A sharp sting spread across my cheek as my head snapped to the side. I sucked in a breath, my palm pressing against my burning skin. Carter had hit me before, but it never stopped feeling like a slap to my soul.
“Useless,” he spat.
I clenched my fists, forcing myself to meet his cold gaze. My voice was steady, but my insides shook.
“I almost died last night.” I lifted my chin. “Did you even know that? The restaurant I was supposed to meet the investor at was attacked. Gang members, gunmen—I don’t even know who they were. But people died, Carter.”
He rolled his eyes. “And yet, here you are. Not dead. So does it even matter?”
I stiffened. My nails dug into my palms as something inside me cracked. My life. It meant nothing to him.
I ran a hand through my hair, frustration clawing at my chest. “This was the last time. I’m not doing it again. No more meetings. No more investors.” My voice wavered, but I forced the words out. “It’s like you and Father are selling me to them. Some have even tried taking me to bed.”
Carter’s face remained unreadable.
I swallowed hard and continued, “But I’ve been so lucky that no one has ever succeeded. Thank God.” My lips twisted. “Yet, you and Father still blame me when things don’t go your way.”
Carter’s gaze darkened. “Why are you being so stubborn?” His tone was sharp, irritated. “Why can’t you just help the family?”
My blood boiled. “I have helped!” I snapped. “Over and over! But last night—Carter, I almost lost my life, Carter! My life!”
He scoffed, crossing his arms. “But you didn’t. So what’s the big deal?”
My hands trembled. “It is a big deal!” My voice cracked. “It’s my life we’re talking about!”
For a brief moment, I thought I saw a flicker of something in his eyes. But then he snorted.
“You’re being dramatic.”
A bitter laugh escaped my lips. Why did I ever fall in love with this man and do whatever he wanted me to do? It was their doing that I got pregnant with someone I didn’t know. I woke up, body battered and aching but they just told me that they were sorry and didn’t mean it to happen? I’m so stupid I just forgive them for doing that to me. As if they didn’t even care.
Of course. No one ever cared how I felt.
Before I could respond, Salvina entered the room, holding her six-year-old son, Noah. Her eyes flicked between Carter and me. “What’s going on?”
Carter scoffed. “Talk to your sister. She’s throwing a tantrum, again” He walked out, leaving me standing there, my heart pounding with anger and pain.
Salvina sighed like I was an inconvenience, then stepped closer, placing Noah in my arms.
I blinked. “Why are you giving him to me?”
“Noah was asking for his nanny,” she said with a smirk.
I pressed my lips together. “I’m not a nanny, Salvina. Not his nanny, I’m his aunt.”
She laughed, a cruel edge to her voice. “At least you’re useful for something.”
Noah tugged at my sleeve, his small face scrunching in a pout. “Stop bullying my mommy!” His tiny hand slapped my wounded arm.
Pain shot through me. I hissed, gently setting him down.
“I wasn’t bullying her, Noah,” I explained it to him gently but he wasn’t listening.
At that moment, our mother, Rowena, entered the room. The warmth in her eyes was reserved only for Noah and Salvina.
“Noah! Come here, sweetheart,” she cooed. Noah ran into her arms.
“Grandma, Serena was bullying Mommy.”
Rowena’s eyes snapped to me, cold and filled with disgust. She walked towards me and then—another slap.
My head turned with the force of it. My breath hitched. Both of my cheeks stung now, my skin burning from the impact. But also a part of me collapsed into tiny pieces.
“How dare you hurt my daughter?” she hissed.
I stared at her, my heart shattering into pieces.
“I—” My voice was weak. Wasn’t I her daughter too?
Rowena’s lips curled in disdain. “If you keep being jealous and cruel to your Salvina, you should just leave this place! This house!”
Her next words drove a dagger into my chest.
“You’re the most useless and disgusting child I ever bore.”
I staggered back, feeling like the floor had disappeared beneath me. She turned away, facing Salvina and Noah with warmth and love, the kind I never received.
And then I saw it. Salvina’s smirk. She knew. She had always known. And she reveled in it. I had no place here. I turned on my heel, my vision blurring. I needed to leave. Forever.
Then, my phone rang. I wiped my tears, clearing my throat before answering.
“Serena,” my father’s voice came through, sharp and impatient.
I swallowed. “Yes?”
“Go to Aaron Alabaster’s company. Now.”
I froze. To Aaron Alabaster’s company?
The billionaire. The man whose daughter I had saved.
What did he want with me?
