Chapter 3

I looked up in horror and saw Christopher's vicious face. His eyes were perfectly clear, brimming with mockery as he looked at me.

"Painkillers?"

Finding they were nothing more than painkillers, Christopher instantly lost interest.

"Give them back!" I roared hoarsely.

Seeing the desperation written all over my face, Christopher smirked cruelly.

"Are you in pain? Well, that makes sense. I did instruct Dr. Harding to use triple the dosage of every drug on you. Looks like he followed through. But why are you so hard to kill? How is it you're still alive after all that? I really didn't expect you'd survive and make it back to this rat hole."

With that, he threw the painkillers at his feet and gave a scornful sneer. Then, he crushed them one by one beneath his shoe.

"No!" I lunged at him desperately.

But with just a light shove from Christopher, I went crashing heavily into the corner of the wall.

With a sickening splat, I retched up a mouthful of blood.

Still not satisfied, Christopher kicked me viciously, his face twisted with malice.

"You jerk! Why did you have to be found and brought back? If you hadn't shown up, I would be the heir of this family! You made me play a fool for five years! You good-for-nothing loser!"

I was kicked back and forth like a sack.

Just as I thought I was going to die right there, a sound suddenly came from the doorway.

A ruthless glint flashed in Christopher's eyes, and he threw himself straight into the wall. In an instant, a fresh gash appeared on his head.

"Sutton, I only wanted to play with you! Why did you push me into the wall?" Christopher cried out, his expression turning childlike once more.

A terrible sense of foreboding washed over me. Ever since I had been brought back, Christopher had used tricks like this a thousand times over.

Sure enough, I was slapped viciously on the face in the next second.

"Sutton, I would have thought five years would teach you to behave, but it turns out you're just inherently wicked. Christopher is just a child right now, and yet you still had the heart to hurt him! If I had known it could come to this, I should never have brought you back!"

I collapsed onto the ground and looked at Eliza with bitter sarcasm.

"All four of my limbs have already been broken, so how could I possibly have dragged him into the wall?"

Eliza froze for a brief moment, a flicker of hesitation appearing in her eyes.

But beside her, Christopher refused to let go. "It was him! He's the one who dragged me into the wall! Eliza, he was perfectly fine just a moment ago. He must be lying to you! It hurts so much, Eliza."

Amid Christopher's sobbing, whatever faint wavering Eliza might have felt disappeared once more.

"Sutton, you never change, do you? You're still just as vicious as ever!"

She slapped me so hard she ruptured my eardrum. Now, all I could hear was muffled sounds.

Disappointment and disgust clouded Eliza's eyes, just like the day she was told Christopher had been in a car crash.

She had never once believed me.

I could no longer speak. Helplessly, I curled myself into a ball, bracing against the pain that might come.

Eliza pried my hands apart and dragged me out into the sunlight.

Jeremy and the other household staff began pointing their fingers at me.

My hearing was completely gone now, so I could only stand there blankly, watching them look at me with disgust.

"I always knew Sutton was trouble. First day back, and he's already going for Mr. Christopher. What a monster! If Ms. Parker hadn't brought him back, he'd still be out there somewhere begging on the streets. He doesn't know the first thing about gratitude."

Even though I couldn't hear, those words still echoed in my mind.

Ever since I was brought back, these were the exact things I was made to face every time I was framed.

No one would ever believe me.

The next second, I was struck by a familiar pain.

Amid Christopher's gleeful clapping, Eliza brought the whip down on my back again and again.

Unable to hold on any longer, I collapsed to the ground and threw up mouthful after mouthful of blood.

Yet, Eliza didn't slow in the slightest.

Only after the 99th lash had fallen was I dragged back into the basement like a dead dog.

Eliza looked down at me, her eyes brimming with disgust.

"Once Christopher has fully recovered in six days, I'll find another villa for you. Don't ever show your face in front of us again. I'll deposit money into your account every month. Consider it a payment for severing our ties."

My back burned with searing pain. As I realized what Eliza had just said, I stared at her face, and the words slipped out as if by some strange compulsion.

"I bet you'd be much happier now if you had never found me and taken me back."