Chapter 2: Were you there when I almost died?

The bright sun hit Sally’s eyes, and she blinked.

For a minute, she just breathed in the fresh air, letting the breeze calm her skin, enjoying the freedom. Finally, she’ll get to start her life over.

It had been four years… four fucking years of serving for a crime she didn't commit.

No one had come to visit her. Not her parents nor her brother.

And now, she didn't expect anyone to show up. She was alone in this world.

Her adoptive mother had died four years ago.

She'd been battling a heart condition, and the moment she heard Sally’s arrest, she collapsed and was announced dead on arrival to the hospital.

“Where am I going to go?” Sally thought as she stared at the heavily guarded walls behind her, the sight of them making her chest clench.

She paid an expensive price for trying to steal a family that wasn’t hers.

A strong wind gushed past her, coupled with a loud humming of an engine. Damn ..she even missed the sound of a car .

Crazy it is, but all these years, she’d been living in a dark hole…never knowing that she’d make it out alive, that she’ll get to see the beautiful sun.

She thought the car would pass, but it stopped… right in front of her.

“Get inside…” Billy rolled down the car window and glared at her.

What the hell was he doing here?

He was the one who called the police on her.

He destroyed her life and still had the nerve to show up as if everything could be erased that easily….her heart was broken beyond repair ..not him or her parents will ever receive her forgiveness.

She shook her head. “You're no longer my family. Thank you, but I'll take care of myself.”

She hugged her small bag and continued walking away with a limp.

That's when Billy frowned, getting out of the car. “What happened to your leg?” he asked, trying to take a look.

Sally pushed him aside, sneering. “It isn't your business. Just leave me alone.”

The years she spent in prison had been hell. The first few days, she felt like dying… the endless beatings, the lack of food, and the never-ending chores.

She broke her back.

She had scars all over her body.

But the most life-changing event was what happened to her leg.

That day was still fresh in her mind like yesterday. A group of four women covered in tattoos, serving long sentences came into her room while she was asleep.

They demanded that she confess that she was the one who committed an attempted murder on her grandmother.

Everything was being recorded.

If she agreed, they would have given it as evidence. And she couldn’t give Rita what she wanted.

She refused to speak a word, and they beat her to a pulp… until she fainted. The last thing she heard was a cracking bone…and her leg became numb.

Later, she spent a month in a coma. No one came to visit… but one day, an unusual woman asked to see her.

It was Rita, a sick smile curling on her lips. While she rot in prison, she continued enjoying a life that should have been hers.

When will she ever stop condemning her?

Wasn’t it enough that she was reduced to nothing?

“It was you… you sent those women to beat me. Will you be happy when you see me dead?” Sally asked, looking at her coldly.

“That's just the start. There's more to come. By the time I'm done with you, you'll never think of coming back to my family,” she warned.

“Just leave me alone. I've already paid with my legs for coming into your family. They were never mine, and I don't want them.”

“Good… I hope you'll keep your word.”

Now, remembering that day and the things she had to go through, she wished she had never connected with the Weston family.

It was the worst mistake she’d ever committed in her life …but regret wouldn’t give her back her life.

She still has her hands,

A crippled leg wouldn’t prevent her from being what she’d always wanted to be… a designer. Her biggest dream was to own a company.

She’ll make her mother proud. She just had to find a way and fight for her future the hardest she could.

No more begging for family…that was never meant for her.

No more relying on any one but herself and her abilities.

But Billy wouldn't leave her alone.

He stood, his expression conflicted, but she refused to look at him.

“God… we're still your family. We were going to come for you after the end of your sentence. All we wanted was for you to learn manners and to mold you in to the perfect daughter. We just didn’t think that it was this bad.”

Fucking hypocrite… claiming that they cared.

How?

Would they even believe it if she told them that it was their precious daughter who did this?

Never wasting her breath again.

“Were you there when I almost died? Did you come to see me even for a single day? Where were you when I needed you all?” Sally asked, still standing her ground.

For a moment there, Billy just stared at her, taking in her frame and her short hair. She no longer had her long and shiny hair.

Sally looked like a completely different person, frail and thin, even her complexion had darkened, the skin on her arms full of dark bruises.

He grabbed her hand, but she pushed him away.

“I said I'm not going anywhere with you. I'd rather sleep on the street.”

There was an awkward silence between them before Billy spoke again.

“Sally, mum and Dad are also worried about you. In fact, we have a good proposition for you. “Billy said, earning her attention.

No…No…No…she would not fall in to their temptations again…once bitten twice shy.

Wait …What could they have that will interest her?

Anyway, listening doesn’t mean that she'll agree to his proposal.

“We'll give you a chance to work at the company as an intern in design department. If you prove yourself, we’ll offer you a job. Think of it as a way of us giving you a chance to be still family.”

Her pulse raced.

This was the chance she'd been praying for, and now it was being handed to her on a silver platter like this…

Before she came to live with the Weston family, she was in a design college. She remembered how hard her mother had worked to get her enrolled in that college.

But just one year in, she had to drop out…just because she was arrested.

She was accepting it, not because she wanted to be close to her family, but because she wanted a better future for herself. She'd passed through rocks and mountains, making something for herself.

She didn’t hesitate.

She climbed on the back seat of the car.

“I’ll go ..” she said calmly “ But I need a signed contract first.” .”