Chapter 267 Sanity
"But before we proceed, we need to wake someone up first," Ross said, his tone calm yet laced with menace.
His eyes glinted as he nodded in Derek's general direction, signaling Brandon without another word.
Brandon moved in an instant, his massive frame almost blurring as he appeared beside Derek. Without hesitation, he lifted his foot and delivered a crushing stomp to Derek's right foot.
SPLAT!
The sickening sound of bone and flesh being pulverized filled the room, accompanied by a crack as the floor beneath splintered from the force.
"AHHHHHHHHHH!"
Derek's scream tore through the air, a raw and guttural cry of agony that reverberated throughout the house.
His body convulsed in the chair, his head snapping upright as he was forcibly jolted back into consciousness by the excruciating pain.
Brandon remained unfazed by the horror he'd just inflicted. Calmly, he picked up the discarded white towel that had once been wrapped around Iris's body.
He wrapped it tightly around Derek's mutilated foot, binding the wound with a practiced efficiency that only added to the grotesque nature of the scene.
The towel was soon soaked with blood, but it did its job of stemming the bleeding.
Iris, still naked and utterly exposed, seemed oblivious to her own state. Her maternal instincts took over, pushing past her shock and horror.
"Derek!" she screamed, rushing toward her son in a desperate attempt to help him.
But before she could reach him, Ross stepped forward. With a single, forceful shove, he sent her stumbling backward. She landed unceremoniously on the bed, the soft mattress catching her fall.
Ross's expression darkened as he looked down at her.
"If you make another unnecessary move, I will have my man Brandon destroy every limb on your son's body." His voice was icy, the threat in his words chillingly real.
The words cut through Iris like a blade, freezing her in place. Her wide, tear-filled eyes darted between Ross and Derek, her chest heaving as she tried to process the nightmare she was living.
"Why?" she finally managed to choke out, her voice trembling with despair.
"Why are you doing this to us? Derek is a good boy. My good boy. You're monsters—both of you!"
Her voice cracked as she broke into sobs, tears streaming down her flawless face. She clutched the edge of the bed, her fingers digging into the sheets as she looked at Ross with a mixture of fear and anger.
Ross smirked, the cold amusement in his eyes making her blood run cold.
"Good boy?" he repeated mockingly, leaning slightly closer to her.
"Your 'good boy' has left a trail of broken lives behind him. Women stolen, families destroyed. And now? He thought he could take from me. From me."
Iris shook her head violently, refusing to believe his words.
"You're lying!" she screamed, her voice cracking. "Derek would never—"
Ross cut her off with a cold laugh.
"Save it, woman. Deny it all you want, but your son's sins are well-documented. And now, the bill has come due."
Derek groaned weakly in the chair, his head lolling as he tried to speak.
"M-Mom…" he croaked, his voice barely audible through the haze of pain.
Iris's heart broke at the sound. She tried to stand, to go to him, but the memory of Ross's threat kept her rooted to the spot.
Her tears continued to fall as she looked at her son, her maternal instincts warring with the overwhelming fear that consumed her.
Ross straightened, his cold gaze locking onto Iris.
"Now," he said, his voice low and deliberate, "you're going to sit there, stay quiet, and watch. Because this is far from over."
Iris trembled, her body shaking with a mixture of fear and rage. But for the moment, she had no choice but to comply.
Ross walked toward Derek, his footsteps slow and deliberate, each one echoing ominously in the room. He stopped in front of the bound man, his dark eyes boring into him like a predator cornering its prey.
"How many?" Ross asked, his voice calm but menacing.
Derek groaned, his head tilting weakly to the side, refusing to meet Ross's gaze.
"How many have you killed?" Ross asked again, his tone sharpening.
Derek still didn't answer, his swollen face contorted in agony as he moaned from the pain. His breaths came in ragged gasps.
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Brandon, standing like a giant sentinel beside him, brought his massive foot down onto Derek's left foot with brutal precision, turning it into a mangled, bloody pulp that matched the right.
He now has identical legs with no more feet in them.
"AHHHHHHHHH!"
Derek's scream was primal, raw with the kind of agony he had never experienced in his privileged 27 years of life.
The sound reverberated through the room, making even the walls seem to tremble with its intensity.
Brandon bent down and grabbed the other towel—this one the one that had earlier fallen from Iris's head.
Without a word, he tied it tightly around Derek's crushed foot, stanching the flow of blood with practiced efficiency. Derek flinched, the additional pressure amplifying his pain to unbearable levels.
Ross crouched to meet Derek's tear-streaked face, his expression unyielding.
"How many?" he demanded again, his tone as cold as ice.
"SIX WOMEN!" Derek finally screamed, the words torn from him in desperation. Though his voice was slurred by the gaps left by his shattered teeth, the confession rang clear.
His perfect, striking blue eyes—now brimming with tears of agony—looked even brighter against the ruin of his face.
"No!" Iris's horrified voice broke the tension. She sat on the edge of the bed, trembling, her hands clutching the sheets as though they could anchor her to sanity.
"That's not true! Tell me that's a lie, Derek! It's a lie!"
Derek turned his battered face toward her, his voice hoarse and filled with a mix of pain and unrepentant pride.
"I'm sorry, Mom," he said, his tone eerily calm despite the situation.
"I just wanted them to love me. How dare they say no to me? I'm Derek Davies! All girls should feel lucky I gave them my attention! How dare they reject me!"