CHAPTER 80: CHAPTER 80: STOCKHOLM SYNDROME

Though 90% of the knowledge from her university has been forgotten, she still remembers a certain syndrome... Stockholm syndrome.

Many of the novels criticized the idea of a female lead having it, but the thought of using it on her enemy excited Ivy.

She can make them dependent on her, and once they become dependent on her and feel pleasure at the slightest kindness, won’t she have a recurring KB machine?

Call her heartless, but the mere thought of torturing them, gaining KB, and seeing them miserable at the same time filled her with joy.

How fascinating... Three birds with one stone.

Then she thought of the bathroom and checked on it. To say it was economical was... overreaching.

It was simply a wooden box with a water closet made of stone. Crude... but worth it.

She looked at Seraphin, Magnus, and Isla, who were lying on the floor, panting, and calmly asked,

"Do any of you want to use the washroom?"

Taking out their rag, she waited for their response.

"Me! Me!" Isla shouted, but she grimaced as the wound ached even more when she moved. Her heart was filled with hatred and helplessness, and she vowed,

’One day, I will escape from this damned place and take revenge on Ivy. I will make sure to teach this b*tch what hell is.’

How could Ivy not understand what Isla was thinking?

"Okay." Ivy nodded, but before Isla could be delighted, she turned toward Magnus and said, "If you can take whipping for 5 minutes more, I will let Isla go bathroom."

Then she smirked, her cold eyes landed on Isla as she continued her words, "If you dare to pee before that, I will whip you for 1 hour more."

Her words stunned Isla. She cursed Ivy for being cruel and turned toward Magnus, "Father, please!"

Magnus gritted his teeth; the ache in his entire body made him unable to agree. The sensation of a cold whip landing on his body, followed by a jolt of agonizing aches throughout his body, made him tremble with fear.

Seeing him silent, Isla’s heart sank. Till now, she always thought her father was a doting father. But now she was questioning if he even loved her...

"Father! How can you be so heartless! I will be whipped for an hour if I can’t hold it anymore. While you just have to endure for 5 minutes!"

Magnus felt something inside him breaking. For the past few decades, he worked like a horse for the family, and now, just because of his momentary hesitation, he was being questioned by the girl he had doted on since her birth.

Yet when he saw the desperation on Isla’s face, he consoled, ’Maybe she has been holding for too long.’

Steeling his heart, he looked at Ivy and said, "I am ready."

Ivy’s heart remained calm as a serene lake. What to say. If there was no comparison, there was no harm.

She remembered how, during her childhood years, her favorite toy had fallen into the river. When she requested Magnus to fetch it for her, he had only scoffed and said,

"Are you stupid? Though the water level only reaches my waist, what if I drowned?"

Later, Ivy fetched it on her own, even though she wasn’t even tall. Unsurprisingly, she didn’t drown at all.

At that time, she never understood why Magnus didn’t like her. Now she did. Blood relations can’t compare to loyalty.

Luckily, she, too, had a loving family to back her up. Snapping out of her daze, Ivy inflicted the pain childhood Ivy had suffered and only stopped when 5 minutes were over.

"Thank you, Dad!" Isla said with a thrilled expression while Ivy chuckled. Isla hissed at her, "Why are you laughing?"

"Nothing," Ivy replied, but she stared at Magnus, whose head was lowered with shame.

The daughter he doted on didn’t even ask if he was feeling pain or show any heartache. In fact, she was thrilled at the prospect that she got to use the washroom so easily.

Ivy opened Isla’s ropes and stored her in the Temporal Storage. She wasn’t worried that Isla would run away.

"By the way, Seraphina, why didn’t you come forward and say I volunteer when I talked about whipping Magnus?" Ivy asked, her nonchalant tone showing that she was asking the question out of boredom.

Seraphina stared at Magnus with a complex emotion in her eyes, as he wordlessly stared at her. Her heart shattered into pieces. Did he, too, want her to get beaten in his place?

Didn’t he say he loved her?

If Ivy could hear Seraphina’s inner thoughts, she would have laughed. The Ravencroft family seemed united and loving, but the reality was they weren’t.

Before Ivy, the punching bag was their great option to vent their emotion in case of any dissatisfaction. But now... ah! God knows what will happen.

After Isla was done with her business, she exited the bathroom and tried to run away. Slight damp, lush grass, coupled with a chilly breeze and the fog, as well as the faint darkness, was enough to scare her.

’Where has Ivy teleported me to? Is it some secret basement?’ She thought, her hands trembling a little, while her entire body was cold.

Each step felt heavier than the last. Hunger had sapped her strength, and in the end, all she could do was come to a weary halt, chest heaving from effort.

Eyes brimming with hope, she surveyed the surroundings until the horror before her snatched the breath from her lungs. Silenced by fear, she crumpled to the ground.

"What the hell!" Isla shouted. She was back at the makeshift washroom. "F*ck! F*ck! Ivy! Ivy! Teleport me back! Boohoo! I want to return! Ghost! Ghost!"

Ivy, who had witnessed everything, chuckled. What a scaredy cat. She teleported Isla back to the room and, not giving her any chance to react, she tied Isla’s hands again.