Chapter 6

After calming Grace down, Mason found himself writing out the employment contract Lily had begged for and heading back to the Heaven on Earth suite.

For some reason, he couldn't shake the memory of the lifeless look in her eyes. It left him with an uneasy feeling he couldn't explain.

When he pushed open the door, Lily was kneeling on the floor, her emaciated body trembling as she tried to gather the scattered pieces of her photograph. Mason's sharp eyes caught sight of several bloodstained tissues in the trash can nearby.

He scoffed to himself. What a cheap trick.

Lily had finally collected all the pieces and was struggling to her feet when she turned and saw him. She immediately wiped the blood from the corner of her mouth, but Mason had already noticed.

"Going to all that trouble to make yourself look like you're bleeding? Who are you hoping to get sympathy from? Some other man?"

Lily froze. Another spasm of pain twisted through her stomach, making her chest ache as well. She gave a bitter, self-mocking smile.

"Nothing gets past you, Mr. Whitmore."

Mason flicked a sheet of paper at her, striking her across the face with a sharp slap.

"There's your employment contract. Take it and get lost."

Lily carefully folded the contract, and for the first time in days, a genuine smile appeared on her face.

She could finally see Yvonne.

When they met, she would give her sister all the money she'd saved and tell her the truth about her condition. Yvonne had always been strong, even as a little girl. Lily believed she would be able to accept the news of her impending death.

And after her death, Mason wouldn't be able to hurt her anymore.

Lily waited anxiously through the weekend. As soon as the workweek began, she completed the necessary paperwork and made her way to the orphanage, full of anticipation.

But when she handed over her documents, the receptionist looked puzzled.

"Yvonne Yates? She was only here for about a month before someone came and took her away."

Lily stared at the woman in disbelief. The news hit her like a bolt from the blue.

"What? That's impossible! Yvonne's here! I watched Mason Whitmore bring her here myself!

"He promised he wouldn't touch her! He promised me!"

Lily grew so distraught that the security guards had to forcibly escort her out.

Desperate to find her sister, she struggled to contain her despair and tried to make her way back inside to ask more questions.

That was when a familiar woman's voice stopped her.

"Want to know where your little sister went?"

Lily turned stiffly toward the voice.

Grace stood nearby in lambskin heels and a flared miniskirt that showed off her long, slender legs. She looked immaculate, especially next to Lily, whose body had been reduced to little more than skin and bones.

Yet the words that came out of her mouth were vicious.

"I sent that little sister of yours to a special education school ages ago. She's a tough little thing, I'll give her that. They made her stand for punishment every day, beat her with canes, and she still managed to hang on for three whole years, just waiting for you to come get her."

"What?!" Lily cried.

She knew what those special education schools were like. They were a living hell, even worse than prison.

And Yvonne had spent three years in one.

Three whole years!

Jealousy flashed in Grace's eyes as she continued.

"Do you know why Mason really sent you to prison? It had nothing to do with making me happy!

"He did it because he loves you! He loves you so much that every time he takes revenge on you, he has to cut his own arm to punish himself!

"He was afraid that if you stayed around him, he'd end up doing something even worse to you. So he decided to put you in prison instead."

Lily shook her head frantically.

"I don't want to hear any of this! What happened to my sister?"

Whether Mason loved her or not meant nothing to her anymore.

After so many years of abuse, the resentment she'd buried inside her had been wound as tight as a spring, and now it had reached its breaking point.

She'd thought that if she endured Mason's revenge without complaint, if she kept her head down and accepted every humiliation, she could at least protect the one family member she had left.

Instead, Yvonne had been suffering even more than she had.

Why? What had either of them done to deserve this?

Neither of them was guilty of anything!

The more frantic Lily became, the more delighted Grace looked.

"Don't get so worked up. I even went to the trouble of getting the school to send me a recent video of your sister."

She took out her phone and showed Lily the security footage.

In the video, Yvonne stood atop a tall building, her body covered in injuries and her face streaked with tears.

Then, without a moment's hesitation, she jumped.

"No! NO!"

Lily's scream rang out as she watched her sister fall. Her entire body shook uncontrollably.

Grace continued with poisonous satisfaction.

"You know, I actually went to visit her yesterday. I told her all about what you've been doing to protect her. How you spend your days scrubbing toilets at the club, and your nights... well, you know.

"She started crying as soon as she heard. Said she didn't want to be your weakness anymore. And that very night, after surviving three years in that school, your precious little sister jumped off a building without a word."

Every word was another knife through Lily's heart.

The phone slipped from her hand. Her eyes were bloodshot as she turned toward Grace, staring at her with pure hatred.

Then she snatched up a rock from the ground and swung it straight at Grace's head.

"I'LL KILL YOU!"

But the rock never reached Grace.

Mason had already seized Lily's wrist, holding it in an iron grip.

"Lily Yates! Do you have a death wish?!"