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The next morning, when Juliette woke up, she was met with the angry face of her aunt.

Juliette rubbed her eyes, wishing it was nothing more than a stupid dream. There was no way she wanted to deal with her annoying aunt right now. It was too early for that.

“What are you looking at, you useless, spineless… blood-sucking creature?” The older woman snarled, hands on her hips as she continued to glare down at Juliette.

Somewhere in the room, someone snickered. Juliette didn’t have to scan the room to know who that snicker belonged to. The only person who enjoyed her misery was Aunt Isabella’s dear daughter—and Juliette’s not-so-dear cousin—Sophia.

Suppressing a yawn with the back of her hand, Juliette decided to sit up and deal with whatever her aunt and her daughter had in mind. They were clearly up to something. Why else would her aunt begin her greeting by calling her names?

“Uh…” Juliette tried to find the right words. “What did I do now? Would someone like to enlighten me?”

Her tone, or so her aunt always pointed out, seemed to have offended the older woman somehow. Her brows shot up and her lips curled downward. “Watch your tone, young lady! Is this how you talk to your elders? With an unwashed mouth and that stupid attitude?”

At that exact moment, Juliette wanted to pull someone’s hair out—probably her aunt’s. But she couldn’t. That wouldn’t be nice. So, the only thing to do now was to get up, wash her face, and THEN deal with whatever they were here for.

With a deep breath, Juliette swung her feet to the floor and stood up, her fingers racing through her hair, which surely looked like a bird’s nest by now.

“Now, where the hell do you think you’re going? I’m not done yet,” her aunt said sternly, and all Juliette wanted to do was bang her head against the wall.

Unable to help herself, she threw her hands in the air and turned around. “Oh my God. What the hell do you want from me? First, you barge into my room like there’s no concept of privacy in this house, then you accuse me of talking to you with an unwashed mouth, and now, when I’m giving you exactly what you want—a washed mouth, face, hands, and whatever else you want—you still have a problem with me? What the hell do you even want? Decide for yourself first!”

Frustrated. That’s how Juliette felt. It was only yesterday when her aunt and uncle had taken up all her evening and even forced her to go to bed hungry. Why? Because, according to them, they weren’t happy with the way she’d behaved in front of those Garretts. What else did they even expect from her? That just to impress that rich old woman—who clearly didn’t like her from the first glance anyway—she would let her grandmother die? Well, if that’s what they thought she’d do, then they were sorely mistaken.

In response to her very justified retaliation, someone in the room decided she deserved a hard slap in the face.

Juliette was surprised when Sophia’s hand fell right across her cheek, and the same surprise caused her to stumble and fall back onto the bed.

Not able to believe that it had actually happened, she glared hard at her cousin.

But before she could say anything, Sophia kicked her hard.

“How dare you raise your voice in front of my mom? Who the hell do you think you are? Just because we let you and that useless old hag live in this house doesn’t mean we owe you two a damn thing. Do you hear me? If my mom wanted to, she could toss both you and that washed-up woman out on the street without a second thought. But she won’t. You know why? Because she’s better than that—she has a heart that’s too big and too kind for someone as ungrateful and disgusting as you to even comprehend. You don’t deserve a damn thing from her.”

Behind Sophia, Aunt Isabelle seemed to be enjoying this far more than she had any right to.

Juliette rubbed her cheek and tasted blood in her mouth.

Fuck this! She was tired of this constant bullying. Just because they had taken care of Grandma and her treatment, she was forced to endure their pathetic, relentless attempts to humiliate her. They even punished her sometimes, making her sleep on the roof in the cold, just to satisfy their egos. Sometimes, they locked her in her room, refusing to let her out or feed her anything, all because they had suddenly remembered the one time she had talked back, and they couldn’t get back at her.

But no matter how much she tried to retaliate against their mistreatment, there was one truth they never let her forget. And that truth was her Grandma’s treatment, which was not only expensive but absolutely necessary for her well-being. And because Juliette was still struggling to get her business to where she wanted it after three years, she was still unable to finance anything except her medication and the clothes on their backs.

Eventually, only for her to realize, that she was not in the position of power—they were. And she had no way to escape whatever they wanted from her.

Swallowing the slap, the blood, and the humiliation, she stood up and dropped her gaze to the floor. “What do you want from me? Just say the word.”

She heard her aunt giggling before she finally cleared her throat and shoved something into her hands.

It was a dress—a beautiful dress, in fact.

“Don’t get too excited,” her aunt sneered, a cruel smile playing on her lips as she tore apart any hint of hope. “Yesterday was a complete disaster, all because you couldn’t keep your nose out of that old hag’s business. But fine, whatever. Let’s forget it for now. You’re lucky your uncle managed to get another meeting with them, but this time, we go to them. So get your worthless self ready, and try to look as decent as you can—though I doubt you’ll pull it off. We cannot, under any circumstances, return empty-handed from the Garretts. You got that? I don’t give a damn what humiliating stunt you have to pull, but you’ll make that old bitch and her son like you. If not, your grandma doesn’t get her meds this week, and I’ll make sure it’s your fault. You understand me?”