Chapter 01

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 old grey dress tighter around my shoulders, so no one would see the blood soaking through, and walked to the front gate.

A shiny black car was parked outside. A tall man in an expensive suit leaned against it, looking at his watch.

Cassius. My older brother.

He looked up and frowned at me.

"Three years in a convent, and you still walk like you're angry at the whole world," he said. "Come on. Get in. We're going home."

I didn't move.

Home. The word felt strange in my mouth.

---

*Four years ago...*

"Cassius! You're back!"

I ran down the stairs of the Silverthorn mansion so fast I almost tripped. I had only been living there for two months. Two months since they found me in a small village and told me I was their real daughter.

Cassius came through the front door with his briefcase, looking tired.

"How was work?" I asked, taking his bag from his hand. "Mom said you've been so busy. I made you tea. Here, sit down, let me help you take off your coat."

He laughed and patted my head. "You're like my little shadow, you know that?"

I smiled so wide my cheeks hurt. I wanted him to love me. I wanted all of them to love me.

---

*Present...*

"Estelle." Cassius snapped his fingers in front of my face. "Are you mad at me or something? I skipped a big business meeting in Paris to come get you myself. Mom and Dad are waiting. They planned a whole welcome home dinner for you."

I looked at him. The brother I used to run to. The brother who never once came to visit me here.

"Mom and Dad are dead to me," I said.

His face twisted. "What are you talking about? You're my sister. You're a Silverthorn."

"No," I said. "You all only ever cared about Delilah. The girl you raised in my place. I'm just the village girl you found too late. The one nobody really wanted."

Cassius rolled his eyes. "Are you done? Stop crying like a child."

He stepped closer. His voice went cold.

"Three years ago, you put poison in Lilith's drink at your own birthday party. Your best friend, Estelle. She's still lying in a hospital bed. She still hasn't opened her eyes. Do you know what Dad had to do to keep you out of prison? You got off easy."

He ran his hand through his hair and laughed without any joy.

"God, I really thought the nuns would fix you. You think this is finished just because you walked out of that gate? Every day Lilith spends in that hospital is a day you should be on your knees saying sorry."

My chest went tight. And just like that, I was back in that night again.

---

*Three years ago...*

"Lilith! Lilith, wake up!"

Lilith was on the floor of the ballroom. Her face was pale. Her lips were turning blue. Her glass of juice had rolled away from her hand and spilled across the white marble.

People were screaming. Someone was calling an ambulance.

My father pushed through the crowd. Benedict Silverthorn. He picked up the glass, smelled it, and turned to me with eyes full of rage.

"Poison," he said. "Someone put poison in her drink. And you were the one who gave it to her."

"I just brought it to her, Dad! I didn't put anything in it!" I cried. "Delilah poured it. Delilah handed it to me and told me to give it to Lilith!"

Behind him, Delilah covered her mouth with her hand. Tears filled her big, innocent eyes.

"Estelle," she whispered. "How can you say that about me?"

My mother, Pandora, ran to Delilah and held her close, like she was the one who needed protecting.

And my father raised his hand and slapped me so hard I fell to the floor.

"Shut up, you liar!" he shouted. "I wish we had never found you. I wish you had never been born."

That was the night I learned the truth. My family never loved me. Not really. Not ever.

---

*Present...*

"I should have stayed in that village," I whispered.

Cassius opened the car door and pointed inside.

"Time to go home, Estelle. Don't make me tell you again."

I looked at the car. I thought of my mother's cold eyes. My father's heavy hand. Delilah's fake tears.

Then I turned around and started walking down the dusty road, away from the car.

"Estelle!" he shouted. "Where do you think you're going?"

I didn't stop. I didn't look back.

"I'm never going back to that house," I said. "Have a good life, Mr. Silverthorn. I hope I never see any of you again."

My back was burning. My legs were weak. I had no money and nowhere to go.

But for the first time in three years, I was free.