Chapter 48 Retribution Sharon once again clung to the Luke family's name. Baron's lips curved into a dark, wicked smile. "Perfect. I never planned on sparing Jensen anyway. I'll just start with you." As he spoke, he stepped toward her. Only then did Sharon notice what was dragging at his feet-a massive iron hammer. The scrape of metal against the floor echoed in the empty room, chilling her to the bone. She froze, terror flooding her. "No! Don't! Please, let me go! I'll do anything you want, just don't hurt me! Natalie's already dead-whatever you do now, she'll never know.
How about this-I'll give you money, a lot of money! Just let me go!" For the first time in years, Sharon felt genuine fear. This man was insane. She could see the madness burning in his eyes. And she couldn't lose her hand-she wasn't a designer, but she knew how much pain it would bring. Baron smirked at her pleas. "Oh? A lot of money? And how much is a lot?" "Name a price! Whatever you ask, I'll give it. If the Summers family can't, then the Luke family can!" Seeing him pause, as if in thought, Sharon's heart leapt with desperate hope. Baron's voice came cold.
"And how much do you think you're worth?" "Ten million! I'll give you ten million!" She blurted it out, afraid hesitation would cost her dearly. Baron sneered. "So you're only worth ten million?" "No, no! Fifty million! A hundred million! I'll give you a hundred million, just please let me go!" She scrambled to raise the stakes, her voice shaking. Watching her grovel, Baron felt disgust coil in his gut. "Someone like you... what right do you have to even compare yourself to Natalie? You're not worth a single finger of hers." His words stung, but Sharon dared not shout back.
If he would let her live, she'd endure anything. But Baron only thought of Natalie-and his rage boiled hotter. 1/3 This pathetic creature was the one who left her scarred and broken? She isn't even worthy to breathe the same air as her. His eyes turned to ice. Before Sharon could react, he swung the hammer down onto her right hand. "Ahhh!" The blow landed with a sickening crack. Sharon hadn't imagined retribution would come so fast-too fast to even scream before pain consumed her. The agony was blinding, the kind that begged for unconsciousness, but cruelly she remained awake.
Her bones shattered under the strike. Baron's voice was a blade. "A hundred million? You're worth nothing. When Natalie's hand was smashed, her pain was far worse than this." He raised the hammer again. Sharon's shrill screams filled the room. Her body convulsed, drenched in sweat, the chains holding her fast. Blood sprayed across Baron's face, the crimson setting off the mole at his eye-like the mark of death itself. "No! Please, I beg you, let me go! Please!" Her sobs turned to incoherent wails. But Baron felt no pity, no mercy.
When he hadn't been at Natalie's side, she had been left to suffer like this, beaten and broken. And Jensen-Jensen had dared to forbid her from even seeking justice. Unforgivable. If the law had denied her a path, then he, the underworld's king, would deliver vengeance by his own hand. The hammer rose and fell again. Sharon's cries weakened, then fell silent as her body finally gave out, mercifully fainting away. Her right hand was shattered, bones splintered, flesh mangled beyond recognition. Baron left her barely breathing.
After cleaning the scene, he dumped her broken body at Jensen's front door. Meanwhile, Jensen was focused elsewhere. He had gone to find Foster, but then remembered the design sketch. He couldn't believe the cufflinks hadn't been meant for him. He had to see the original drawing. 2/3 Ignoring Sharon's condition entirely, Jensen drove straight to the Grand Pavilion. Natalie had always had a habit of backing up her designs on her computer. He hadn't found her laptop, but he knew her cloud password. Quickly, he located the cufflink design file.
Staring at the drawing, he saw no initials-no mark of his name. Jensen's chest tightened painfully. "They really weren't for me... Natalie, why? You told me you'd only ever design for one man." The truth burned. He couldn't accept it. "No. No matter what it costs, I'll keep these cufflinks. They'll never leave me." His eyes reddened again as he clutched Natalie's design in his hands.