Chapter 1

By the time the police arrived, I was curled up in a corner, trembling.

The entrance to our home had been sealed off with police tape.

Neighbors gathered outside to watch, and their gossip drifted into my ears.

"Good grief, did you hear? Mr. Scott is dead."

"They said he overdid it while fooling around. His heart gave out, and he was covered in STD germs. It was horrifying to look at…"

"What about his new wife? She disappeared ages ago. She even took all the money from the house. She probably saw Mr. Scott drop dead and decided she didn't want to take care of Azure. She wasn't Azure's real mother, after all."

"Neither of them was legally married anyway. She had no official status, so she could leave whenever she wanted."

"Poor Azure. She's so young, and both her parents died one after another. Then her stepmother ran away too. What a shame…"

A few short comments were enough to piece together my miserable life.

A young female police officer approached me, her voice gentle.

"Don't be afraid, sweetheart. Come with me."

My father's body had already been taken away.

I nodded, stood up, and followed the policewoman into the patrol car.

In the interrogation room, the young policewoman sat across from me with a middle-aged male officer.

The male officer introduced himself as Desmond Lewis and got straight to the point.

"Miss Scott, please don't be nervous. We only brought you to the station to ask you a few questions. This concerns a death investigation, so you must answer honestly."

My hand stiffened around the paper cup.

"Okay."

"First question. Where were you around eleven last night?"

"At home, in my bedroom."

"Did you hear anything?"

My heart skipped a beat, and I hesitated.

Desmond fixed me with a sharp gaze. "Please answer truthfully."

"Last night, I heard shouting. My father and Ariel were arguing. They were saying horrible things to each other, and I couldn't stand the noise, so I put in my earplugs and fell asleep…"

Last night had been the fiercest argument between my father, Steven Scott, and Ariel Mills.

I had vaguely heard him roaring and cursing Ariel, calling her a shameless slut who would sleep with anyone.

The sounds of slapping, cursing, sobbing, and smashed objects came and went.

The scene was exactly the same as whenever he abused my mother.

Whenever he hit Mom, I rushed forward without hesitation to protect her. I never cared that I ended up covered in bruises myself.

But what goes around comes around. This time, Ariel was the one being beaten.

I couldn't have cared less.

Besides, unlike Mom, Ariel did not simply endure the beatings. She fought back.

I shoved my earplugs deep into my ears, closed my eyes, and forced myself to fall asleep.

The house was quiet early the next morning.

I made breakfast and went to ask whether Dad and Ariel wanted any.

The moment I pushed open the door to their bedroom, I almost threw up!