Forged My Marriage, Stole My Baby—Now I’m the Judge You Kneel To - Chapter 29: Chapter 29

Rowena looked at Shane's cold stare and suddenly got it—he was never going to believe her.
Sure enough, the bastard said coldly"Since you like having allergic reactions so much, have some more."
The maid nervously brought over a bowl of mushroom soup and, under Shane's watch, spoon-fed it to Rowena.
Her throat immediately felt like it was on fire, and she couldn't breathe. Rowena curled up in agony, her fingers clawing at the wheelchair armrests until her knuckles went white.
Just as she was about to pass out, the maid shoved allergy meds in her mouth.
It was torture.
They did this sick routine three times until Rowena's vision went black, her whole body went limp in the wheelchair, like a shell with no soul left.
"You get it now?"
Rowena opened her mouth but couldn't make a sound.
"Shane, that's enough." Gina's voice was all sweet and concerned. "Rowena's learned her lesson. She won't do this again, will you?"
She leaned down close to Rowena and whispered so only they could hear: "This is just the warm-up, sweetie."
Shane stared at Rowena's ghostly pale face, his voice ice cold"Why can't you be kind like Gina?"
Kind?
Rowena almost wanted to laugh, but she didn't even have the strength to move her mouth.
When they wheeled her back to her room, it was starting to rain outside. The cold drops hammered against the glass, just like that night they'd locked her in the media room.
The next morning, Rowena forced herself to go to the Vellmore family estate.
Ambrose Vellmore was the only person in that family who'd ever been good to her. After her parents died, he'd personally brought her into the family and loved her like his own granddaughter.
"Grandpa." She knelt in front of the old man, her voice hoarse. "I have to leave."
Ambrose's cloudy eyes went wide"Rowena, what happened to your legs? Who hurt you?"
Rowena shook her head and forced a smile. "Just fell down. You take care of yourself, okay? Take your meds."
She hugged the old man one last time, and as she turned to leave, she heard his voice behind her"Rowena, no matter what happens, grandpa's always on your side..."
Rowena didn't look back, afraid she'd break down crying if she did.
Less than two hours after she got back to the house, they got the call from the estate.
Ambrose had suffered a heart attack. He was dead.
Rowena's phone hit the floor.
She couldn't believe what she was hearing"That's impossible... Grandpa was fine when I left..."
The voice on the other end was choked up: "Mr. Vellmore collapsed suddenly in his study..."
Before Rowena could say anything, the front door got kicked in.
Shane stormed in with a bunch of bodyguards, his face dark as hell"Rowena! Did you visit grandpa today?"
"Yes, but I—"
"Take her."
Before she could explain, the guards roughly grabbed her and shoved her into a car.
The Vellmore estate was chaos. They'd already set up the funeral parlor, with Ambrose's body laid out in the center, looking peaceful.
Shane threw Rowena down in front of the casket: "Talk! What did you do to grandpa?!"
Rowena's knee wounds tore open again, blood seeping out and staining the carpet.
She fought through the pain: "I didn't do anything... there are cameras in the study..."
"The cameras cut out right after you went in!" Shane roared. "Who else could've gotten to grandpa's medication?!"
"I really didn't—"
"Kneel!"
Shane kicked her in the back of the knees, and Rowena crashed down in front of the casket, her forehead slamming into the floor with a dull thud.
"Bow!" he barked. "Keep bowing until grandpa forgives you!"
Rowena gritted her teeth and started kowtowing. Blood ran down her forehead, blurring her vision and staining the floor red.
She had no idea how many times she'd done it when her consciousness started fading and she collapsed.
A bucket of ice water hit her.
"Keep going!" Shane's voice sounded like it was coming from far away. "You fucking murderer!"
That night, Rowena was thrown in jail.
"Fresh girl?" A woman with a scar across her face smiled nastily as she closed in. "Heard you killed your own family's old master? That's cold as hell."
Before Rowena could say anything, she got slapped to the ground.
The next two days were the darkest of her life.
Locked in a bathroom stall with bucket after bucket of cold water dumped on her.
Her fingers got crushed in the iron door, and when her nails ripped off, the pain almost killed her.
Her face got sliced up with broken glass, and they ripped out chunks of her hair.
Every time she passed out, they'd splash cold water on her and start over.
Rowena curled up in the corner, barely conscious, hearing the guards talk: "Mr. Vellmore said don't kill her, that's all."
On the third day, Shane was planning to pick her up himself.
But right before he left, Gina texted him.
*Shane, the baby won't stop crying. I've tried everything. Can you come back?*
Shane frowned.
"You two," he pointed at two bodyguards, "go get Rowena and take her straight to grandpa's funeral."
When the guards got to the prison, the warden looked confused"Rowena Sinclair? She was released at 6 AM this morning."
Rowena, who'd gotten out that morning, was now kneeling on a prayer mat in the funeral, her forehead pressed against the cold tiles.
"Grandpa..."
Rowena pulled out that photo from the baby shower, now soaked with her blood, and gently placed it in front of the mat.
In the photo, Shane was holding the baby with this brilliant smile that now looked like a sick joke.
"Look," she whispered to the portrait, "this is the guy I loved for five years..."
Blood suddenly rushed up her throat. She forced it back down, but her bloody lips curved into this final, determined smile"Now... it's finally time for this to end..."
As she turned around, she thought she saw a tall figure standing in the garden.
Rowena tried to walk toward him, but her knees suddenly gave out.
In the last moment before everything went black, she felt someone hold her...