I couldn’t help but laugh bitterly at her pathetic act of forced elegance. A beast is still a beast—even dressed in the mistress’s clothes, it can’t hide its nature.
That only enraged her further.
“You bitch!”
“Somebody come! Grab this thief!”
“Sticky fingers, huh? Let’s see how clean I can make you.”
Martha struck me over and over with a stick.
My screams roused the dying white snake, which managed to break free. Just as the stick was about to smash down on my head, the snake bit Martha’s hand hard.
“Damn creature!” Chloe snatched up a knife and, with one swift motion, brought it down.
The snake’s head was severed.
“No, Mom…”
Despair washed over me as I trembled, cradling the broken body.
“If you care this much about this snake, calling it your mom…” Chloe sneered. Then, before my eyes, she chopped the body into several pieces.
“Tie this thief up in the backyard. If she loves snakes so much, cut off her hands and feet—let her crawl like one for the rest of her life.”
“No…” Terror gripped me. As a music student, if I lost my hands, I’d lose my future.
“Just one more thing…” Chloe’s eyes gleamed with excitement as she forced open my mouth.