Moonbound Hearts

When I got back from the reform center, the whole family came to the airport to pick me up.

I had a perfect smile plastered on my face.

It made me look sweet and gentle, like my name, Angelica Bower.

There were ice-cold expressions on my parents' faces, but when they saw me smiling, they immediately removed their sunglasses in excitement and ran toward me.

"Look at how meek you look when you smile! That's what a lady from a prestigious family should be like."

"That reform center is pretty good. I should have sent you there earlier."

My parents' smiles widened when they saw me and my perfect manners. I stood there elegantly as the television channels took videos of me.

I was from a rich, elite family, and I was very introverted and reticent.

I never liked smiling, nor did I like meeting people. I also disliked attending the numerous banquets for the elites with my parents.

I only enjoyed reading and writing on my own, immersed in my own world.

My teacher said that I liked studying and was very mature, and that I would be a good candidate for research in the future.

My parents, however, were extremely disappointed in me.

"Why do you act so aloof all the time and just hide yourself at home? You don't behave like a Bower at all!"

"Look at your sister. She's a year younger than you, but she's perfectly at ease with everyone she meets. Everyone compliments her when she goes out with us. Can't you learn from her?"

In the past, I could not be bothered with them.

Now, however, my smile was even more perfect than Arabella Bower's.

My parents brought me home, looking pleased.

The house was already packed with guests who were there to hold a welcome party for me.

I looked up and saw my sister, Arabella, smiling widely at me.

She raised her glass of red wine and inclined her head to me in greeting.

"It's been a while, Angel. How were things at the asylum?"

My hands clenched tightly involuntarily, and my legs gave out. I almost fell to my knees.

However, Arabella walked up to me in her evening gown and caught me.

She leaned over to my ear and spoke in a voice that only the two of us could hear. "Angel, why did you come back?"

As she spoke, she shook her glass slightly. The wine immediately stained her pure white gown, and the glass shattered on the floor.

Her features twisted, and she backed several steps away as she pointed angrily at me. "Angel, I just wanted to say a few words to you. Do you hate me that much?"

She was making me the scapegoat, just as she had done since we were children.

In the past, I would have turned and left at once. However, I tried to protest this time. My whole body was trembling. "Sorry, I'm sorry. I wasn't careful—"

Before I could finish, my father rushed up to me and slapped me so hard that my head twisted.

"Why are you causing trouble as soon as you get out? I knew that you were just putting on an act just now! Deep inside, you're still an uneducated wench. You're not fit to be my daughter!"

My mother was anxiously checking Arabella's wound, and she breathed a sigh of relief when she had ascertained that everything was fine.

"It seems like you haven't learnt to behave yourself yet. Why don't we send you back to the reform center for a couple more months?"

When I heard that, I could no longer endure it. I fell to my knees.

Dark, damp memories flooded my mind.