The threat was cold and evident. A purposeful one which had the vampiress stop from moving forward. She laughed. Laughing some more, she gave her step-son a dirty look,

Spatting out the words, "All you have is a threat. Your words are filled with lies and all you were waiting for was to hurt her."

"You should be the one speaking, milady," Damien retorted back.Lady Fleurance turned her head slightly, raising her chin like she had done nothing wrong like her daughter. She turned her heel to step down from the stair which she had stepped down, her eyes narrowed at her step-son for the false accusations, "When father said to wait for me, weren't you the one who gave Grace the permission to degrade the girl but that wasn't all that you did now, was it? You brought the collar which you saved in your closet room. But there is more to it, you even went so far as to punish her by making her drink human blood."

Lady Fleurance's jaw ticked. Her mouth twisting in distaste. The girl deserved far worse treatment than what was handed down. For her to open her mouth and tattle tale about them, the slave hadn't learned a word from what they spoke.

"As I said, prove it to us that she is not a slave. It is quite hard to accept that after all these days you are telling us that she isn't one. Were you trying to fool us?"

"Does it matter?" Damien raised an eyebrow in question, challenging her as he knew she could go on and on and so could he right now by keeping this up until the next morning, "What makes you think that I would let you touch or see her. What belongs to me, belongs to me alone and none at all for others. Which strikes the question of you wanting proof. The bottom line right now is that Grace broke the rules and there is no way going back to what she has done or if she can fix it. Unless..."

Everyone waited for Damien to continue while he left them of hanging and waiting for him to continue to speak.

He turned his gaze back at Grace, "Unless she goes through what Penelope went through. And by that, I mean every single thing she did since this morning. Slapping, kicking, hurting her while putting her to shame by making her crawl in the Isle Valley."

"She deserved that and I didn't know it," Grace spoke through her gritted teeth.

Damien moved his hand back and forth playfully, "Oh, Gracie. You should count the last remaining lucky stars of yours that I haven't killed you yet for what you have done. For shaming someone who is dear to me, what do you think would be the right thing to do?" he asked her.

"You must be joking. To put me in the same level as her. If that is so killing me is a better option. If that is what you want," the girl turned her head away dramatically, waiting to gain sympathy which only came from her mother. Their father stood there, brows slightly furrowed. Punishments in the pureblooded family, when given out, were always severe to the things they did. It was about following rules and if one failed to follow the house rules then they had to be ready to face the consequences.

"Death is too easy to be called as punishment, Gracie. Haven't you heard the saying that goes by the humans? An eye for an eye, a limb for a limb," he whispered. A loud thunder struck down near the forest that was situated not too far from the mansion.

"Damien," his father spoke after a long time, "I reject the idea of her crawling on the ground. As much as it is for the sake of her punishment where she learns and fixes the errors, it is also something that would affect the entire Quinn's reputation. It might not matter to you but it does to the rest of us. The decision lies in your hands."

By now, Grace had come to realize there was no way to get out of this. No matter what she said it was like none were ready to listen. With the dear trying to bubble up from her throat, she swallowed it down.

Going to the last resort, she said, "I am your sister. Someone who came first and she came later. You cannot do this to me," by this time, her voice wavered for the oncoming wave which was going to hit her through the punishment.

In Damien's eyes, it didn't matter.

Nothing mattered right now, especially after seeing what she had done to Penny. The girl needed a reality check and he would do that.

"Father says I can't make you crawl the way you made Penelope crawl all over the place of the Isle Valley as if she were a dog. Mistreating the person but don't worry. I have a well-deserved gift for you which will be a reminder of what you did and what you shouldn't in the future," there was a shine in his eyes which started to scare Grace.

"You will regret this," said Grace, an underlying threat that Damien didn't mind one bit.

He only continued to smile, "Maggie," he called his sister who walked forward.

"Yes," Lady Maggie answered.

Frankly, the eldest child of the Quinn didn't want to be part of it. Grace might have thought otherwise about her but she had always considered her as her sister. Be it only that she was a stepsister by word or half-blooded sibling where they shared the same father, she had always been polite and nice to her. Or maybe not crossing her path to avoid confrontations which were not necessary as the girl was spoilt since childhood.

Standing in the sideline she had been quietly watching and listening to the conversation. Being the oldest sibling, she had overlooked things, unlike Damien who enjoyed the confrontations. The jab of words going back and forth.

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