Chapter 3

Julian shot me a smug look, but his voice was full of concern.

“Serena, maybe just let it go. I’m sure Asher knows he was wrong...”

Serena sighed and stepped behind me, raising the whip.

I forced back the sting in my eyes.

“Serena, do you remember the last time I was whipped when I was sixteen?”

Her hand paused.

I smiled, but the tears still slipped down my face.

“You climbed over the wall that night just to bring me ointment.

“You told me that if anyone ever hurt me again, you’d make them pay.”

My voice broke.

“But now you’re the one hurting me.”

She was silent for a long moment.

Then the whip cracked through the air.

Excruciating pain exploded across my back.

It didn’t ease in the slightest.

I clenched my teeth.

“I didn’t do anything wrong.”

The second lash came down even harder.

My knees buckled, and I collapsed to the floor.

Not far away, Julian covered his mouth to hide the mocking smile curling at his lips.

Joanne mistook it for fear and gently rubbed his back to comfort him.

By the time all ten lashes were over, I had bitten my lower lip bloody.

A hand suddenly appeared in front of me.

I looked up and met Serena’s conflicted gaze.

“Asher, hurting Julian will only delay the mission. I’m doing this for your own good...”

I couldn’t stand another one of her hypocritical lies and slapped her hand away.

The movement pulled at the wounds on my back, and warm blood trickled down my skin.

The system chimed inside my head.

[Time remaining: 36 hours, 12 minutes.]

I locked myself in my room.

Only then did I finally break down and cry.

Footsteps stopped outside the door.

Then Joanne’s voice came through.

“Asher, I left the first-aid kit outside. Take care of your wounds.”

A tiny spark of hope flickered inside me. Maybe some part of my sister still cared about me.

But the next second, her voice turned firm.

“We’re throwing Julian a birthday party tonight. Stay in your room and don’t come out.”

Her footsteps faded away.

I sat there staring at the thin strip of light spilling beneath the door.

It did nothing to brighten the dark little room.

Just like their love.

No matter how much of it there was, none of it reached the real me anymore.

The pain throbbing across my back was a constant reminder that maybe leaving this world wouldn’t be such a terrible thing after all.

But Julian still wasn’t done with me.

Since the servants had no idea who I really was, he ordered the housekeeper to make me wear a sheer black uniform.

On this heavy, awkward body, it looked even more ridiculous. Almost humiliating.

Guests began arriving one after another.

Whenever their eyes landed on me, surprise flashed across their faces.

I heard someone sneer, “Since when did the Harpers start hiring servants with such... interesting taste?”

Julian walked past with Serena’s hand in his.

He slowed beside me and murmured so only I could hear.

“Black really suits you. Makes you impossible to miss.”

Joanne was chatting with several family friends nearby.

The moment she turned and saw me, the disgust in her voice was impossible to hide.

“Why are you dressed like that? Didn’t I tell you to stay in your room?

“Are you trying to embarrass us on purpose tonight?”

I wanted to tell her Julian had forced me to wear it.

In the end, I simply lowered my head.

What was the point?

In her eyes, everything I did was wrong anyway.

Once, I’d had lavish birthday parties like this too.

When I turned eighteen, Mom and Dad were still alive.

Joanne had baked my cake herself.

And beneath a sky full of fireworks, Serena had promised she would stay by my side for the rest of our lives.

Back then, I thought I would always be surrounded by people who loved me.

Now even my birthday belonged to Julian.

My name.

My family.

The woman I loved.

He had stolen every last piece of my life without a second thought.

Halfway through the party, a woman reeking of alcohol stumbled toward me.

She was the Prescott family’s notorious illegitimate daughter, infamous for her twisted obsession with unattractive men.

Her eyes narrowed as she looked me up and down with undisguised lust.

“Ms. Harper really knows how to treat his guests. She even prepared a little plaything for me.”

Her fingers slid across my chest as she gave me a lecherous grin.

“Have a drink with me, handsome. I like the big, harmless-looking type.”

Nausea churned in my stomach. I struggled hard against her grip.

“Let go of me!”

Her hand immediately reached toward my crotch.

“You’re just a servant. What are you acting so precious for?”

“A thousand bucks for one night. Frankly, that’s already more than you’re worth.”