Bethany sneered, raised her hand, and thrust the dagger downward. Blood spattered. George cried out in pain, his body trembling violently, his face contorted in agony. "No! Ah! Please have mercy!" His shrill screams filled the basement. After a long time, his screaming softened, but his face remained twisted, his body still trembling. His bloodshot eyes glared at Bethany with fury and fear. He hadn't expected his pliant, cowardly wife to kidnap and hurt him.

"You how could you do this to me? I'm your husband! We've been married for thirty years!" George's voice shook as violently as his body.

Bethany shouted angrily, "Now you remember our thirty years of marriage? Why didn't you think of that when you betrayed me? When you asked me to serve your two bastards, why didn't you remember our thirty years? When you were going to kill our son—our first child—why didn't you think of our marriage?" She spat, "George, it's too late to play the relationship card!"

Frustrated, she kicked him hard in his still-bleeding wound. He screamed. Bethany sneered. "You couldn't control yourself, could you? Since you can't control it, you don't need it."

After lambasting George, Bethany turned to Meghan, who bit her lip, her face pale, her body shaking. Too terrified to speak during George's ordeal, she was now paralyzed with fear. Tears streamed down her cheeks as she pleaded, "M-Mom, I was wrong. P-Please don't hurt me. I'll obey your every word. Please don't hurt me. I beg you!"

Bethany remained unmoved, her face dark. She had given Meghan many chances, even one the night before. But Meghan, she believed, was irredeemably bad. If Meghan had any conscience, she wouldn't have repeated her mistakes. Bethany thought, Such a shameless wench doesn't deserve sympathy.

Meghan tried to appease her. "See, Mom, I'm a good girl. I'll never disobey you again! If I break my word, I'll die a tragic death!"

Bethany shook her head. "Too late. I've given you many chances, but you didn't appreciate them. You tried to kill Sam and didn't repent. Now you want to hurt my Eddie to save yourself. You both deserve to die."

Meghan cried, "I didn't mean to hurt Eddie! It was Dad's idea! Mom, blame Dad, not me! He's the one in charge. What could I do?"

George stared at Meghan in disbelief. How can the always-considerate Meghan blame me? She's asking Bethany to take revenge? Doesn't she care if I die? Meghan, however, only cared about saving herself.

Despite Meghan's pleas and tears, Bethany remained unmoved. She raised the dagger. Meghan screamed. Bethany glanced at their wounds, left them to bleed, and walked out of the basement. I can't bear to kill anyone, she thought. I'll let them bleed to death, then collect their bodies the day after tomorrow.

"Don't go! I'm still bleeding!" George shouted in horror. Even castrated, he wanted to live. Meghan also cried, "Mom, please don't leave me! It hurts so much!" But Bethany ignored them, shutting the heavy iron door behind her. The kerosene lamp sputtered out, plunging the basement into darkness.

Meghan sobbed, "Daci, this is all your fault!" George yelled, "I did this to you? You did this to me!"

Meghan argued, "My hints wouldn't have worked if you didn't have malicious thoughts." George was speechless. Crying, Meghan continued, "Mom brought us here to kill us, not because of our affair, but because you wanted to kill Eddie!"