Her face smashed against the sharp corner of a cabinet, splitting open into a deep gash that gushed blood.
I watched coldly, unmoved, and simply bent down to continue packing my things.
Just then, Margaret Hughes burst into the room, and Isabella seized the moment to shriek,
“Mom! I was kindly helping her pack, and this wretched woman tried to kill me!”
Without hesitation, Margaret rushed over and slapped me hard across the face.
The injured eye burst open again, blood spraying even more violently—splattering onto her face. But she acted as if she didn’t see it, hurling her fury at me instead.
“Sophia Carter, the Hughes family’s doors are not for you to enter at will, nor to leave at will! Staying here is your blessing—you should slave for us as repayment! You’re just as lowly as your indebted mother!”
“You think you can just walk away? We won’t stop you, but the storms outside aren’t something a woman like you can endure!”
I raised my head and locked eyes with her.
“Mrs. Hughes, the storms within this family are far greater than anything outside. Keep your so-called blessing for yourself.”
“The contract has ended. I have no obligation to shield you, your son, or your daughter any longer.”
Her face twisted with rage, her gaze sharp and venomous.
“You’ll regret this.”
The sound of my suitcase zipper closing rang loud in the silence.
“Whether I regret it or not—that’s my decision.”
Dragging my suitcase downstairs, I found Ethan Hughes standing at the doorway.
His brows furrowed deeply as he spoke.
“Sophia, you’ve lived with us for so long, surely there’s some bond between us. Besides, you have no family left in this world—where else could you go?”
I froze, my grip on the suitcase handle tightening until my knuckles whitened.
If they hadn’t deliberately delayed my mother’s treatment, if they hadn’t let her miss her best chance to survive, I wouldn’t be left alone today.
I fixed him with my one good eye, though blood streaked my cheek like crimson tears.
“It was you who destroyed my company. It was you who exploited my mother’s illness to force me back into the Hughes family.”
“I’ve spent three years repaying my mother’s debt. Now, we are even.”
“Ethan Hughes—it’s time you let me go.”
My resolve made his face twist, rage and hatred spilling out unchecked.
“Sophia Carter! If you walk out that door, never come back!”
I strode past him without pause, leaving behind only an icy reply:
“Don’t worry, Mr. Hughes. Once I’m gone, I won’t look back.”
Outside, the wind was sharp and cool, the night sky like a vast curtain shutting away the Hughes family’s lights.
I drew in a long breath and stepped down the stairs, suitcase trailing behind me.
Behind me, Ethan’s voice broke out, almost desperate.
“Sophia! Remember this! Once you leave the Hughes family, you’ll be nothing!”
And then Isabella’s voice, shrill and scornful:
“Brother, what are you doing? She’s just a blind, useless cripple—what’s there to miss?”
I didn’t turn back.
Only a faint, cold smile curved my lips.
Glancing at the suitcase in my hand, I whispered silently in my heart:
Ethan Hughes, Isabella Hughes—your ‘nothing’ will soon become the very thing your family fears the most.
