She Was the Treasure All Along novel Chapter 501

Lucian yanked the woman off the floor with a single, effortless motion. His hand clamped around her throat as he slammed her back down onto the dining table. A wave of intense suffocation brought her back to her senses, and she began to thrash wildly.

Loyce casually picked up a paring knife from the counter and drove it into the wood, mere inches from the woman's fingers. The sudden thud paralyzed her with fear.

"I'm asking you once. How old are you?"

"Th-thirty-five."

Loyce studied her face. Though slightly weathered, her features were undeniably youthful. It was no wonder she had easily passed for someone much younger.

"How long have you been working for Yarden?" Loyce demanded.

Cassie clamped her mouth shut. Loyce didn't hesitate. She yanked the knife free and drove it down again, slicing just the very tip of Cassie's finger.

"Ten years! Ten years!" Cassie shrieked in agony. "I was sold to Wade Windsor's family as a baby to be his child bride! Wade's family used to run the loom factory with Yarden! They used me and my young face to trick outsiders!"

"Have you ever kidnapped children?" Loyce asked coldly.

"I—I don't remember—"

Before the words fully left her mouth, Loyce's expression remained entirely flat as she brought the knife down again, severing another small piece of her finger.

"You have nine more chances to lie," Loyce stated.

"Ahhh!" Cassie wailed, her voice cracking. "Yes! I brought a little girl back once! I was seventeen! Yarden told me to steal her from an orphanage in Hayworth County. I was volunteering there for the day!"

Loyce tapped her finger lightly on the table, a drop of the woman's blood smearing against her skin. "And then what?"

"I don't know! I swear I don't know what happened after that!" Cassie sobbed hysterically. "I just handed the kid over to Yarden, signed a non-disclosure agreement, took the money, and left it alone! Later, I heard a rumor that Yarden's daughter had died."

Loyce pulled the knife out of the table, twirling it casually in her hand. "His daughter died?"

The sheer horror of it sent a chill down the spine, yet laid out against the brutal reality of the town, it made perfect, terrifying sense.

Cassie lifted her swollen, tear-stained eyes and whispered weakly, "Do you think I didn't want to be a good person? This is the only life I've ever known. I was brainwashed by this place. I survived because I was obedient. Let me tell you a secret—every single man in Yavon County is complicit. And the reason they've never been caught is because someone powerful in Metropia protects them. Whenever an inspector comes down, the town gets tipped off and hides everything."

A blinding flash of lightning tore through the dark room, casting a terrifying glow over Cassie's face.

Loyce smiled, a sharp, dangerous curve of her lips. "I know. The Seabrook family. Alicia Seabrook. And the person who paid to have me killed tonight was her daughter, Sybil."

Just then, Lucian returned, dripping wet. He placed a weathered document into Loyce's hand.

She looked down at the old non-disclosure agreement and her smile widened.

Sybil was young, reckless, and impulsive. She didn't realize it yet, but she had just handed Loyce the very weapon needed to destroy the Seabrook family.