Chapter 9
It felt like I had been unconscious for many days, or maybe even dead for many days.
But then, one morning, I felt sunlight streaming through the window.
When I opened my eyes, I was still in the empty room. I was alive.
I felt a pang of sadness. I had disappointed Mom, Uncle David, and Ethan.
The door slammed open. The housekeeper strode in, her face dark with disgust.
She thrust a glass of water and a bowl of food in front of me.
She said with extreme disgust. “Children like yo, the offspring of human kidnappers, deserve to die. And yet iss Miller shows her mercy again.”
I raised my eyes sharply. “Did Mom send this?”
The housekeeper glared at me, then turned and left.
I had no idea how many days I had gone hungry, how many days I had slept.
I wanted to die. But my body refused to obey. Instinctively, it craved life.
I couldn’t resist, so I reached out, drank the water, and ate the white bread.
In my foggy mind, those words echoed again. “She can’t play the piano. She can’t paint…”
“Laura lost almost everything. My parents died in grief. And yet the Millers are still forced to raise the chld of her abuser!”
“Dr. Hayes, I can’t think of any other way. But this is nearly impossible to achieve.”
My mind drifted back to the photos in the living room–Mom in beautiful dresses, her eyes as bright as the sun; Mom who could play the piano and paint, like Snow White herself.
And I thought… yes. It was unfair. I was filthy, ugly, and dark. I wasn’t meant to exist in Mom’s life.
Uncle David had said, “I can’t think of any other way.”
But maybe there was another way.
After eating and drinking, I regained a little strength.
I listened to voices from the living room through the slightly open door. I stood up and walked out.
Uncle David was sitting in the living room with Mom when he heard my footsteps.
He turned his head sharply, his expression full of disgust and wariness as he stared at me.
Ethan was gone. He had probably gone to school.
Mom glanced at me briefly, her face pale, brows furrowed, then quickly looked away.
I noticed her hand trembling at her side. Her gaze swept over the gruesome scars on the back of my hand.
Burns from when my drunken father scalded me with boiling water.
Her eyes reflected not just disgust, but fear. My body carried too many traces of Dad–scars and the eyebrows she had said so many times looked just like his.
I cautiously looked toward Uncle David.
After days of high fever, my throat could barely make a sound.
asked, “Can I go to school?”
Chapter 9
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You think I’m gonna fall for an illusion?
Uncle David’s face was cold. “You expect the Millers to send you to school? A child like you…”
I added, “My brother said elementary schools can hve boarding too.”
Mom cut me off sharply. “Ethan is not your brother!”
He was her child with the man she loved. He was truly hers, a child she loved. And the daughter she wanted would be ike Chloe.
I lowered my eyes and whispered an apology. “I’m sorry. I undestand.”
After a long moment, I heard Uncle David speak again, “You’ll move to school. The Millers will only provide you with basic living expenses according to the law. Don’t expect anything else.”
The Millers couldn’t abandon their legal responsibility to me.
Spending money to let me live at school, out of sight, was clearly the only wrkablesolution.
I clutched the hem of my shirt and nodded. “Okay.”
