Chapter 2

Dad's face darkened instantly. He rushed forward, grabbed me by my wrist, and told the bald guy, "Don't listen to her. She's just spouting nonsense. She's not in her right mind!"

Sensing that the situation had spun completely out of script, the hired actors hastily made an excuse and scrambled out of the apartment.

Mom immediately berated me. "Are you out of your mind? How could you offer yourself to the creditors? Don't you know what would be in store for you if you really went with them? They'd sell you off to the black market!"

Dad glared at me with great displeasure. "I've found a job for you. A rich young lady is looking for a personal maid. The pay is pretty high."

Early the next morning, Mom and Dad ignored all my protests and dragged me back to the very same villa I had visited the day before.

"Listen carefully, Allison Baker. We're only doing this for your own good. Working as a maid is much better than killing yourself working three jobs a day."

The person who opened the door was the same young woman from the day before. She gave me a look of contempt and said, "Come in."

Without a word of goodbye, Dad shoved me through the threshold and turned to leave.

The young woman introduced herself as Stephanie Coleman. She leaned back against the couch and tilted her chin up at me. "Do you know why I let you come work for me?

"It's because I wanted to see exactly what the biological daughter my parents hate and abandoned looks like."

A cold tremor rippled through my chest. So, she knew everything.

Stephanie gave me a once-over, before sticking her tongue out in exaggerated disgust. "I purposely lured you here yesterday, hoping you'd get into an argument with them. I honestly can't believe you actually put up with the humiliation and just walked away.

"I mean, you can't blame Mom and Dad for abandoning you. You're deaf, ugly, and stupid. It's only natural they want nothing to do with you.

"You never should have come back. Mom and Dad adopted me to make up for the pain of losing their real daughter. But now? The only daughter they love is me. You're nothing."

Over the next few days, I was forced to live as her personal maid.

She forced me onto my knees for hours, ordering me to scrub the floor tiles with a toothbrush. When she complained her soup was too hot, she didn't hesitate to fling the boiling liquid directly onto my bare hand.

Watching agonizing blisters bloom across my skin, she threw her head back and shrieked with laughter.

The torment didn't stop when the sun went down. When I went to bed, she slipped into my room while I slept, pinning me down as she shaved all the hair from my head. Then, she tore the clothes from my body and took nude photos of me.

When I finally broke and tried to run away, she simply ordered her bodyguards to go after me and dragged me back to the villa.

One afternoon, Mom and Dad called her on FaceTime and asked about me. I had still harbored a bit of hope, thinking that they would take me away if they knew about my treatment at the villa.

Stephanie's door wasn't shut properly, and her voice floated down the hallway.

"Mom! I feel revolted every single time I look at that peasant's face! Why the hell does she have to look so much like you?

"You know, I made her kneel all day today, and it felt so good.

"You're taking her away tomorrow? But I'm not done playing with her yet! I want her to obey me forever!"

So, they were only Facetiming her to check if I was being a good, obedient maid to Stephanie.

Tears welled in my eyes, but I fiercely wiped them away just as Stephanie pushed the door open and walked into my room.

"I'm throwing a birthday party here tomorrow, and Mom and Dad are coming. Don't you dare speak a word to them during the event."

I ignored her gloating and took out an old, shattered phone to send a text message.

"Sir, I was serious about selling myself to repay the debt."

The reply came almost instantly.

"I'll come get you tomorrow."