Chapter 2

It was Julian.

He let out a cold sneer and, with his other hand, flipped a card from the deck on the table.

It was another Ace of Hearts.

"Tori! You dare cheat in this house?!"

Julian roared, throwing my hand back violently.

I crashed hard onto the floor, the back of my head slamming against the sharp edge of the coffee table. A dizzying pain exploded in my skull.

"You would resort to such disgusting, cheap tricks just to get your way?"

Julian looked down at me, his gaze filled with utter revulsion, as if looking at a piece of trash.

"Olivia said you were rotten to the core, and I didn't believe her."

"Now I see. Growing up in the slums only taught you how to steal and cheat!"

My second brother, Ethan, pushed up his gold-rimmed glasses and let out a scoff.

He was the youngest chief of surgery in the city's top hospital.

Yet, as he looked at my suffocating, purple face, he showed absolutely no medical compassion. There was only mockery in his eyes.

"Alright, cut the act."

"Clinically speaking, severe peanut allergies can trigger shock, but your face is clearly purple because you're holding your breath."

"To get attention, you're actually faking an allergic reaction? How pathetic."

I looked at Ethan in absolute despair.

I wasn't faking.

My windpipe was almost completely swollen shut. Every attempt to breathe felt like swallowing razor blades.

I shook my head frantically, tears streaming down my face.

"Save... save me..."

I crawled toward Ethan, trying to grasp the tip of his leather shoe.

My third brother, Jax, stepped forward and brutally kicked my hand away.

He was a professional race car driver, known for his explosive, violent temper.

"Get your filthy hands off Ethan!"

Jax snarled, his face twisted in disgust.

"Since you have dirty hands and love to cheat, you need to be taught a lesson."

Without warning, he lifted his heavy combat boot and stomped directly onto my right hand.

Crack.

The sickening sound of bones snapping echoed clearly in the quiet living room.

"Ahhh—!"

I opened my mouth to scream, but my swollen throat could only produce a pathetic, airless hiss.

The pain of crushed fingers shot straight to my heart.

My entire body convulsed, cold sweat instantly soaking through my thin shirt.

"Can't even take a little pain? And you call yourself a Sterling?"

Jax ground his boot down harder, laughing coldly.

Then, he turned to the coffee table, picked up the box containing my EpiPen, and tossed it into the trash can.

To make sure I had no hope left, he grabbed a cup of hot black coffee from the table and poured it directly into the trash, soaking the medicine.

My last hope of survival was completely destroyed by my own brothers.

Olivia shrank back into our mother, Eleanor’s, arms, covering her mouth in mock terror.

"Jax, stop. Tori looked like she was really hurting..."

"Oh, Olivia. You are far too sweet and naive."

Eleanor patted Olivia’s back comfortingly. When she looked at me, her eyes turned ice-cold.

"Today is your and Olivia's birthday. You just had to ruin it and cause a scene, didn't you? You always want to make everyone miserable."

"Arthur, lock her in the basement freezer. Let her cool her head and think about what she did!"

Arthur nodded coldly.

"An ungrateful brat needs to learn her lesson. Lock her up for the night. Let's see if she dares to play tricks again."

Laughing and chatting, they escorted Olivia toward the dining room.

There was a six-tier designer cake waiting for her, surrounded by a mountain of luxury gifts.

Meanwhile, I was dragged away like a dead dog by the family bodyguards.

And thrown into the dark, sub-zero basement freezer.