Chapter Four - Her Punishment (1)

Buying another phone wasn't an option; she simply couldn't afford it.

Just then, her stomach growled loudly into the quiet room. She wrapped her arm tightly around her waist, hoping the pressure would ease the sharp ache.

It didn't.

Yesterday's breakfast had been the last thing she had eaten. She swallowed hard, trying to ignore the gnawing hunger twisting inside her. Going downstairs to look for food wasn't an option, either, if her siblings or mother caught her out of her room, the consequences would be severe.

She closed her eyes tightly. She would rather sleep on an empty stomach than face another beating. Slowly lying back down on the thin mattress, her body exhausted and her mind racing, sleep only came after long minutes of painful tossing and turning.

**********

[ Early Morning — Vanessa's Bedroom ]

Morning came all too quickly. Golden rays of sunlight streamed through the bedroom window, falling across the quiet figure sleeping peacefully on the small bed.

Vanessa.

For the first time in a long while, her face looked calm and at rest, completely unaware of what awaited her.

Suddenly—

SPLASH!

Ice-cold water drenched her from head to toe. She shot upright with a gasp, her heart pounding wildly against her ribs as the freezing liquid soaked through her thin clothes.

"W-What...?"

Ringing laughter echoed through the small bedroom.

Vanessa looked up through wet lashes. Standing beside her bed were her twin sisters, Mira and Anna. Mira, the blonde twin, held the empty plastic bucket, while Anna, whose striking red hair matched Vanessa's own, stood with her arms folded across her chest. Aside from their hair color, both sisters possessed identical, mocking smiles.

"Aww... the princess is finally awake," Mira sneered.

"So you actually decided to crawl back home after running away?" Anna added, her lips curling into a cruel smirk.

"I don't even know why you bothered coming back," Mira scoffed, tossing the empty bucket aside with a loud clatter. "You know you're only going to keep suffering here."

Before Vanessa could react or move away, both twins lunged toward the bed. One grabbed a fistful of her wet hair while the other seized her arm in a crushing grip.

"W-What are you doing?! Let go of me!" Vanessa cried out, struggling desperately against them.

They ignored her completely. Together, they dragged her off the bed and out of the room, her bare feet scraping uselessly against the cold floorboards. Reaching the top of the grand staircase, they didn't slow down for a second, they dragged her straight down the steps without a shred of mercy.

Thud!

Her shoulder slammed violently against the sharp edge of a wooden riser.

Bang!

The back of her head struck another step. Her knees scraped painfully as they hauled her downward, fresh bruises blooming across her delicate skin. Vanessa tried to push them off, but she was too weak from hunger. Anna drove a hard kick directly into her side.

"Agh!" Vanessa gasped, doubling over.

Mira immediately followed with a kick near her head. Before Vanessa could recover or draw breath, Anna planted her designer shoe firmly onto her stomach, pressing down with all her weight.

Vanessa choked violently. Blood welled at the corner of her lips, dripping onto the staircase and staining the polished tiled floor.

Defeated and battered, Vanessa lay completely motionless where her sisters left her at the bottom of the landing. The twins didn't even bother looking back; they simply brushed off their clothes and strolled toward the sunroom.

For twenty long minutes, Vanessa lay there on the cold floor, struggling to move a single muscle. Every joint throbbed with excruciating pain. This was her daily reality—receiving relentless cruelty from her own blood family.

Groaning softly, she used the wall for balance and slowly forced herself to stand. Her legs trembled violently under her weight, tears brimming in her eyes.

"No food prepared in the kitchen? So who is supposed to do the house chores today? Me?" a sharp, cold voice echoed from the hallway.

Mrs. Brown stepped into view.

The twins walked beside her, looking like younger carbon copies of their mother. They shared her striking brown eyes, polished demeanor, and model-like frame. The three of them stood together in perfect harmony, staring down at Vanessa with nothing but absolute disdain.

"You know I despise repeating myself, Vanessa. And when I have to, you know what follows," Mrs. Brown said smoothly, her eyes filled with cold hatred, devoid of even a trace of maternal warmth. No outsider looking at them would ever guess they were mother and daughter.

"I was... just on my way to start, Mother," Vanessa managed to whisper, trying to hold herself upright.

"That's a complete lie, Mother," Anna chimed in with a smirk, eager to twist the knife. "She was fast asleep when we went up to her room. She looked so peaceful."

"Is that so?" Mrs. Brown asked, her eyebrow curving upward.

Vanessa opened her mouth to defend herself, but stopped. With her sisters standing there, any word she said would only guarantee more violence.

Mrs. Brown closed the distance between them. Vanessa instinctively tried to step back, but the hard wall behind her offered no escape. Mrs. Brown reached out, grabbed a fistful of Vanessa's copper hair, and yanked it back hard.

"House chores are supposed to be completed before anyone in this family wakes up," Mrs. Brown hissed into her face. "Yet not a single thing has been done."

She pulled harder, forcing Vanessa to tilt her head back.

"In addition to your usual work, you will wash everyone's laundry, including the security guards uniforms, hand-wash every vehicle in the driveway, and have a three-course lunch prepared before noon."

She paused, a chilling smile touching her lips. "And if you fail..."

She left the threat hanging in the air; Vanessa already knew the agonizing punishment that awaited her if she fell short.

Mrs. Brown shoved her violently against the wall before pausing as if an afterthought struck her. "Oh... and you aren't going to work today."

Without another word, Mrs. Brown turned on her heel and walked away. The twins followed her upstairs, their shared laughter echoing down the corridor.

Vanessa was left standing alone in the quiet foyer, wiping the blood from her lip.

'Another missed shift... At this rate, Mr. Elliot will fire me for sure. And I still haven't found my phone...' Her eyes welded with tears.

Suppressing the throbbing ache in her body, she straightened her posture and headed toward the kitchen to begin her mountain of chores.