Jacqueline fumbled around and finally saw what the object was with the little moonlight that was filtered through the ventilation grate. It was a blanket.

The blanket was covered in a thick layer of grime. It was so filthy that she couldn’t even tell what the original color was, and it emitted an awful rotting stench. She had no clue how long it had been since it was taken for a wash-or if it had ever been washed.

Jacqueline couldn’t help but gag at the smell.

She had thrown up several times over the course of the day due to seasickness.

Unfortunately, all she had in her was bile as her captors didn’t bother feeding her. Therefore, she had nothing to spew even after heaving violently.

The repulsed Jacqueline was so disgusted by the blanket that she kicked it away.

She had lived a life of luxury when she was with the Jacobson family. Thus, she had never once suffered such indignity.

Frankly, she had never endured such hardship, even when her nanny of a mother was still alive and kicking.

Jacqueline curled over her knees and began to sob once more.

The sound of the crashing waves drowned out her muffled cries.

With winter came the cold weather. That said, it was even colder at sea, especially during the night.

She was so cold that she started shivering, her lips turning blue. It felt as though her blood was freezing one cell at a time.

Eventually, she had no choice but to drag the dirty, foul-smelling blanket over. Then, she wrapped herself in it for the sake of survival.

Jacqueline finally made it to Orkford after the rough journey.

Her seafaring journey had taken days, which also meant she hadn’t been able to eat or sleep well during that period. As a result, she had visibly lost weight during this trip. She also hadn’t showered in days, and it wouldn’t be an understatement to say that she reeked.

Even the man who was tasked to get her off the boat couldn’t help but gag. “Fuck, you smell like shit!”

He had a look of disgust on his face as he grabbed her, tore the tape from her mouth, and untied her bindings before promptly tossing her overboard. “Clean yourself up. You stink to High Heaven.”

The ship had docked at the port, so there weren’t any sharks nearby. Alas, Jacqueline didn’t know how to swim. Thus, she would most likely drown in such a large body of water.

Regrettably, the man who had tossed her in had no clue about her lack of swimming skills.

Jacqueline flailed in the water, crying for help.

The man initially thought she was faking. So, he stayed put on the shore and cackled at her. “That’s it. Keep splashing. You’ll clean yourself up better this way. We don’t want you to show up all nasty before our boss, do we?”

The boss he was referring to was Stephen’s subordinate, Lawrence.

They had docked their ship at a coastal city called Lindwell. Since Lindwell was in the north, the temperature was freezing even though it was early spring.

The seawater was ice cold, causing Jacqueline to shiver uncontrollably in the water. Her lips turned into a shade of unhealthy blue while her limbs started to spasm from the cold.

As the seawater mercilessly rammed down her throat and nostrils, her breathing gradually grew labored. As a result, she eventually began to lose strength after struggling for a while.

When her cries weakened and her body started to sink, her captor started to panic.

He cussed, “Fuck! You really can’t swim? What the hell? Do I have to fucking fish you out?”

There was no way he was willing to sacrifice his health to drag her out of the water in such cold weather.

He looked around and spotted a bright orange float nearby.

So, he lunged for it and threw it into the water. “Hey, grab the float and get yourself out, bitch! I’m not jumping in just to save your hide!”

Jacqueline feebly reached for the float. Sadly, she no longer had the strength to swim toward it.

Once the man saw that she couldn’t even save herself and was about to drown, he cursed under his breath and reluctantly jumped into the sea.

He managed to save her, but Jacqueline had chugged down her weight in seawater and was chilled down to her very bones. Thus, she was out like a light by the time she had been brought to shore.