Semua Bab Too Late for Redemption: Bab 1 - Bab 10

The moment I was tossed onto the road for everyone to see, I became the butt of everyone's joke.The real heiress of the Marlins—that was me—got into a fight with the fake daughter, and my parents froze my cards as punishment. In a fit of rage, I left home. It seemed like an act of bold defiance, but I had to take out illegal loans, and I failed to pay them back.And thanks to that, I was tortured. The story flew through high society like it had wings. Somehow, they found out where I was left and gathered around me, taking my pictures without a care in the world.Unlike the old me, I did not scream or tell everyone to get lost. I didn't try to save the scraps of my dignity. It was gone. The loan sharks eroded it a long time ago.The moment they made me go on my knees and slap myself, I stopped caring about things like dignity or appearances. The proud, haughty, troublemaking Yvonne Marlin was dead.Her killers? The Marlins and Lawrence Seinfield. They destroyed what pride I had.

"Sorry, I… I'll clean it up. I'll take a seat in the car behind us. Sorry I, uh, sorry I dirtied the place."Lawrence stopped moving again and looked at me suspiciously. A tense moment later, he extended his hand and tried to check my temperature.The sight of his encroaching hand made me freeze. I knew I shouldn't move away, or it would make him mad. I used to worry about making him mad. Every time he got angry, he would mock me relentlessly like I was the most worthless thing in the world.It was embarrassing and heartbreaking for me. I remained stiffly in my seat, but I told myself not to move away.However, the moment his fingers touched me, I had that feeling of a slimy serpent coiling itself around my body again, and I dodged his touch.Lawrence's hand froze in midair. He was looking at me, and I could sense his impatience and frustration. My head was starting to spin again.I shook my head, but he was gone. In his place was my grandfather, bedridden and hooked up to all ki

"Tell me, what do you want?" However, he thought I would make an unreasonable demand, so he quickly added, "Only jewelry, though. You can forget about anything else."I looked at his face, trying to search for a hint of the Lawrence I knew. It was at a banquet where we first met, and the other rich girls were mocking me. It was years ago.Back in that little town, my grandfather was the only one I was close to. He had no idea what was trendy among us girls, and he'd spent most of his savings on my school fees. I would never bother him just to get the latest stuff.Even though my grandfather got me cheap, gaudy clothes, I wore them, nonetheless. He had no idea about jeans or their popularity. Sometimes he would even cut out cloth to make clothing for me. "If a girl wants to look lively, she needs to wear more color."That fashion sense stuck with me even after I was taken back to the Marlins. My mother asked Yvette to teach me, but I could never find her, so I took things into my ow

"Do you want me to send you off?"I shook my head and pretended I didn't hear his sigh. And I left. There was no hesitation in my steps. As long as I remained in this house or around Lawrence, my scars would never heal.Forgetting my past was a must if I wanted to move forward. My father knew I resented the family, and he had to let me go, or that resentment would grow into hatred.Lawrence's reaction? I couldn't care less about that. I left the house and booked a hotel room for the night. The next day, I called an agent and rented a duplex away from the city. There was a private hospital nearby, which made things easy for me.I had to get over this, or I would say goodbye to sleep forever. Every time I closed my eyes, I was taken back to the darkest weeks of my life. I couldn't function properly.Finally, I mustered the strength to go to the hospital and made an appointment with someone from psychiatry. The doctor was young and in a white coat. A mask covered his face, and under

I cut off all ties with Anthony and slowly forgot about him, eventually.A few days went by, and I was letting down my guard around Anthony and everyone around me. I even had the courage to make small talk with the fruit vendor. Anthony and I never talked about the quiet breakup either.I was on the couch, watching Anthony work. He was coming over with the vacuum cleaner, and I raised my legs, smiling at him. "I want strawberries, Anthony."He pinched my face. In mock anger, he said, "It's out of season.""I don't care. I want them!""Okay, okay, I'll get it, princess."He was so resigned, and it made me think that the breakup never happened. We were still a couple. Every day, after his shift was over, Anthony would come over just to tend to me. For once in my life, I was deserving of someone's care.From the moment I went back to the Marlins, I'd been thirsting for my parents' love. I thought they would be concerned about me, care about me, and ask me about all the things I'd g