Chapter 1

The moment I walked into the courtroom, I heard the entire gallery suck in a sharp breath. It was all because I was dressed in torn, filthy clothes, with not a single uninjured patch of skin on my body. Every inch of me was covered in wounds from being abused and humiliated.

Mom and Dad saw the way everyone was pointing at and whispering. Their faces twisted with anger and resentment.

"Didn't we take you to a doctor yesterday to get those injuries treated? And now you're showing up looking like this. Are you trying to make everyone think we're the ones who abused you? You really are vicious to the core, Sonia!"

The words stabbed into me like knives, but inside, I felt nothing at all. I was their biological daughter, yet I had never once measured up to Jean Shore, the fake heiress. After Jean's death, they'd taken every ounce of grief and rage they had and dumped it all on me.

My brother Sebastian Shore's gaze was especially cold when it landed on me. "Sonia, what are you trying to pull now? Playing the victim again? You think we're going to feel sorry for you? You sure didn't think about today when you killed Jean, did you?"

Mom's tears burst forth like a dam breaking when she heard Jean's name. "My darling Jean! Why wasn't it you who died instead of her, Sonia?"

I lowered my head and stared at the wounds on my body, suddenly a little dazed. Would they still look at me with this much hatred if I really were dead? Would Mom ever bawl for me the way she was now?

Probably not.

As for Sebastian… He knew better than anyone where all my injuries came from. After all, during my time being locked up in that lab, he was the only one who came by every day just to watch me being tortured.

Just yesterday, he'd yanked me up by the hair with a cold laugh and told me to go to court exactly as I was now. The more people cursed me, the happier it made him. And now, he'd gotten exactly what he wanted.

I closed my eyes and said calmly, "Don't waste any more time. Let's just get this over with."

I wanted to end this pain as soon as possible and leave them forever.

Right before the judge was about to start the trial, Sebastian suddenly spoke again. "Sonia, remember that you brought all of this on yourself. You're going to accept the verdict, whatever it is."

I grimaced, knowing exactly what he meant. He was afraid I'd be like before—refusing to admit to any of the charges. He was even more afraid I'd resist when I heard that I'd be sentenced to death.

But he had no idea I'd stopped wanting to live a long time ago.

I was dragged to the defendant's stand. Because I hadn't eaten in so long, my legs were so weak I could barely stand. I had to cling to the rail in front of me, my ruined knees half-collapsing toward the floor.

Not a single person in that courtroom felt any sympathy for me. To them, I was nothing more than a murderer.

Only Sebastian's gaze was dark, conflicted, and hard to read. After struggling with himself for a long while, he finally told someone to bring over a chair for me to sit on.