Chloe's head snapped to the side from the slap. She froze for a few seconds, then burst into heaving sobs, clutching the baby against her chest, shaking all over.
My mother saw it and came charging forward, trembling with rage, and slapped me across the face.
Harder than before. My cheek swelled instantly, and blood seeped from the corner of my mouth.
“You ungrateful wretch! You actually dared hit Chloe! You've completely lost your mind!”
Mark rushed over and gathered Chloe carefully into his arms.
When he turned to look at me, his eyes were cold. “Constance, are you insane? You put your hands on Chloe! Apologize to her. Right now.”
I pressed my hand to my burning cheek, biting down hard on my lip. “I'm not apologizing! She accused me first. Why won't any of you believe me?!”
Mark let out a cold laugh and stepped closer, leaning in toward me.
“You won't apologize? Constance, don't forget. I'm still your boss.”
“That chance to study overseas you've been waiting for? Whether you get it comes down to one word from me.”
“You care so much about this job, about this chance. You really want to wreck it all with your own hands over a tantrum?”
I stared at him in disbelief.
He knew. He knew exactly how hard I'd worked for this, how many years I'd poured into it.
His threat left me no choice.
Work had been my only way out of this family.
Before I ever met Mark, all I wanted was to be independent, to move out of this house.
Falling in love with him hadn't changed that. I never let go of the plan.
Go overseas, come back, build a real career, stand on my own two feet. That was the whole point of everything I'd done.
And Mark knew it perfectly well.
After I apologized, I went back to my room, shut the door, and finally broke. I wrapped my arms around myself and sobbed until I couldn't breathe.
Once again, I was the person the whole world had thrown away.
A long time later, Chloe's gentle voice drifted through the door：“Connie, I made you some soup. To help you feel better. Will you open the door?”
She came in carrying a bowl of soup.
I stopped her. “Get out.”
The gentleness dropped off her face. She sneered：“You think you can steal my man? You're not even close.”
“I actually came to offer you a way out.”
“Leave this house on your own. Disappear from Mark's life for good. It's better for everyone……”
I cut her off. “I feel sorry for my brother. He died without ever seeing what you really are……”
The smugness dropped from her face. Her voice turned vicious：“Shut your mouth! You little bitch, everyone in this house hates you. Why don't you just die? You should've been dead a long time ago……”
Halfway through, her expression changed. Her eyes went vicious.
Then she let her foot slip on purpose, and the entire bowl of scalding soup splashed across her own body.
A piercing scream tore out of her, and the tears came instantly.
“Connie, why would you do this to me? I brought you soup out of kindness, and you threw it on me?”
“I know you hate me, but I've never done anything to hurt you……”
And then Mark appeared.
He strode to Chloe's side, checking her burns with careful hands, his face tight with pain and fury.
He turned to me, and his voice was laced with cold hatred：“Constance, you've gone too far! Chloe was trying to be kind to you, and this is what you do to her?”
“Is this what I get for indulging you? You think there's nothing you can't do?”
Only then did it hit me what had just happened, and the words tumbled out on instinct：“It wasn't me! She poured it on herself on purpose! She's framing me!” “Mark, believe me. I didn't hurt her!”
