Chapter 3

That was when Scarface noticed the way I instinctively protected my hands.

"No! Don't!" I screamed.

His boot came down hard on my fingers. The sharp, sickening crack of bones breaking rang out clearly, making my scalp crawl.

He ground each finger under his heel, as if he were crushing ants.

"I was wrong… Please, I'm begging you… Let me go…"

As a painter, my hands were everything to me.

"Too late," he said, sneering.

He grabbed my hair and started dragging me toward the tires.

Just as total despair swallowed me and I thought I was going to be crushed into pulp, a blinding set of headlights appeared behind us, followed by a sharp, urgent honking that cut through the silence.

The person who stepped out of the car was none other than my "dear big brother", Callum Holloway. He was followed by Kate, who was smiling ever so sweetly.

A big, fawning grin immediately appeared on Scarface's face.

Kate snuggled into Callum's side and cooed sweetly, "Cal, what if Mr. Whitethorn thinks her face doesn't look quite like mine and sees through it? I'm really scared… Why don't we make sure she can never speak again, and her face can never be seen by anyone again… That would be the safest thing to do."

Callum's brows furrowed tightly before he nodded.

"You're right, Kate," he said, his voice icy and without a trace of warmth. "That face is indeed a liability. In that case, destroy it."

He drew a dagger and walked toward me, step by step.

"Have you lost your mind? I'm your real sister, Callum!" I screamed with the last of my strength, trying to awaken his conscience.

"Real sister?"

He laughed mockingly as he stomped down on my bleeding hand, grinding it viciously. "The only sister I have is Kate. You? You're just a stray mutt meant to shield Kate from harm.

"Did you really think we brought you home so you could live the good life? Stop dreaming! If Kate hadn't needed this life of yours, you wouldn't even be worthy of stepping through our front door!"

My heart instantly froze into shards of ice.

Callum advanced toward me, his expression dark, while Kate stood behind him, her grin smug.

My body trembled uncontrollably, but more than anything, I couldn't help the quiet, inward sighs.

The last person who had accidentally scratched me… had been killed eight years ago.

It had just been a small nick on my finger, but Dad had ordered someone to hack the man's limbs off and turn him into a human pig to be tortured for three days and three nights. Only when the offender was on his last breath was he tossed into the open sea.

Dad loved me as if I were his own life. At the slightest injury to me, he would lash out at whoever was in charge of taking care of me, killing or maiming them. My hands bore the blood of countless innocent people.

That was exactly why I had both respected and feared him for the past 20 years.

If he found out that the Holloways had been tormenting and humiliating me all this time, then they would…

My breath caught.

This was getting way out of hand. The Holloways were done for.

Trembling, I warned them one last time. "My father really is Dominic Whitethorn. You're all going to die! Every single one of you will be wiped out without a trace!"

The next second, Callum ordered someone to pin me down. Without the slightest hesitation, his knife sliced across my face. The tip carved freely from my brow bone all the way down to my jaw, spilling blood across the ground.

The agony stole my voice. I felt like I was suffocating.

Kate gleefully pulled out her phone, filmed my bloody, mangled face up close, then quickly uploaded it online.

The caption was sensational.

"Shocking! The Ravenfield Holloways finally reclaimed their real daughter—only to discover that she's a junkie, ready to drag the whole family down just to survive!"

In the video, she painted me as a deranged drug addict who had angered a powerful figure, attempted to threaten my family but failed, and ended up harming myself instead.

In less than three minutes, the comments section exploded.

"How evil! She couldn't save herself, so she's dragging her whole family down with her?"

"Goodness! People like that deserve to be ripped to shreds! Poor Holloways!"

"She deserves to be disfigured! Let her die!"