Time To Cut Off My Shameless Family

Estelle's POV "Hold still, child. This is the last one." The whip came down on my back again. I bit my lip so hard I tasted blood. I did not scream. I stopped screaming in my first year here. Sister Agatha lowered the whip and smiled at me. It was the same sweet smile she wore every Sunday in church. "Estelle, darling," she said softly. "Your family sent you to us so we could teach you God's love and bring a sinner like you back to the right path." My back was wet. I didn't need to look to know it was blood. The old cuts from last week had opened again. She leaned close to my ear. "Your family is here to take you home today. I trust you will keep your mouth shut about what happened inside these walls." She tapped my cheek. "Remember, child. God sees everything. God hears everything." Then she pushed me out of the small stone room and shut the door behind me. I stood in the hallway, shaking. Three years. Three years in Holy Rose Convent. And it was finally over. I pulled my

Estelle's POV "Mom and Dad have been so worried about you these past three years." Cassius said it without looking at me. His eyes were on his phone as the car rolled through the city. "So be nice when we get home, okay? Control your temper. And stop picking on Delilah. She's been through enough. Don't make our lives harder than they already are." He finally glanced at me. "Keep your head down, and nobody will treat you any differently. Understand?" I looked out of the window. Tall buildings. Busy streets. People laughing at a coffee shop. Life had kept going without me. "Estelle. Are you even listening? I'm talking to you." I turned to face him. "Three years," I said quietly. "I spent three years in that convent. And not one of you came to see me. Not once." He sighed like I was being difficult. "Not on my birthday. Not at Christmas. Not at Easter. Nothing." My voice shook, but I kept going. "The convent is only two hours away, Cassius. Two hours. They couldn't spare one aft

Estelle's POV"Mrs. Silverthorn gave us the instructions herself."Salome said it quietly, but in that silent hall, every single person heard it.My father turned slowly to look at my mother.Salome held her tablet tighter and kept going. "When Miss Estelle first came home, Mrs. Silverthorn told us not to give her the money directly. She said Miss Estelle grew up in a poor village and might not know how to handle so much money. She was afraid Miss Estelle might waste it, or pick up bad habits from... from the people she grew up around."My cheeks burned. The people I grew up around. My grandmother, who sewed my dress by hand. My neighbors, who shared their last cup of rice with me."So Mrs. Silverthorn told us to send Miss Estelle's allowance to Miss Delilah's account instead," Salome said. "Miss Delilah was supposed to keep it safe and give Miss Estelle whatever she needed."She paused."And Mrs. Silverthorn also asked us to double Miss Delilah's own allowance. She was worried Miss D

Estelle's POV"I came first in the National Math Olympiad," I said. "And because of that, I got a full scholarship to Westbrook Academy."The whole hall went quiet.Then a man near the champagne table nearly dropped his glass."Westbrook Academy?" he said. "That's the best high school in the country!""My son tried to get in three times," a woman beside him whispered. "Three times! They rejected him every year.""Westbrook doesn't care how rich you are," the man went on, shaking his head. "Not like Kingsley Academy, where any child with a rich daddy can buy a seat. Westbrook picks every student by hand. Hard tests. Long interviews. For a girl to get a full scholarship there..." He looked at me with wide eyes. "She must be a genius."Whispers spread across the room like wind through grass."A genius?""The Silverthorn girl?""I thought she was the troublemaker..."---"No." Cassius shook his head hard. "No, that's not possible. Westbrook is on the other side of the city. It's over an h