The Heiress's Comeback

Chapter 208: [ Volume 1] Chaper 208- Useless son .

Hearing her words, Ray felt his stomach churn with disgust. He couldn’t hold back the revulsion bubbling inside him. Acting on pure instinct, he lunged forward and slammed his head into hers, desperate to push her away. "Stay away from me!" he snarled, his voice dripping with venom.

Second Aunt staggered back, shocked by his sudden attack. Her hand flew to her face, and when she pulled it away, she saw blood trickling from her nose. Her expression shifted, darkening with rage. The sight of her own blood, caused by the boy she thought she had complete control over, sent her over the edge.

"You ungrateful brat!" she screamed, and before Ray could react, her hand came crashing across his face. The impact was brutal, knocking him to the floor. His vision blurred as pain exploded in his cheek, but the blows didn’t stop there. She descended on him, fists swinging in wild fury, each strike more vicious than the last.

"Just like your father!" she spat, her words filled with venom as she punched him over and over again. "Ruthless! Worthless!" Her fists slammed into his body, her rage guiding every blow. Ray’s body buckled under the assault, each strike driving him deeper into the cold floor. His face swelled, bruises already forming, his skin turning red and purple from the beating.

The room filled with the sickening sound of her fists hitting his flesh. Ray groaned in agony, his body too weak to resist. Blood trickled from the corner of his mouth as his lip split under one of her punches. His ribs ached, his head pounded, and his face throbbed from the relentless attack.

After what felt like an eternity, she finally stopped, breathing heavily, her face contorted with fury as she looked down at him. Ray lay crumpled on the floor, motionless, barely conscious. His face was a mess of welts and cuts, his body battered and bruised. He couldn’t move—every inch of him screamed in pain.

Second Aunt glared down at him, her chest heaving with exertion. "You’re just like your father," she hissed, her voice dripping with hatred. "A ruthless son, undeserving of anything." With one final look of contempt, she turned and stormed out of the room, slamming the door behind her.

Ray lay there, struggling to breathe, his chest rising and falling in shallow, painful gasps. His body throbbed with every heartbeat, the pain almost unbearable. But more than the physical agony, it was the thought of Esme that hurt him the most.

He had promised her he’d be back soon. He knew she would be looking for him, frantic with worry. Esme had always been his rock, the one person who truly cared for him. And now, he was trapped in this hell, barely able to move, barely able to stay conscious.

Ray clenched his teeth, fighting the darkness that threatened to pull him under. He just needed to hold on. If anyone could find him, it was Esme. He knew she was searching, and that gave him the strength to cling to the last shreds of his consciousness.

His vision swam, the edges of the room growing dark. His body, battered and broken, felt too heavy to lift. But he had to survive. For Esme. She was his last hope.

With a final, shaky breath, Ray’s body gave in to the pain, his consciousness slipping away into the void.

Esme had tried everything in her power to track Ray down. Hours slipped by, and with every passing moment, her frustration turned into a gnawing desperation. She had always been able to sense him, to know where he was—especially when danger loomed—but now? Nothing.

His phone had gone silent. Her calls, normally answered within seconds, rang endlessly, unanswered. Even their telepathic link—something that had never failed them before—was dead. It was as if Ray had simply vanished from existence.

The gnawing panic made her head spin, but she couldn’t afford to lose focus. She couldn’t afford to let the fear cloud her mind. Not now. Not when the only person she’d ever fully trusted was gone.

Esme had retraced every step, used every contact she had, and pushed her abilities to the limit. Still, all she had was a faint signal from his phone, barely enough to go on. She followed the weak trail to a grimy alley behind a row of shops, where the stench of trash and neglect filled the air.

Her heart plummeted as she spotted the scattered remnants of Ray’s phone, shattered near a rusting dustbin, broken beyond recognition. The tracker she had installed—a safeguard she thought would protect him—was useless now, smashed along with any hopes of immediate contact.

Esme crouched down, her fingers trembling as they sifted through the fragments. Her pulse pounded in her ears, drowning out the sounds of the city around her. The phone pieces seemed to mock her, reminding her just how vulnerable they both were.

Whoever had taken Ray had planned this meticulously, knowing how to sever every line of communication. Her eyes narrowed as she clenched the broken phone pieces in her palm until they bit into her skin, the sting a sharp reminder of her failure to protect him.

She stood, breath coming fast and shallow, mind racing to connect the dots. Who would dare to do this? And why now, after all these years? She turned the questions over in her mind, but nothing made sense.

Esme paced the alley, running through every possibility, replaying her steps and theirs. She cursed under her breath, raking a hand through her tangled hair in frustration. It felt like they had outmaneuvered her, slipping through every crack she didn’t even know existed.

Then, in the midst of her spiraling thoughts, a memory resurfaced—an old, almost forgotten detail flickered in the recesses of her mind. It hit her like lightning.

How could I have missed that? Her breath caught in her throat as the realization clicked into place. She felt a rush of adrenaline, her heart pounding now not with fear, but with grim determination.