Chapter 18
Soon after, the Newell family and Aiden rushed in, their faces painted with urgency. Thea crumbled to the floor, tears streaming uncontrollably. “Oh, my daughter, Margot, how could you do this?”
Greg’s eyes were ablaze with fury as he fixed them on Margot. “You ungrateful bastard! How could you do something so terrible? How could our family have someone like you?”
Aiden was overwhelmed with guilt and anxiety. He kept his gaze locked on the knife clutched in Margot’s hand, terrified she might harm Eliza in a rash moment. Speaking softly but firmly, he implored, “Margot, take it out on me. Let Eliza go; she hasn’t done anything wrong.”
Observing their reactions, Margot let a twisted grin creep across her face. Brandishing the knife wildly, she ranted, “Innocent? She took everything from me–my family, my love!”
A dark glint flashed in her eyes as she stared down everyone there, shouting, “Alright, if you care about her so much, then get on your knees!”
Eliza looked at her in disbelief, “Margot, what are you…”
Before she could finish, Dean was the first to drop to his knees. Then came Orson and Polly,
followed by Aiden.
And soon, Greg, Thea, and Evan were kneeling in front of her.
“We’re kneeling. Please, let Eliza go.”
Eliza stood frozen, unable to process the scene.
Watching them all kneel, Margot seemed to spiral further into madness instead of satisfaction. “You all love Eliza so much! You’re even willing to kneel for her!”
“And what about me? Dad, Mom, Evan, Aiden, you used to love me the most,” Margot’s gaze swept over the Newells and Aiden, her eyes a storm of pain and madness.
“And the Madden family, aren’t you supposed to be the cream of the crop? Here you are, kneeling for someone you call worthless. Why? Why!”
Dean shouted, his voice raw. “If you let her go, I’d even lay down my life!”
Greg watched the frantic Margot, his eyes filled with sorrow and helplessness. His voice wavered as he spoke, “Margot, we did love you, but look at what you’ve become. You keep hurting Eliza, and now your heart’s overrun with jealousy and hate.”
Thea begged with sobs, “Please, wake up. Don’t go down this road. Hurting Eliza won’t bring you happiness.”
Evan gritted his teeth and said, “Margot, you weren’t like this before. What turned you into this?”
Aiden shouted, “Margot, you can’t keep making these mistakes. Eliza is innocent. Let her go!”
Margot ignored their pleas, suddenly halting with a strange smile on her face.
Pressing the knife to Eliza’s throat, she guided her towards the doorway. Moments later, she slowly drew a remote control from her pocket. “None of you are going anywhere! I’ve planned for this. I’ve planted bombs here, and with one press of this button, everyone goes down!”
Everyone was stunned, struggling to comprehend Margot’s descent into such madness that she’d resort to using bombs.
Before they could react, Margot shoved Eliza inside, tossed the bomb, and locked the door behind her as she left.
The bomb went off at Eliza’s feet.
“Eliza!”
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10-14
Chapter 18
Everyone raced toward Eliza, desperate to save her
