Chapter 50 Crumbling Walls

• Terror grips me, its icy fingers wrapped around my heart. Each ragged breath I take sends waves of pain through my back, matching the frantic rhythm of my heart. The familiar ache in my shoulders and the cold bite of shackles on my wrists remind me of my helplessness.
• “No!” The scream tears from my throat, raw and desperate, as my eyes lock onto Roman.
• He stands mere feet away, a blowtorch in hand and a cruel smirk twisting his features. The heat from the flame grows more intense as he approaches, and suddenly, agony explodes across my chest. I cry out, my body convulsing as the pain spreads like wildfire.