Now They Want My Forgiveness - Chapter 64: Chapter 64

Stella was trapped in a cage, treated no better than an animal. The brutal beating left her unconscious for hours. It wasn't until someone entered the room that evening that she slowly stirred awake.
She thought Henry wouldn't send someone to bring her food. But to her shock, Henry himself appeared at the door, carrying a meal.
The meal was sumptuous—a piece of steak, chicken drumsticks, fresh seasonal vegetables, a whole fish, and a plate of spaghetti, with four kinds of fresh fruit on the side.
Henry said with a fake smile, "Go on, Stella. It's all yours for dinner."
Stella reached her hand out from between the cage bars and took the food. She thought, 'I have to eat. Otherwise, how am I supposed to escape this hellhole?"
But she could barely stomach any of it. After just a few bites, she pushed the food away. She couldn't eat anymore.
Henry's gaze bore into her. He asked, "Why aren't you eating?"
Stella shook her head weakly and whispered, "I can't eat anymore."
Henry put on a fake smile and coaxed, "Come on, just look at this juicy drumstick. Doesn't it make your mouth water?" He thrust the chicken drumstick at her, his eyes gleaming with false concern as he commanded, "Eat."
Stella hardly ever got to eat meat in the small town, and every time she did, it made her feel violently ill. Staring at the drumstick, she felt no temptation, only disgust at the greasy sheen coating its surface.
"I can't stomach this anymore," Stella whispered faintly.
Henry coaxed Stella with feigned gentleness, "Eat a bit more. It'll help you regain your strength."
Stella refused.
Perhaps after several feigned attempts to coax her, Stella's repeated refusals finally wore Henry's patience thin. He seized Stella by the jaw and forcibly shoved the chicken drumstick into her mouth.
He snarled, "Eat when I say eat. Where do you think all that blood comes from? Swallow it now, or I'll fucking kill you."
Stella had long since stopped trusting anyone, but Henry drove that lesson home brutally.
As Stella gagged and tried to spit it out, Henry struck her across the face again.
He snarled, "You fucking whore. I'm feeding you, and you dare to throw it up? You will eat every last bite. Even if you puke it out, you'll swallow it back down."
Stella had suffered through hell, and a single sentence from Henry utterly crushed any lingering hope she had of escape.
Henry sneered, "Don't even dream your family will come to your rescue. Before we got here, I called and told them you were staying out with me. They were thrilled, told us to have fun.
"Honestly, they can't wait for you to get pregnant with my kid. That'll cement our relationship."
Stella thought she had no more tears left, yet they still fell, one by one. She screamed inwardly, 'Why? Why is this happening to me? In their eyes, am I really that unimportant?'
Even at full health, Stella could never have finished that much food. Yet Henry kept force-feeding her, shoving it all down her throat.
As soon as Henry left, Stella couldn't hold it in any longer; she vomited violently. But that was the least of her worries.
The real agony was in her stomach. She hadn't eaten this much in three long years. Overwhelmed by the pain, she didn't even know how to bear it.
Stella thought in despair, 'What's even the point of living anymore?'
Back at the Hayes residence, when Eleanor took her seat at the table, she found Stella was nowhere to be seen. She asked, "Where's Stella? Is she still in her room?"
Others exchanged a few glances.
Then Fiona, with a practiced smile, said to Eleanor, "Stella isn't back yet."
"Not back yet?" Eleanor asked. Her voice was sharp with suspicion.
Fiona replied, "Yeah, Henry just called. They're having fun at Crescent Villa and won't be back for a while. Let the kids enjoy themselves."
"Not even coming back tonight?" Eleanor demanded sharply.