Chapter 110

VALENTINA The stench of damp stone and burning herbs clogged my lungs, so thick it was as if the walls themselves exhaled rot. My wrists screamed where silver shackles dug into my skin, marking blisters, searing them apart and eating into flesh with every slight movement. The chains bit harder every time I struggled, mocking me with their strength. The cold floor beneath me was sticky with blood, mine and maybe others’. I couldn’t tell anymore. The disgusting smell of old pee and vomit was heavy in the air, yet it couldn't bother me anymore. My head tilted forward, strands of hair clinging to my sweat-slick face. Suddenly, a cold slap of iced water across my cheeks, shocking my eyes open… “Wake up, precious granddaughter...” The voice slithered into me like poison, smooth yet dripping with malice… Simon, my grandfather. The man I thought had been long buried beneath the earth, the man I had used to look up to as a hero… But here he stood. Cloaked in shadows, his posture straight despit