Chapter 2. A Home That Turned into a Cage

They forced Elowen to do all the housework, confiscated every piece of clothing and jewelry they had once given her, and even made her walk five kilometers to school every day. They turned a blind eye as servants bullied her, and worse still, they themselves beat her whenever bad news about their son reached them.

Lucien knew all of this. Yet none of it softened the hatred in his heart. Compared to what her biological mother had done to him over the past seventeen years, Elowen’s suffering meant nothing. In his eyes, her mother’s sins had to be repaid by her.

She owed him. Unless he chose to spare her, she would spend the rest of her life as nothing more than his possession.

"Haaahhh..."

Fufff...

Lucien let out a long, satisfied groan and then came on Elowen’s face.

Seeing the beautiful young woman’s face smeared with semen and tears, Lucien curled his lips into a mocking smile, pulled up his zipper, and said, "Get ready. When you turn eighteen, I will make you my woman."

With that, Lucien calmly left the room, leaving Elowen stretched out on the bed, her lips bitten until they bled, broken sobs spilling uncontrollably from her mouth.

After who knew how long, Elowen dragged her body, still sticky with filthy semen, into the bathroom. Cold water poured down over her as she trembled and wrapped her arms tightly around herself.

Ever since she learned that she was not the biological daughter of the Rothschild family, she had wanted to leave. But her adoptive parents would not allow it. They said that if outsiders found out they had just taken back their real child and then driven her away, people would gossip and their reputation would be ruined.

So they did everything they could to force her to stay in the Rothschild mansion and used every possible way to torment her. The more they had once loved her, the more ruthless they became now.

Sometimes she asked herself whether affection could really change so quickly, or whether they had never truly loved her at all.

Elowen felt utterly miserable. Before Lucien returned, she had already been tortured beyond endurance. Now that he was here, her life had only become more unbearable.

He did not just want to hurt her body. He wanted to trample her dignity into the dirt as well.

Elowen was so terrified that her whole body shook uncontrollably.

She did not know what to do anymore. She did not want to kill herself, but she truly could not go on living in this house.

If only someone would come and save her…

Bang bang bang!

"You filthy bitch! Are you dead in there or what? I have been calling you forever. Why are you not opening the door?"

The pounding on the door and the shrill shouting from the woman outside snapped Elowen out of her grief. She hurriedly threw on some clothes, not even bothering with her still soaked hair, and rushed to open the door.

Facing the elegantly dressed middle aged woman with a vicious expression, Elowen shrank back and called out softly, "Mommy…"

Smack!

The slap landed like a bolt of lightning on her cheek. Elowen could not keep her footing and collapsed to the floor. Her vision blurred, her ears rang, and her head spun, showing just how much force Mrs. Rothschild had used.

"You little demon! How dare you hide in your room and avoid work? If you do not hurry up and do the house chores to pay off your mother’s debt, I will sell you to a brothel to be a prostitute!"

Mrs. Rothschild crossed her arms over her chest, cruelty flashing in her eyes. As she looked at the girl sprawled on the floor, she wished she could make her suffer even more to avenge her son.

"Or do you really want to be a whore? Hmph. Like mother, like daughter. Your mother was a filthy seductress, so you are just as rotten and dirty. I should throw you into the red light district to be a prostitute. That would suit the sins your mother brought upon my family!"

The more Mrs. Rothschild cursed, the harsher her words became. Elowen covered her ears, desperate not to hear the insults.

Just a few months ago, this same woman had called her her precious daughter. She had helped her comb her hair, choose her clothes, and put on makeup, treating her like a noble little princess. No matter whether something was a limited edition luxury item or not, as long as Elowen liked it, she would spare no cost to place it before her.

And yet that affection she once believed was sincere had now turned into a giant serpent, coiling tightly around Elowen’s body, crushing her bones bit by bit and leaving her in unbearable pain.

Mrs. Rothschild saw Elowen covering her ears as if she were ignoring every word, and that only made her angrier. She grabbed Elowen by the hair and dragged her downstairs. The steps scraped against her knees and shins, sending sharp waves of pain through her body.

Elowen clutched at her hand and begged over and over, "Mommy, it hurts so much… mommy…"

But Mrs. Rothschild paid no attention at all to Elowen’s condition. She hauled her into the living room and flung her onto the middle of the floor, then picked up a feather duster and lashed out at her without mercy.

"You stubborn little brat! If I don’t beat you into behaving today, you’ll shame the Rothschild name in public someday. Bitch! Bitch!"

Elowen curled up, clutching her head as she endured the blows. Choked sobs spilled from her throat. She did not cry for help, because she knew no one would step forward to protect her, and that the more she resisted, the harder Mrs. Rothschild would beat her.

Crack!

After a while, the handle of the feather duster snapped in Mrs. Rothschild’s hand. Blood seeped through the fabric on Elowen’s back. Even without seeing her torn skin, one could easily imagine how severe her injuries were.