Chapter 2

The old woman knelt on the ground, trembling all over.

"Miss, please, have mercy. If she doesn't get a drop of water, this girl is going to die..."

Camille lifted her chin toward the bodyguards behind her.

"Such a mouth on her. Throw this old thing out. I don't want her filth in my sight."

Two bodyguards stepped forward, hauled Patsy up, and threw her out of the cowshed. The wooden door swung shut.

Camille squatted down and looked at me.

"Theresa Henson, five years, and here you are, thrashing around in the mud. What a delightful sight."

I gritted my teeth and backed away, glaring at her.

"Camille, why did you frame me back then? I never did anything to you!"

She reached out and grabbed my hair, forcing my head up.

"Nothing to you? Why should you be born a rich young lady, chauffeured everywhere in luxury cars, while I'm stuck digging herbs in this miserable mountain gully, never even getting a full meal?"

She grinned and burst out laughing.

"I just made up a story on a whim, and that arrogant fool of a brother of yours believed every word."

"Not only did he bring me back to the city, he gave me your room, your clothes, and your whole identity as the young lady of the Henson family!"

I shook all over and spat out bloody foam.

"Russ will find out the truth sooner or later! He won't let you get away with it!"

Camille roared with laughter.

"Find out? He can't love me fast enough."

She leaned close to my ear and murmured.

"By the way, do you know why, every year for the past five years, your brother Russ has made such a grand show of coming to this poor backwater to do charity?"

I went still.

Camille patted my face with her handkerchief.

"He wasn't here to help the poor at all! He came specifically to check whether you were being tortured properly."

"Every lash Austin gave you, every rotten meal he fed you, every chain he locked you with—all of it was ordered and approved personally by your brother Russ!"

"Your brother said, as long as you don't die, cripple you however he likes. The more wretched you are, the more satisfied he feels."

I held my breath, clenching my fists tight.

I had thought my brother was only deceived, that his anger would fade with time.

Every single instance of abuse I'd suffered these five years.

It was all directed by my own flesh-and-blood brother.

My chest felt as if it had been smashed with a sledgehammer.

I suddenly coughed up a mouthful of blood.

"Accept your fate, Theresa. You'll spend your whole life here as an animal."

Camille let go and tossed the handkerchief on the ground.

"Behave yourself tomorrow. If you dare to wreck your brother's event, I promise I'll make you wish you were dead."

She left with her bodyguards, and the cowshed fell quiet again.

Half an hour later the lock rattled open.

Austin walked in, reeking of alcohol.

He came closer with a grin, holding a red string.

"You little brat, Boss Henson just took pity and gave the word... heh heh..."

"The boss says you turn eighteen this year. You're an adult now."

"Just beating you is boring. He told me to hurry up and put a seed in you. Tie you to this mountain with a kid for the rest of your life—dropping litters like a dog, day after day!"

I backed away.

My hands and feet were chained to the pillar; there was nowhere to go.

"Don't touch me! Get away! Don't come near me!"

I snatched up a shard of broken porcelain from the ground and pressed it to my neck.

"You touch me and I'll die right here in front of you!"

Austin stepped forward and kicked the shard out of my hand.

The porcelain cut open the back of his hand, drawing blood.

"Damn it! You still dare to fight back!"

He slapped me across the head.

The blow knocked my head sideways.

He tore at my clothes and pushed his face close to mine.

I opened my mouth, ready to bite off my tongue, when a pounding came at the door outside.

"Austin! Austin, get out here! Quit your damn sleeping!"

The village chief was shouting outside.

"Boss Henson's assistant is throwing a fit! He says the VIP tent at the venue is leaking and wasn't put up right! He wants you to grab some men and go fix it now! If it holds up tomorrow's groundbreaking ceremony, it'll cost our whole village our lives!"

Austin stopped and spat.

"Son of a bitch! What a buzzkill!"

He pulled up his pants and kicked my broken leg.

"Count yourself lucky. Once tomorrow's over, I'll come back and deal with you properly, you little bitch!"

The iron gate was locked again.

I clutched my torn clothes and curled up into a ball in the mud.

My tears had run dry.

And my heart, along with these five rotten years, had died completely.