4
Chapter 1
My breath caught in my throat. Like a madwoman, I dragged my weak, tired body downstairs.
And there she was. Penny, sitting on the sofa.
She was toying with the photograph. When she saw me, a defiant smirk twisted her lips.
“Look what I found.”
“The great Rosalie’s one weakness.”
My hands clenched into fists. I fought to suppress the murderous rage boiling inside me.
“You’ve already won everything. Why are you still wasting your time on a dying woman?”
Penny blinked innocently. “I have to make sure you die for good this time.”
With that, she took out a lighter and set the corner of our family portrait on fire.
The flickering flames danced across her pretty face, twisting her features into the mask of a demon.
“You should have just died sooner, you know? I had
Malmo pretend to be in a coma for three years because of you.”
“Your idiot brother is completely devoted to me. Once you’re gone, the Sterling family fortune will be all mine.”
Perhaps it was a final burst of energy before death, a last flicker of a dying flame.
I moved faster than I thought possible, lunging at her, grabbing her hair, and slamming her head against the floor.
Penny, not expecting me to have any strength left, screamed, her face contorting with fear.
“How dare you touch me! Adrian will never forgive you for this!”
I looked at the photograph, now half–consumed by flames, and a grim, cold smile spread across my face.
“It’s true, I’m dying. But before I go… how about I drag you down to hell with me?”
Ignoring her terrified screams, I took the lighter and set her hair ablaze.
Penny scrambled away, shrieking and batting at the flames, fumbling for her phone to call Adrian for help.
I watched the chaos unfold, laughing until tears streamed down my face.
But what I didn’t know, what neither of us knew, was that Penny was pregnant.
And in the struggle, she lost the baby.
It was the first time I had ever seen Adrian on the verge of tears.
He looked like he wanted to kill me, but instead, he just dragged me to the family hall of ancestors.
“Tell me,” Adrian’s voice was shaking uncontrollably. “Why did you go after Penny and the baby?”
I placed the half–burnt photograph in front of him.
“She burned this.”
Suddenly, Adrian snapped. He snatched the remaining half of the photo and ripped it to shreds.
14 44
“Stop lying!” he roared, his face contorted with rage and disappointment. It was the same look he’d given me years ago when Pen- ny had her accident and he refused to believe my innocence.
“Someone like you doesn’t have a shred of family feeling left in your heart!”
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Chapter 1
“I’ve known it all along. You wanted the family fortune all to yourself. When you realized you couldn’t get rid of me, you decided to
make sure I’d never have an heir.”
“I’m done giving you chances.”
He let go, and a single sheet of paper fluttered down in front of me. The disownment papers.
“From this day on, we are no longer family. We split the inheritance, fifty–fifty.”
I stared at him, numb, and asked, my voice barely a whisper, “You know the price of this, don’t you?”
Adrian refused to look at me. He knelt ramrod–straight before our parents‘ memorial tablets and, in a loud, clear voice, declared for
all to hear:
“The Sterling family creed is absolute. Those who break the bonds of family must endure the ninety–nine lashes!”
“And I have summoned the witnesses.”
His voice cracked for a moment before he continued. “As for your ninety–nine… I will take sixty–six of them for you. Consider it repa- yment for our childhood.”
The pain in my heart was so intense it was a physical thing, but I let none of it show on my face. My body was failing, but I forced myself into a posture of pure, biting contempt.
“Fine by me. I couldn’t be happier.”
The barbed whip fell. By the tenth lash, I couldn’t hold on anymore.
My vision swam with red. A pain unlike anything I’d ever known ripped a sob from my throat, and I found myself crying out for our
parents.
In the room next to me, Adrian remained silent. He took his hundred lashes without making a sound.
When the punishment was over, he limped to the doorway to look at me.
He was silhouetted against the light, so he couldn’t see the blood streaming from my eyes, nose, and mouth.
A sudden, disdainful scoff broke the silence.
*Stop faking it, Rosalie. I’ve fought you for three years, and you’ve always bounced back. Thirty–three lashes? That’s nothing more
than a scratch to you.”
“I’m leaving. Good luck.”
I didn’t even have the strength to give him the finger.
And then, the pain vanished. In my fading vision, I saw Mom and Dad, smiling at me.
At the same time, Adrian stepped outside, just in time to see Penny being forced into a police car.
