
Courtney would have to watch her husband draw blood from their child. This would happen repeatedly.
That was Natalie’s first gift to her.
Jacques never wanted to return to prison.
He grabbed the syringe and yanked Gwendolyn toward him.
“Daddy, no!” she screamed, crying. T’m scared of pain! If you want blood, just take it from that bastard! We have the same blood type
Natalie’s hands clenched into fists.
Pain? So Gwendolyn did know pain.
What about Ene? She’d been a walking blood bag for over a year. Couldn’t my daughter feel the pain?
Even now, this girl still wanted to hurt Eve. Natalie narrowed her eyes, looking straight at Jacques, who was wavering.
“Anyone who wants to achieve greatness must be willing to sacrifice something. You lost a hand and still don’t get it? Then maybe we’re done here.”
Jacques couldn’t make up his mind? That was fine. She didn’t mind helping him make the choice.
Staring down at the stump of his right arm, Jacques made up his mind.
He ferociously jabbed the needle deep into Gwendolyn’s hand.
Red blood began to flow, Gwendolyn hadn’t lost much blood when she wetted herself in fear.
Courtney went hysterical, pounding on Jacques’s back, screaming at him to stop, but there was nothing she could do.
“Is that enough sincerity for you?” Jacques said hoarsely, holding out the blood bag. “From now on, whenever your daughter needs blood–I’ll provide it.
“She’ll be your daughter’s personal blood bag.”
Natalie looked at the three of them.
Jacques, eyes red with obsession–driven mad by the thirst for power.
Courtney was seething with rage and helplessness.
And Gwendolyn–soaked in her piss, her eyes burning with resentment.
The once–perfect family of three was crumbling, its foundations shattered.
And the crack she’d torn open today!? It would one day turn into a blade they used to destroy each other.
When that happens, she will be there to watch.
“Mr. Fourside,” she said softly, “pleasure doing business with you.”
The locked car door clicked open with that.
Jacques climbed in and sat beside her.
9:55 AM
Chapter 13 Her First Gift to Courtney
Courtney watched the taillights disappear, dread curling deep in her gut.
Is Oracle here to help us?
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She couldn’t shake the feeling that when Oracle looked at her, it wasn’t like looking at a person. It was like a predator sizing up its prey.
It made her skin crawl; hair on the back of her neck stood on end.
“Mom, Gwendolyn muttered through gritted teeth. “I bet that woman seduced Dad. Why else would he do this to me?”
Courtney stroked her daughter’s hair, biting her lip. The thought stuck in her head like a thorn.
That woman made her feel unsafe. Uneasy.
If she really were involved with Jacques, then she and Gwendolyn would be left with nothing,
No, she was not going to let that happen.
