"We needed a scapegoat."
The words rang in her head like a tolling bell. She trembled in response. Despite the words that made her heart sank, her gaze never left the body of the small little boy next to her. Looking at the small bruised body was akin to having her heart cut into small little pieces.
The agony was slow and painful.
Yet there were no tears in her eyes. The days of torture made her gaze blank, vacant.
The smell of blood, urine, and feces around her was thick.
"Gabi…"
Gabrielle slowly dragged her gaze to the man sitting languidly in front of her. It was none other than her cousin, the future Prime Minister of Du Empire, Alfons Sutton.
A man who grew up pitiful.
A man that Gabrielle's father adopted when he was ten.
"Gabi… I really didn't have a choice. I have to sacrifice you for the greater good."