Chapter 65

Xiaoming wanted to tell the doctor his name. If he were a loose-lipped person, he might spread the rumor to Captain Winston that there was a government, and if the name 'Riddle' were to spread as well, wouldn't the headquarters suspect something?

However, he couldn't say it directly. If he did, he would surely be dragged to the torture chamber and punished.

"Why are you doing this?"

So he kept talking to Winston, trying to slip and say 'Miss Riddle' by accident.

"It'll be over soon."

"You could have at least explained what was going on beforehand."

"Be quiet."

But Winston, as if he could see through Grace's intentions, didn't fall for the leading questions.

"Then you tell me, sir."

"…It'll be over soon, miss."

The doctor, as if he had been instructed not to talk to Grace, didn't answer her questions and only conversed with Winston.

"Ri…."

"Quiet."

Winston warned her, somehow knowing she was about to ask him to call her 'Riddle.' Desperate, Grace couldn't give up. She wanted to at least let them know that she was being held here against her will.

"Once it's over, will you…."

As soon as she tried to ask if she would be sent back to the basement, a cold hand clamped over her mouth. Her assumption that they would continue to act like a couple in front of the doctor was a mistake.

"Don't say unnecessary things to a busy person, darling."

Perhaps due to the force pressing on her face, it sounded like, "Don't say unnecessary things to outsiders."

The hand soon fell away. Grace, facing a much colder gaze, closed her mouth.

She hoped the doctor would call the police when he saw the rope marks on her body and the explicit traces between her legs. But it was uncertain whether he would see this as a criminal act or as the secret sexual conquest of an energetic young man.

"It's all over."

The moment the device that had been spreading her intimate area was removed, Winston pulled down her skirt to cover her lower half.

It was absurd to see a beast act like a gentleman. He would reveal his true nature and lift her skirt as soon as the doctor left.

'If I had known this would happen, I should have written a note and kept it with me.'

Sitting up, Grace watched the two men talking in front of her and regretted it.

"I'll send her to the mansion within a week."

"Send it without the sender's name, to my name, and specifically to the annex."

"Yes, I will do that."

The doctor, who had been having a conversation that made no sense to her, picked up his medical bag. She gave him a pleading look as he left, but Winston immediately blocked her view.

The moment the door closed, the soft smile on his face disappeared.

"Miss Grace Riddle, Sally Bristol, Daisy. Whatever it is…."

He recited the names one after another, as if to show that he knew her intentions.

"Don't expect that woman to save you."

Grace turned her head to avoid the disgusting touch of his hand running through her hair.

"The moment you say anything about your story, that woman will face a severe tax audit. She'll have to sell the suburban house she bought recently to pay the back taxes and penalties."

Of course. He wouldn't have brought someone here without ensuring their silence.

"The lesson here is that people should live without doing bad things."

The man, receiving a silent rebuke for his hypocrisy, smiled with a raised eyebrow.

"Yes, a valid point. Let me correct that. To live a bad life, you need to have money and power like me."

He laughed contemptuously and checked his wristwatch.

"It's 2:00."

It meant it was time to start the interrogation.

"Shall we do it here today?"

Winston walked to the head of the bed. He turned on the radio on the bedside table and stopped the dial when he heard a sharp violin melody.

Grace asked the man taking off his jacket.

"What are you going to give me in a week?"

Winston, after loosening his tie and unbuttoning a few buttons of his tight shirt, answered her question with another question.

"You don't want to have my child, right?"

It meant he was ordering contraceptives.

"I'll have a headache if a woman in the torture chamber gets pregnant."

Grace felt as if she had been hit hard on the head and was dazed.

'This man has no intention of letting me go.'

When he brought her out of the torture chamber, she had hoped he had given up on her. But the hope shattered into pieces when she realized he planned to keep her locked up for a long time and use her, even to the point of ordering contraceptives.

"How long do you plan to keep me here?"

"Until you slowly suffer and die, or until I get bored."

Winston stretched his long legs and took two steps to stand in front of Grace, lifting her chin with his index finger.

