The Chief stroked his chin, nodding slowly.
"Yes… summon everyone. Let them witness how the Colton family will be dealt with."
He didn't need to say it twice. The guards moved in immediately.
The guards seized Evelyn and John roughly, dragging them toward the center of the compound.
Rachael came back from school. Her face was filled with panic as she saw the commotion in front of her house.
She knew it was the chief and his useless men.
Despite her size, she always put up a fight anytime they brought trouble to their doorstep.
"Mama! Grandpa!"
She ran toward them, but Alister stepped in front of her, his boots thudding ominously on the ground. He looked down at the girl with disdain.
"And this Colton brat," he said, voice dripping with mock sympathy. "That mouth of yours will need discipline too."
Two guards grabbed Rachael before she could even scream. She kicked, thrashed, fought—but they held her tight.
Evelyn shrieked, twisting in the guards' arms. "No! Not my daughter! Leave her alone!"
Alister merely raised a brow. "Bring them all."
The Chief watched the chaos with mild satisfaction, rubbing his bruised arm and sneering at the battered family.
"Let the people see what happens to debtors and troublemakers," he muttered.
Within an hour, the Memorial Hall was filled.
The crowd gathered slowly at first, then thickened as news spread through the district like wildfire.
The Coltons were being punished.
Again.
Mothers pulled their children close. Elderly men folded their arms, watching with wrinkled faces full of pity—or resignation. A few younger men looked on with dark eyes, restless.
But no one moved.
No one dared speak.
The Chief sat high on his carved wooden throne, his bruised cheek red with humiliation and anger. Alister stood beside him, whip coiled in hand like a snake. Nicholas leaned against a pillar nearby, arms folded, clearly entertained.
The Coltons were dragged into the hall and shoved to the ground. Evelyn and John knelt together, both bruised and breathless. Rachael was pulled roughly to the center and held down.
A ripple of murmurs passed through the crowd as the girl struggled against the guards.
"She's just a child…" someone whispered.
Alister stepped forward, the smug smile returning to his face.
He held up a grimy toothbrush and a rusty metal bucket filled with filthy water.
"Since the Coltons can't afford their levy," he announced, his voice loud enough to ring off the stone walls, "we've decided to be merciful."
He turned to the crowd, eyes shining with sarcasm.
"Instead of the usual penalty, the girl will clean the entire hall. With this," he held up the toothbrush.
Gasps broke out.
"That'll take her all night!"
"She's just a teenager!"
"It's not right!"
The crowd stirred, shifting with discomfort.
Alister's smile widened. He turned to Rachael and tossed the brush at her feet.
"You want to speak boldly?" he sneered. "Then scrub boldly."
He raised his whip and cracked it once—loud, cruel, terrifying.
Rachael flinched, her breath catching. But she didn't cry.
Not yet.
She reached for the brush with trembling hands, her knees pressed against the cold, dusty floor. The guards stepped back, watching her every move.
The crowd looked on, silent.
Disgust. Pity. Powerlessness.
And just behind Alister—
John knelt, head bowed, silent tears trailing down his face.
The brush scraped softly against the stone floor.
Each stroke was slow, shaky, but deliberate. Rachael gritted her teeth, her knuckles whitening around the toothbrush handle. Dirt caked her fingers. Her knees scraped raw against the ground. But she refused to cry.
She refused to them the satisfaction.
Alister folded his arms, watching her toil like a cruel king surveying his subject. "Let's see how long your defiance lasts," he muttered.
Evelyn lunged forward again, wild with grief. "She's just a girl! Stop this! Please—"
A guard slammed her back to the ground.
John struggled to lift his face, his trembling hand reaching toward his granddaughter. "Rachael…" His voice was a ghost of itself, soaked in helplessness.
The whispers in the crowd returned.
"She's just a teenager."
"This punishment is too much."
"Have they no shame?"
Mothers turned away, clutching their children tighter. Some men looked down at their feet, ashamed to say what they truly felt.
And then a voice rose.
"This is wrong!"
Heads turned. An elderly man with a cane stepped forward. His back was bent, but his voice was strong.
"What crime did she commit? You humiliate a child because her father isn't here to pay? Because you hate her family?"
A few others murmured in agreement.
A mother in the front row whispered loudly, "That girl could be my daughter."
Someone else said, "She's already scrubbing! Isn't that enough?"
For a moment, hope flickered in Evelyn's eyes. Rachael paused, her hand stilling mid-scrub.
But then—
BANG!
The Chief slammed his palm against the armrest of his throne.
The entire hall froze.
He rose slowly, robes rustling, his voice low but venomous.
"You dare challenge my judgment?"
His eyes locked on the old man.
"Do you want to take her place? Should I have you scrub the floor instead?"
The old man's mouth opened, but no words came. His gaze dropped. Slowly, he stepped back into the crowd.
The Chief's gaze swept over the room like a blade. "Anyone else?"
No one moved.
Silence settled like ash over the hall.
And just like that, the fragile rebellion died.
"Cowards," Evelyn whispered hoarsely, tears slipping down her cheek. Her heart was breaking as she watched her daughter continue scrubbing, each stroke slower, heavier, her arms trembling.
John bowed his head again. He couldn't bear to watch.
Alister stepped forward once more, his boots thudding with malicious intent.
"She's scrubbing too slow," he said, his voice lazy but cruel. "Perhaps her mother can help speed it up."
Before Evelyn could react, she was yanked forward.
"No! NO!"
The crowd gasped.
Two guards shoved her down beside her daughter and thrust another toothbrush into her hand.
"Let's see how well a mother and daughter team can clean."
Alister grinned. "Don't worry. We'll make sure your hands are ruined enough so you never try to 'seduce' another man again."
Evelyn's eyes flared with shock. "You liar! You're the one who tried to force yourself on me!"
The Chief stood without warning.
"Take her words as a confession," he declared. "Double her punishment."
And then—
A thunderous sound echoed from outside.
BWOOOOOOM!
A long, deafening horn blared through the walls.
The floor trembled beneath them.
The hall went still.
Eyes turned toward the massive wooden doors.