Chapter 4

"Susan, do you even hear yourself? You're my best friend!" I cried.

I grabbed her hand, but she shook me off with contempt. Her face was cold.

"I'm only telling the truth," she said. "You brought this on yourself."

In that instant, my heart felt like it was being torn apart. This was my childhood friend, the one I had grown up with. I couldn't believe that she had changed.

Then, I recalled a memory from when I was little, when Dad had punished me by withholding food. Susan would sneak over with bread, wait by my door, and quietly slip it to me so I wouldn't go hungry.

She had once promised that we'd be sisters for life, that she'd always be there for me.

I remembered a day we had walked hand in hand. I had asked, "Hey, what if I never get married?"

Her eyes had shone with sincerity and warmth as she replied with unwavering conviction, "It's okay if you don't. I bought a place, didn't I? You can live with me, and I won't get married either. I'll take care of you for life, and we can even adopt a child. From then on, we'll be family."

She was the one who told me not to cry over men. She said that men could change in a snap, and that only proved that they had never truly loved me.

But now, what made her any different from those men?

My chest ached as if it had been struck, while a thread of suspicion tangled like thorns in my mind, tightening until I could barely breathe.

I couldn't stop wondering—what power did Dad's study hold? How could it twist those who once cherished me, turning their care to cruelty… even making them willing to see me dead?

From that day forward, my friendship with Susan ended. We became strangers. I wasn't physically harmed, but the damage ran deep.

For a long time afterward, I went to therapy, trying to reclaim some piece of happiness.

Dad and Angela didn't care. All they knew was how to control and exploit me.

Then, Mom finally came home for her annual break. She would take a break once a year to spend time with family.

When she found out that I had been going to the hospital for therapy, she was filled with guilt. One night, she came into my room.

Mom stood by my bed and saw me lying there, my eyes numb and vacant. Her own face was streaked with tears.

She pulled me into her arms and said, "Ellie, this is all my fault. I've tried to talk sense into your father so many times, but he just won't listen."

Her voice trembled with pain, as if she wished she could take my suffering herself.

I knew how hard life was for Mom. Without her love, I wouldn't have lasted this long.

Every time Dad tried to beat or scold me, she would always step in and oppose him for my sake. She knew his temper better than anyone, and since she couldn't change him, she compensated by loving me even more.

But Mom was busy running her shop from dawn till dusk, and by the time she came home, I was already asleep.

Still, it didn't matter. I could always feel her care for me. It was what reminded me that someone in this world still cared for me and wouldn't turn against me for some strange, inexplicable reason.

I had thought about moving out, but Dad kept such a close watch on me. He was convinced that I would marry someone in secret the moment I left the house.

He even warned me that if I dared to move away, he would torture me until I begged for death. The very thought of his study sent a shiver down my spine.

I clung to Mom's arm and playfully said, "Mom, will you always listen to me, no matter what I say?"

She stroked my hair tenderly and softly replied, "Of course, I will. You're my beloved daughter. I'll always listen to you, no matter what you say."

Looking at her earnestly, I pleaded, "Then promise me that you'll never ever go into Dad's study. Can you do that for me?"

At that, Mom frowned slightly. "Is there something hidden in there?"

"I don't know," I replied. "But please, just promise me that you'll never go in there, okay?"

"Don't worry, my dear," she reassured me. "I'll listen to you. If you tell me not to go in there, then I won't, I promise."

"You're the best, Mom."

"Of course," she said firmly. "I will always be good to you, always."

Mom's expression was so serious, and I believed her. As long as she stayed out of Dad's study, she wouldn't be brainwashed by him and would still love me.

She even tried to comfort me, saying Dad was just stubborn and difficult, that I shouldn't take his words to heart.

Mom even told me that she had already arranged a blind date for me with a man of good character through a matchmaking site. She said no real parent would forbid their daughter from getting married, that it was unreasonable.

Feeling relieved, I agreed to meet the man that weekend. But the very next day, Mom told me the blind date had been canceled.

We were supposed to go for breakfast together that morning, but she didn't wake me. I slept in until noon, thinking she had gone back to work.

When I finally opened my door, Mom was there waiting. Without a word, she hurled a bowl from the dining table straight at my head.

Pain shot across my forehead, and warm blood spilled onto the floor.