“What… what kind of grand gesture?” Emma stammered, her voice trembling.

Ivy didn’t reply. She simply glanced at a few men nearby, giving them a subtle nod.

Emma couldn’t see what was happening outside the room, but the strange, heavy silence made her skin crawl. She felt her nerves prickling with unease.

Just as she was about to speak again, something cold slithered across her foot. Instantly, she shrieked – a sharp, broken sound of terror.

“A snake! It’s a snake – again!” Her screams kept coming, panic overwhelming her.

“Relax,” Ivy called out, her tone almost soothing. “They’re harmless. They’ll just crawl over you, that’s all. It’s summer, after all – maybe this will help you cool down?”

But Emma’s whole body was wracked with convulsions. She kicked and thrashed, desperate to shake off the unseen creatures.

She couldn’t see anything, had no idea how many snakes there were or where they might be lurking.

As she tried to curl her legs up and make herself as small as possible, a sudden chill touched her neck – another snake had been draped there.

She screamed again, leaping up in blind terror, but two strong hands instantly forced her back down, pinning her shoulders.

“Emma, do you like your birthday present?” Ivy asked, pouring herself another glass of red wine. Her voice was light, almost playful.

“Ivy! You’re insane! You’re a monster, a complete freak!” Emma shrieked, her voice raw and desperate, hurling curses at Ivy with what remained of her strength.

Katrina, seated beside Ivy, pressed her lips together, fighting back laughter until her face turned red.

“I think Miss Emma must love it – what a unique gift. Just look how excited the birthday girl is!” Katrina said, her tone dripping with sarcasm.

No amount of screaming or cursing did Emma any good.

Realizing the futility of her rage, she switched tactics, her voice breaking into frantic, pitiful pleas. “Sis, please… I’m sorry. I really am. Please forgive me—I’m begging you-”

Terror and despair had stripped away her pride. In that moment, she had nothing left but fear.

Ivy had been waiting for her to say those words.

“What exactly are you sorry for? Tell me,” Ivy demanded, her tone cool.

“I – I shouldn’t have gotten together with Micah. He’s your boyfriend,” Emma muttered, still trying to dodge the real issue.

Ivy’s eyes flicked over to two men holding large eels. She gave them a look, then turned back to Emma. “Sounds like you still don’t fully understand what you did wrong. In that case, let’s make your gift a little more… personal.”

With that, the two men brought the slippery eels to Emma’s collarbones.

At any moment, if they let go, the creatures would slip right inside her shirt.

Emma let out a strangled scream, her composure shattering. “No! Please! I’ll talk – I’ll talk! It was your car! I did it – I got someone to mess with it!”

Katrina, jaw clenched, snapped, “How did you do it?”

Emma whimpered, tears streaming down her face. “I asked a childhood friend from the orphanage – he’s a mechanic…”

Ivy’s face was unreadable. “Why did you want to hurt me?”

Emma glared, her voice hoarse with frustration. “Because you hurt me first! You made me crash my new car the very first time I drove it! I was pregnant back then!”

“Heh. Your car was ahead of mine – you cut me off again and again. Don’t you remember?” Ivy shot back, her voice icy.

“I – I was just cutting you off… but you went too far.”

“Maybe you should blame your lousy driving, not me,” Ivy scoffed, no longer interested in arguing.

Suddenly, Emma’s phone rang. She lurched, hope flashing across her face. “My phone! It must be them – they’re looking for me!”

A man in black handed the phone over. Ivy glanced at the screen. Micah.

She hung up.

Then she looked at Emma, her voice calm and almost bored. “Is that all? Or do you have something else to confess? You know exactly what I want to hear.”

Emma sat there, trembling, stubbornly silent.

But now that she knew someone was searching for her, she felt a sliver of hope. All she had to do was buy time. Sooner or later, her family would notice she was missing. The police would be called, and she’d be rescued. All she had to do was hold on.