Chapter 3

I clenched my fists, looking up at him.

"Liam, 'even small evils can have big consequences.' Have you forgotten that so quickly?"

Then I saw a woman, scantily clad, stroll lazily out of Alexander's room.

"Scarlett, Liam is still young. It's normal for him to be a little mischievous. Don't be so harsh."

Liam immediately flung himself into her arms.

"Aunt Serena, you're so much nicer to me. You have no idea what I've been through these past few years!"

"I heard she lived in a pigsty after she was kidnapped. No wonder she always smells bad!"

"You're nothing like Aunt Serena, always smelling sweet and soft."

My heart clenched.

Back then, at my foster parents' house, I rarely ate a full meal, and my health was always poor.

Even after coming to the Alexander house, I'd get sick every few days.

Because Alexander disliked me, the house staff didn't treat me kindly either.

Only little Liam would sneak into my room at night.

He'd press handfuls of candy into my hand.

"Aunt Scarlett, eat this. The candy will make the pain go away."

His small hand would cover the old scars on my body, and he'd say in his baby voice, but with fierce determination,

"When I grow up, I'll beat up the bad guys for you, Auntie!"

How could I have known then?

That the little boy who promised to protect me would grow into the sharp blade that cut me deepest.

The surrounding staff didn't bother to lower their voices.

"Didn't she say she was leaving? How does she have the nerve to come back?"

"Oh, come on, she just wants to threaten Mr. Alexander into marrying her, doesn't she? You don't get that little trick?"

"Mr. Alexander never intended to marry her anyway. It was her mom who pushed her here, begging. She didn't even care about a title, just slept with him for eight years. If she were my daughter, I'd break her legs and throw her out."

Serena was Alexander's secretary in name, but in reality, she was his kept woman, his little 'golden canary'.

She watched me, a knowing smile playing on her lips.

"Scarlett, it's exhausting trying to hold onto something that doesn't belong to you."

I lowered my gaze, ignoring her.

As I started upstairs, the front door swung open.

Mom walked in, her face instantly sour when she saw my appearance.

"What in the world did you do to yourself?"

She pushed me towards my room to clean up.

Her voice, muffled by the bathroom door, sounded strangely unreal.

"Scarlett, a little tantrum is enough. Do you really think you're Brooke? You actually dared to threaten Alexander with leaving?"

"How could you be so stupid, letting some cheap woman from outside get the better of you?"

Seeing my continued silence, she yanked open the bathroom door.

Water sprayed down, blurring my face; I couldn't tell if it was water or tears.

"Mom, I'm not happy."

My mom froze for a moment. I wrapped myself in a towel and moved past her.

She grabbed my wrist, then whirled around and slapped me across the face.

"Scarlett, are you awake now?"

"Know your place. If you leave Alexander, you have no education, no skills. How will you survive?"

I covered my face, tears streaming down.

Seeing my continued silence, Mom softened her tone and reached for my hand.

"Scarlett, how could a mother not care for her child? I'm doing this for your own good!"

"Your dad's company relies entirely on the Alexander family's support to survive. Our family just bought that villa, and we still have millions in mortgage payments."

"Your brother and his wife are about to have their third child. It's when they need money the most. If you upset Alexander now, do you want our whole family to die?"

"Liam is just a child, no matter how harsh he sounds, he must still care about you deep down. You've looked after him for eight years; even a dog would develop feelings. As long as you coax him well, he'll come around."

When disappointment reached its peak, my heart somehow stopped feeling pain.

Honestly, I knew she had never truly loved me.

But after being kidnapped, my foster parents' abuse was so brutal that I desperately tried to recall the image of my birth mother holding me.

Thinking of it so often, it became a tiny beacon of light.

But a fake is always fake.

When I finally let go of that obsession, when I personally burst that illusory bubble.

The brutal reality that had been hidden beneath was finally exposed.

I pulled out the suitcase I had already packed.

"Mom, I've never had a choice in my life."

"But now, I want to choose for myself, just this once."

"From now on, I'm not walking this path with you all anymore."

I yanked open the door.

Alexander's brows were tightly furrowed, his eyes swirling with barely concealed fury.

"Who said you could leave?"

0

He rubbed his temples, as if dealing with a disobedient pet.

He coaxed, somewhat perfunctorily:

"Why are you suddenly being so stubborn? Besides your parents, you have a brother, a sister-in-law, and two kids. Where will you even live if you go back?"