Chapter 3

Chloe dragged me into the hallway, furious. "I thought you said he destroyed our lives in the past? Why are you..."

I pulled her into a quiet corner, whispering mysteriously, "Chloe, let me borrow your phone tonight..."

As soon as I walked into my bedroom, Thomas started complaining that my bed was too old and too small. He had no idea that the money meant to buy me a new bed had been given to him by Mom so he could marry his toxic wife.

Suppressing the burning hatred in my chest, I acted completely normal. "Thomas, this pillow is brand new. You can use this one."

Thomas took the pillow and patted it. "I like firm pillows."

Looking at his smug face, I wanted nothing more than to make him pay for my past life right then and there. But it wasn't time yet.

In this house, Thomas never acted like a guest.

The next morning, he looked at the plain pancakes on the table and threw a fit. "Sarah! Are you feeding pigs? Where's the bacon? Where's the meat?!"

Chloe immediately snapped, defending Mom. "If you want meat, go buy it yourself! You're not a guest here!"

*Slap!*

Thomas swung his hand and slapped Chloe right across the face. The force of it split her lip, and blood began to trickle down her chin.

"You disrespectful brat! I'll teach you some manners if your parents won't!"

Chloe was terrified by the sudden violence and burst into loud tears.

I was about to jump in to help when Mom rushed out of the kitchen.

"What happened?!"

"Thomas hit me!" Chloe cried.

Hearing Chloe call him by his first name, Thomas lunged forward again. "Sarah, I have to teach this worthless brat a lesson today!"

Mom quickly threw herself in front of him. "She's just a child! Why are you fighting with a kid?!"

"I'll beat whoever the hell I want! Get out of my way!"

Thomas shoved Mom hard. *Bang!* Her forehead slammed right into the sharp edge of the dining table. Blood immediately started gushing from her forehead.

"Mom!"

Chloe and I rushed forward. In a fit of rage, I sank my teeth deep into Thomas's arm.

He shrieked in pain and threw me to the ground. "You little bastard! How dare you bite me?!"

He kicked me hard in the stomach twice. The pain was blinding, making me curl into a ball.

Chloe and I sobbed, screaming, "You're a monster! Just wait until Dad gets home! He's going to destroy you!"

Hearing Dad's name, Thomas's raised hand froze in mid-air. He glared at us with vicious eyes.

"You worthless brats. Just wait. I'll deal with you two later."

With that, he slammed the door and left. But before he walked out, he didn't forget to grab all the cash from Mom's wallet hanging by the door.

Chloe and I, ignoring our own pain, quickly got the medical kit to stop Mom's bleeding and bandaged her head.

"Mom, let us take you to the hospital!"

She waved her hand dismissively, sighing to herself. "Don't blame your uncle. That's just how he is. He's still immature."

"Mom! We are the children here! We are your actual kids! Why do you always protect him?!"

"And... you treat him so well, but he still does this to you..."

I would never understand why Mom had this sick, pathological obsession with protecting Thomas.

It wasn't until much later that I realized Mom had grown up under the extreme, toxic influence of my grandparents, who firmly believed that sons were everything and daughters were worthless. She was a victim of that generational curse.

In fact, even between Chloe and me, Mom always favored me a bit more because I was a boy. Thankfully, Dad was always there to keep her in check, so it never got out of hand.

"Why did you pull me away back there?" Chloe was still angry about the morning.

With the memories of my past life, I was no longer a child in my mind. To cheer her up, I gave her my favorite ice cream.

Then, I pulled her phone out from under the pillow I had given to Thomas. "Chloe, this is where our revenge begins..."