An Understated Dominance - Chapter 54

“Could it be Dustin?” Dahlia thought for a moment, then quickly dismissed the idea. That couldn’t be right! They were already divorced and felt completely disconnected. Why would he help her? Besides, he wasn’t capable of it.

“Chris Nolan! You’re such a terrible person! I must have been blind to trust someone like you!”

“Bastard! I treated you like family! You’re worse than that loser, Dustin!” Florence and James shouted at him, furious after discovering the truth. They had put all their trust in Chris and never imagined he would betray them.

“We all have to look out for ourselves! You can only blame yourself for being so naive!” Chris sneered.

“Shut up! I can’t take anymore of your nonsense!” Edward shouted, silencing everyone in the room.

“What I’m trying to say is, I have nothing to do with the Nicholson family. I don’t know Hunter Anderson either. The Nicholson family was behind Sir Spanner’s death! I had nothing to do with it!” Chris suddenly dropped to his knees and started begging.

“Uncle Travis, what should we do with him?” Edward asked.

Travis remained quiet for a moment. He stepped forward and said to Chris, “I don’t care about your connection to the Nicholson family. I just want to know who the murderer is! Tell me, and I’ll spare you. If not, you’ll end up like them!”

“I’ll tell you everything!” Chris exclaimed, suddenly getting an idea. “It must be Dustin! He must have killed Mr. Spanner!”

“Dustin? That name sounds familiar,” Edward said, rubbing his chin in thought.

“Edward, don’t you remember? He’s the one who beat you up!” Chris continued to ramble.

“It was him!” Edward suddenly recalled and said angrily, “Uncle Travis, Dustin is the most suspicious of all!”

“Where…”

“Is he?” Travis asked coldly.

“I saw him at the Emerald building this morning,” Chris replied. “I don’t know where he went after that. Dahlia is in charge of the Emerald building, and she’s also Dustin’s wife. She must know where he is!” He pointed at Dahlia, trying to shift the blame onto her.

“That’s not true! Dustin and my sister are divorced!” James quickly shot back.

“Exactly! We have nothing to do with Dustin. His problems aren’t ours!” another voice chimed in.

“Yeah! You should be looking for Dustin. We’re innocent!” others joined in, expressing their fear of being involved.

“I’ll decide who’s innocent,” Travis replied coldly. “Everyone is guilty until we find the murderer!”

“That guy Dustin is going to ruin us all!” someone exclaimed.

“This is so unfair! We’ve followed the law our whole lives. Why did we get involved with someone like him?” the Nicholson family lamented together.

“Leave Dahlia alone and take the rest of the Nicholson family into custody!” Travis ordered.

“Yes, sir!” his adjutant saluted, and armed soldiers escorted Florence and the others to a car.

Chris stood there, shocked and speechless.

“Where are you taking them?” Dahlia asked, worry etched on her face.

“Don’t worry about them; worry about yourself,” Travis said as he moved closer. “Where is Dustin? Are you and he involved in my brother’s death? You better tell me the truth, or your whole family will suffer!”

“I swear, Sir Spanner’s death has nothing to do with me! I don’t know anything!” Dahlia insisted.

“You don’t know?” Travis snorted. “Looks like you won’t talk without a little pressure.”

He signaled to two soldiers who quickly restrained Dahlia and hung her from the ceiling.

“Let me go! This is abuse of power!” Dahlia shouted.

Dahlia was struggling, but the pain in her wrist only grew worse with each movement.

“Abusing my power?” Travis chuckled at her words. “It looks like you don’t understand what’s happening. Your life is now in my hands. I decide if you live or die. So I’ll ask you again: where is Dustin?”

“I don’t know!” Dahlia shook her head defiantly.

“Really? It seems you’ll only give up when you’re facing death! Beat her until she talks!” Travis ordered.

A large thug stepped forward, carrying a barbed whip. “What are you doing?” Dahlia’s face went pale. Before she could say anything, the whip struck her back with a loud crack! Her clothes tore, and a deep, bloody wound opened up.

Dahlia gasped and clenched her teeth, trying to hold back her screams. But the whip came down again and again. Finally, unable to bear the pain any longer, she let out a scream. Her body trembled as her smooth back turned bruised and bloody.

This whip was designed for torture, covered in sharp spikes. Even a man would struggle to survive a dozen lashes, let alone a woman.

“Spill!” Travis stood beside her, watching coldly.

Dahlia bit her lip, sweat pouring down her face, but her eyes showed determination. “Don’t stop! Hit harder!”

Travis’s frustration grew, and he ordered his men to hit her harder. The crack of the whip and her screams echoed in the room.

Chris couldn’t watch anymore and lowered his head in silence.

Meanwhile, Edward stood by with a disturbing smile on his face.