Chapter 3

Dominic scoffed coldly. "It's a waste to give Dexter the smartwatch. How could someone from the slums even know how to use it? What a terrible waste."

He then came up to me and grabbed me by my collar in disgust. "That watch is too dangerous for you. You'd better not let it electrocute you to death.

"Also, you reek like hell, just like the slums. You smell so poor that no amount of clothing you wear can ever cover up that foul odor. Go and give yourself a good scrubbing and don't come out until you're squeaky clean, you embarrassing piece of trash!"

I touched my collar and then my arms.

"Okay. I understand."

I turned, went into the bathroom, and locked the door behind me.

I didn't run the bath or turn on the shower. Instead, I found a stainless steel scourer in the cabinet under the sink meant for heavy-duty cleaning.

Since Dominic said I stank and reeked of the countryside, maybe I should just scrub all my skin off. Without it, I'd probably finally be clean, right?

So, I grabbed the scourer tightly and began scrubbing my arms hard.

Eventually, my skin began to tear, and blood began seeping out from the welts in the skin. However, I didn't feel any pain. All I could think of was Dominic telling me to scrub myself clean.

After I was done scrubbing and scouring my left arm, I began with my right. Then, I did the same to my neck and chest.

The blood began soaking into my bathrobe, slowly streaming down my body and pooling on the floor. The bathroom soon began to reek of a metallic stench.

Half an hour later, Derek knocked on the door.

"Dexter? Are you still in there? Mom said to come down for tea."

I didn't reply and continued scrubbing my thighs hard.

"Dexter?"

Derek tried the door, but it was locked. "Dom! Dexter locked himself in the bathroom!"

Hurried footsteps sounded outside the door.

"Dexter Richmond! What the hell do you think you're doing inside the bathroom? Come out here right now!" Dominic yelled at the door, pounding on it hard.

He was just about to kick the door down when it opened, making him suddenly freeze on the spot, his leg hanging in the air.

I stood at the bathroom door without a single inch of skin on my body that wasn't bloodied or shredded to bits. I looked like a monster that had been completely skinned, with red muscle showing through.

Yet, there was a wide smile on my face as I still held onto the bloodied stainless steel scourer.

"Dominic," I said, raising my bloodied arms and showing them off proudly to him. "I'm all clean now. There's no skin left. The smell's gone too, right? Do I still reek?"

Derek screamed at the top of his lungs. Then, his eyes flipped upward, and he fainted on the spot.

Dominic's eyes widened, his body trembling as though he'd been struck by lightning. He stumbled backward and braced himself against the wall for support as he began to dry-heave.

"You… You…"

He pointed his finger at me, trembling hard, but he couldn't get another word out.

Mom rushed up just then. However, when she caught sight of me, her eyes also rolled up, and she fainted on the ground.

I was utterly confused. Had I been disobedient after all? Why were they all so afraid of me?

…

Ever since that incident, everyone in the family had begun to look at me differently. They didn't dare to give me any commands or even make any comments anymore. Even Derek would go out of his way to avoid me if he ran into me.

However, I knew that this calm was only temporary.

It was Derek's birthday a week later, and the Richmonds held a party for him, inviting a few friends and relatives over to celebrate.

Derek also owned a gray parrot named Pippy. Everyone was very fond of it because it was smart, witty, and could even recite lines from Shakespeare.

I sat alone on the living room couch when the party started, staring off into space. Derek came up to me just then with Pippy in his cage.

"Look, Dexter! Don't you think that Pippy is just the cutest?" he asked, opening the cage and letting the parrot out.

Pippy flapped its wings and landed on the coffee table before me. Then, it cocked its head at me and suddenly opened its mouth, squawking loudly, "Go kill yourself! Go kill yourself! Dexter the sewer rat! Dexter the sewer rat!"

Every guest in the villa, including family, friends, relatives, and even Mom and Dad, froze on the spot.

Derek hurriedly clapped his hands over his mouth and exclaimed, "Pippy! Who taught you that? How could you?"

He then turned to Mom and Dad and immediately began to cry. "I never taught it that, I swear! I didn't even know that it knew how to swear! Maybe… Maybe Pippy… Maybe Pippy picked it up from someone else…"

Dominic's face darkened like an approaching storm. However, he didn't yell at Derek. Instead, he turned to look at me in disgust, his eyes flickering dangerously as he yelled, "It was you, wasn't it? You taught Pippy to swear so that you could frame Derek for it!"