“We wouldn't be stuck like this, watching her legs heal up so she can just go back to that Ivy League school like nothing happened.”
“Silvia's cried over it more than once.”
My heart seized. I didn't dare make a sound.
Then came Herbert's voice through the gap in the door.
“If she hadn't saved my mother's life, I never would have agreed to something this insane.”
“You have no idea what it does to me, crippling Victoria's legs. It's like driving a knife into my own chest.”
My eyes went wide with disbelief. I clapped a hand over my mouth as the tears slid down without a sound.
I couldn't stop shaking. Only then did I understand that the last thing I'd trusted to save me was the pit itself.
The conversation went on inside, and I stood there, body drawn tight, and kept listening.
“So what do we do now? Her legs are nearly healed!”
“Both of them are my daughters. But Silvia isn't as strong as Victoria, and she isn't as sharp, not half as clever.”
“If Victoria would just give up on that university, I would never break her legs over Silvia……”
My nails dug deep into my palm, but I felt no pain. Maybe I'd gone numb.
That my legs were healing, and that I still meant to go back to school, I had told only Herbert.
I never imagined they were all in this together.
What now?
How was I supposed to save myself?
“Don't worry.”
“Since I owe Silvia my mother's life, I'll see her wish through for her.”
Her wish was to destroy me. I couldn't stay there another second.
Gripping my crutches, I edged toward the door, heart pounding with fear.
No one noticed me slip away. But once I was outside, I had no idea where to go.
Standing at the crossroads, staring into that endless crowd, I finally understood that I had no home.
I took out my phone, only because I remembered what my mother had told me before she died.
“Victoria, if you're ever in trouble, go to your uncle.”
“Call this number. Tell him you're my child, and he'll come help you.”
Could I even trust that anymore?
But in the state I was in, this number was all I had.
The call connected, and a cold, commanding voice came through “Sis?”
My breath came fast. Anxious and shaking, I answered him.
“My mom is dead. I'm her daughter. She said if I was ever in trouble, I should call you.”
The other end went silent. But I could feel the danger coming off him.
When he still said nothing, I hung up.
Then, off in the distance, I spotted Herbert's men nearby. Were they here to take me?
I couldn't let them catch me. I hurried to hide.
Night was coming on. Hungry and parched, I limped my way to the cemetery.
I didn't know where else to go. Only coming to my mother made me feel safe.
If her spirit was watching, seeing her own child treated this way by her father, how much would it hurt her.
I found my mother's grave, sat down, and pressed close against the headstone.
But even then, Herbert's men found me.
They grabbed me and forced me back home.
The moment I walked in, I saw Silvia sitting on the sofa, legs crossed elegantly, and my stepmother sipping tea with a smug smile on her face.
My father looked straight at me.
“I'll ask you just one thing.”
“Are you dead set on going to that university?”
I said nothing, and I didn't look at him. My eyes fixed on Herbert instead.
He was sitting right beside Silvia. And on Silvia's ring finger was the couple's ring that had once been mine.
In that moment, there was nothing left for me to not understand.
“I really was a fool, to have believed you actually loved me!”
Herbert hesitated before he spoke.
“Victoria, be reasonable, all right?”
“Give up on the university, and the place as Mrs. Mason is still yours.”
“Ha. If I really gave it up, your family would look down on me, and I'd only end up worse off.”
I turned to my father “I don't understand why you're this biased, why you'd hurt your own child for one who isn't even blood…”
“Shut up. You're in no position to lecture me!”
“I'll ask you one last time. Will you give it up or not?”
“If you're too stubborn to see sense, then I'll break your legs myself.”
I raised my hand and wiped away the last drop of what was supposed to be a daughter's tears, and told him, steady as anything.
“I'd die before I give up!”
My father exploded into fury.
“Somebody break her legs. I want her to never walk again.”
In an instant, several bodyguards rushed forward. My heart went to ash, and I closed my eyes.
But right then, the door was blasted open, and a group of trained men in black stormed in.
“You spineless coward. Have you lost your mind? You'd dare lay a hand on my niece?”