"I can tell from your eyes."

He looked into Grace's eyes and smiled.

"You want to live. So try to make it boring."

Listening to his evil whisper, Grace closed her eyes tightly.

I thought the interrogations were becoming less of a focus and he was just exploring my body, so I was relieved. But that was a more dangerous sign.

"You didn't report to headquarters."

"To realize that now. You're slow."

No, I had my suspicions. I just confirmed them today.

"If your superior finds out, will he let it go quietly? A military officer, a symbol of the anti-rebel crackdown, hiding a rebel and using her as a government. You might even lose the royal family's trust. Your title will be revoked, and your father will weep in his grave."

"Isn't it an honor for my enemy to worry about my future? If Miss Riddle cares so much about me, why don't you tell me the location of your base?"

"Ask me what I know. Then I'll be happy to answer."

Winston, as if he had expected this, smiled sardonically and removed the gold cufflinks from his stiff cuffs.

"Today, I'll give you a choice. Informant or prostitute, your choice."

Grace, glaring at the imposing man, slowly lay down on the bed. She lifted her skirt with her own hands, exposing her bare thighs, and his eyes filled with twisted satisfaction. Grace closed her eyes.

The sound of the buckle being undone was heard. Soon, the mattress between her legs sank, and a hot body pressed against her.

"Hmm…."

The sensation of the device was nothing compared to this. As she struggled with the still tight object, the sound of flesh rubbing together gradually intensified.

Her mind, trapped in her wildly shaking body, repeatedly screamed silently.

Yes, I don't want to die. I'll do whatever it takes to survive. But I won't be your plaything forever.

Grace, secretly scraping the gray dust under her nails while the man focused on her body, made a vow.

If you don't let me go, I'll leave on my own.

* * *

Even after 10:00 PM, the bustling streets gave way to the palace walls, where the guards stood like statues. Rosalind, sitting in the sedan that glided along, glanced sideways at the man slowly turning the steering wheel.

She had just returned from dinner with Professor Chadwick of the Royal Institute of Technology in Rochester. She had intended to ask the butler to send a car, but Dr. Winston offered to take her to the townhouse of the Duke's family.

She should have politely declined, but since it wasn't far from the Winston family's townhouse, she accepted.

It was unexpected that he would send away his entourage and drive himself. In fact, since their first meeting at the Winston residence, unexpected events had continued.

The Winston brothers were famous for their striking good looks and sky-high arrogance. Dr. Jerome Winston was indeed as arrogant as the rumors suggested at their first meeting, but as she got to know him, his arrogance seemed far from the rumors.

"Dr. Winston."

"Yes?"

"To be honest, I didn't expect you to go this far. I'm touched."

Correcting the article that criticized Professor Chadwick and publishing an apology on the front page was enough to fulfill Dr. Winston's responsibility.

But he personally visited the professor in the capital, showed genuine interest in his research, and promised generous funding.

"Professor Chadwick seemed greatly impressed. His suggestion of joint research, if only in the same field, didn't sound like empty words."

The car entered the district of townhouses where the residences of the nobility in the capital were located. As the streets became quieter, Rosalind suddenly realized she had been talking excitedly about Professor Chadwick. Turning to the silent man, she quickly changed the subject.

"Still, it's a shame that a doctor with such passion and knowledge in geology and archaeology doesn't pursue an academic career."

The doctor gave her a brief smile before looking back at the road.

"It's a shame, but what can you do? The Winston family doesn't consider any profession that doesn't make a profit as a real job."

He smiled sheepishly and added,

"I know. I'm a materialist."

Rosalind worried that she might have embarrassed the doctor by bringing up an irrelevant topic and quickly responded.

"Abandoning academia to get married, I'm no different, a materialist."

At this, the doctor narrowed his eyes and asked,

"Did you not tell my brother that you would continue your studies after marriage?"

"I'm not that close to the captain yet…."

"You don't need to worry about my brother's reaction."

Jerome smiled confidently at the duchess.

He probably won't care what his wife does. Even if she has an affair.