Chapter 2

Once the execution ended, only the cleanup remained. Mom took Mimi home.

Dad came out of the kitchen after making dinner and looked behind them. "Where's Sophie?"

Mom yanked off her boots and tossed them aside. "She lied to avoid the execution. When I caught her, she played dead, so I put her in the punishment room to reflect on what she'd done."

Dad clearly disapproved. "Couldn't you have talked to her? That room is for prisoners. She's still a child!"

He pulled off his apron and started toward the door, but Mom stopped him.

"I didn't lock it. She can leave whenever she wants. It's hot outside, so she won't last long in there. Don't worry."

Mimi wore the same innocent smile as she linked her arm through Dad's.

"Don't worry, Dad. The punishment room is isolated, but it isn't dangerous. Sophie humiliated Mom in front of all those people. Mom is only teaching Sophie a small lesson."

Dad shook his head. "I've felt uneasy all day. I can't shake the feeling that something is wrong."

Mom locked the front door and shot him an irritated look.

"You favor Sophie so much that she thinks she can lie without consequences. She's still afraid of mice at her age, all because you spoiled her. How could a child like that ever become our heir?

"You and I were the best in our respective families, yet we produced someone so useless that even our enemies know about it. Isn't that humiliating enough?"

Then Mom sat at the table and began cutting into her steak.

My father, Alexander Freeman, was a Don, but the Family he inherited had already declined. Marrying Mom was the only reason he escaped his enemies' pursuit.

That left him with little authority at home and no power to overturn her decisions.

I watched my lifeless body in the punishment room and burst into sobs.

In my memories, Mom had loved me.

As her first child, I had once received all her care and attention.

Then Mimi was born. As we grew older, Mom gradually withdrew her attention from me and gave it all to her.

Whenever Mimi accused me of bullying her and I denied it, Mom looked more disappointed in me. Then the two bands arrived.

Whenever I felt ill, mine flashed. Mimi would "honestly" report thoughts I had never had, and Mom would beat me.

The sight of blood made me faint, so I could not handle a gun. Mimi called it God's punishment for a liar, and Mom believed her completely.

She trusted technology, her own authority, and Mimi. I was the only one she refused to trust.

As my health worsened, I could no longer participate in Family business. Mimi claimed I was only being lazy because I did not want to learn.

Mom refused to take me to the hospital. She even forced me to watch violent, bloody movies, convinced they would cure me. By the end, I was frailer than a small child.

No matter how often I explained, protested, accused Mimi of framing me, or said the band was broken, Mom never believed me.

She only answered with the same cold words. "If Mimi is lying, why hasn't her band flashed even once? How can you still refuse to admit what you've done?"

I wanted the answer too. Why did Mimi's every word prove false while her band did nothing?

Eventually, I stopped defending myself.

I knew that no explanation could compete with my perpetually flashing band and Mimi's innocent smile. Mom would always believe them.

I thought that if I stopped defending myself, I might finally matter to her again.

I never imagined that even my silent death would fail to earn her trust.

As I wiped away my tears, I suddenly heard the lock click into place.

Uneasy, I searched the area but saw no one.

I drifted home. The house was dark, and everyone was asleep.

Who had locked the punishment-room door?