Unreturned When the Fog Cleared Chapter 06

Unreturned When the Fog Cleared Chapter 06: Forced Confession

When Thera Sutherland woke up in the hospital, she found Julian Rhodes sitting by her bed.

A flicker of worry, gone before he could hide it, flashed in Julian Rhodes’s eyes. It was immediately replaced by simmering anger. His brow furrowed. “You’re finally awake! Do you have any idea you almost died? It’s a good thing Sylvia called an ambulance in time…”

Thera Sutherland’s mouth fell open, but her voice was painfully hoarse. “It was Yara Rhodes. She’s the one who pushed me.”

“And now you’re trying to blame her!” Julian Rhodes’s face instantly turned livid.

“She’s the one who pushed me…” Thera Sutherland said, trying to sit up in her agitation.

“Shut up!” Julian Rhodes leaned forward, the fury in his eyes practically spilling over.

“They both told me what happened. You were trying to hurt Yara, and Sylvia was lucky enough to stop you! In the end, it was Sylvia who called for help. That’s the only reason you were rescued!”

“You can check the surveillance footage…”

“Check the footage?” Julian Rhodes cut her off, his voice dripping with disappointment and rage.

“I’ve watched Yara grow up. Don’t you think I know what kind of person she is? And Sylvia is gentle and kind. You, on the other hand, have always resented Yara. And now you’re trying to hurt her!”

“Thera Sutherland, how could you become so petty and vicious!”

Every word Julian Rhodes spoke was a cold knife, plunging deep into

Thera Sutherland’s heart.

She looked at the man who had once promised to protect her for life. Now, he was flinging the cruelest accusations at her, unwilling to hear her side of the story, refusing to grant her even an ounce of trust.

Thera Sutherland closed her eyes and pressed the nurse call button on the headboard. “I’m calling the police.”

“Are you crazy? You think this is something to call the police over?”

Before the nurse could even enter, Julian Rhodes intercepted her, saying, “The patient just woke up and is emotionally unstable. She pressed the button by mistake.”

Back in the room, his face was cold. “Since you don’t want to rest and recover, we’re going home.”

Without another word, he forced Thera Sutherland back to the villa.

The villa was deathly quiet at night.

The moment Yara Rhodes saw Thera Sutherland in the living room, she immediately ducked behind Sylvia Chevalier, her voice trembling.

“Brother! She was the one trying to hurt me! She wanted to push me into the river!”

Julian Rhodes soothed her gently. “It’s all right. I’ll keep an eye on her. I won’t let her get near you again.”

He started to lead Thera Sutherland toward an upstairs guest room.

But Yara Rhodes clung to the hem of his shirt. “No! She’ll come out in the middle of the night and try to hurt me!”

Sylvia Chevalier chimed in, a troubled expression on her face. “Julian,

Yara’s condition is already unstable. If she’s upset again…”

Julian Rhodes fell silent for a moment. Finally, he said, “Then lock her in

the basement.”

“What right do you have to lock me up!”

Thera Sutherland was forcibly dragged into the damp, cold basement.

In the darkness, Thera Sutherland leaned against a corner, catching her breath for a long time. She suddenly remembered a maid once mentioning that the pipes from an outdoor utility well connected to the basement.

Groping her way through the darkness, Thera Sutherland finally found the pipe and followed it, climbing out of the basement.

She made it back to her room and, with trembling hands, used a backup phone to dial 911.

The police arrived quickly.

But Julian Rhodes met them with a look of weary resignation. “Officers, I am so sorry. My wife hasn’t been well lately. That’s why she keeps calling you for no reason.”

Thera Sutherland frantically grabbed an officer’s arm. “I’m not sick! He

locked me in the basement…”

Before she could finish, Julian Rhodes cut her off.

His voice was filled with concern. “We had a… family incident a little while ago. Ever since, she’s had delusions that I’m trying to hurt her. I was just making arrangements to take her to see a psychiatrist.”

Seeing it was a domestic dispute, and with Julian Rhodes appearing so sincere and no concrete evidence to the contrary, the police simply advised them to communicate better and left.

The moment the police were gone, Julian Rhodes’s anger finally erupted.

“Thera Sutherland, have you had enough of making a scene?!”

Yara Rhodes’s eyes were red as she cried, “Brother! Thera Sutherland will definitely sneak out and hurt me! She even dared to call the police. What won’t she do?”

Sylvia Chevalier added worriedly, “Julian, she knows this villa too well. As long as she has the strength, she’ll get out eventually. And then, Yara…”

“I didn’t do it!” Thera Sutherland cut them off, her voice trembling but

defiant.

“I never tried to hurt Yara Rhodes! The two of them are in this together, deliberately framing me!”

Looking at Thera Sutherland’s defiant expression, Julian Rhodes barked at

his men:

“Drag her to the basement!”

A large wooden barrel, half the height of a person, had been placed in the

basement. It was filled with water and ice.

The icy water instantly rose past Thera Sutherland’s chest, the bone–chilling cold sending shudders through her entire body.

A flicker of pity crossed Julian Rhodes’s heart, and he was just about to speak.

Sylvia Chevalier moved to his side. “Julian, Yara just had a nightmare. She was crying, saying she’s afraid Thera Sutherland will hurt her…”

Julian Rhodes’s Adam’s apple bobbed. He spoke to the maids in a cold voice, “Begin!”

“Confess! Was it you who tried to push Miss Rhodes into the river?”

Thera Sutherland was trembling violently, but she still shook her head with all her might.

One of the maids grabbed the back of her neck and shoved her head

down.

The freezing water instantly covered her mouth and nose. Suffocating panic made her thrash wildly until her vision blackened and she was on the verge of losing consciousness. Only then was she yanked back to the surface.

“COUGH… COUGH, COUGH…”

Thera Sutherland slumped against the side of the barrel, gulping down air as tears streamed down her face.

Julian Rhodes’s nails dug deep into his palms. He couldn’t stop himself from speaking. “That’s enough…”

“Julian!”

Sylvia Chevalier’s voice was sharp with urgent concern. “If Yara doesn’t get closure on this, she’ll never move past it! Her Depression will get worse. What if she does something foolish again?”

Julian Rhodes closed his eyes and turned away, unable to watch any longer.

Taking this as their cue, the maids reached out again, forcing Thera Sutherland back under the water.

Thera Sutherland’s hair was plastered to her pale face. Her limbs were so weak she barely had the strength left to struggle, only to tremble instinctively.

“Will you confess?”

The maid’s voice echoed in her ears, sawing at her nerves like a dull knife.

After a few more dunks, Thera Sutherland finally broke. Using the last of her strength, she cried out, “I confess…”

Only then did Julian Rhodes turn back around, his own eyes rimmed with red. “If you had just confessed earlier, you wouldn’t have had to suffer like

this.”

He took a step forward, reaching out to lift her from the barrel.

But Thera Sutherland recoiled from his touch like a startled cat.

Julian Rhodes’s hand froze in midair. His expression hardened, and he ordered the maids, “Get her out. Lock her up for the night. That should

teach her a lesson.”

With that, he turned and walked away.

He didn’t see the look Sylvia Chevalier shot the maids.