Chapter One

“It’s raining hard again today, don’t you think?” Ann murmured to herself. She hugged her knees as she sat by the window seat, with her almond eyes fixating the streets of New York outside. She continued clinging to her late mother’s picture. “I miss you so much,” she murmured. 

“Ann, get out of your bedroom and greet your new mom and siblings. Come on.” Joe - Ann’s father - called out suddenly. 

Hearing this, Ann got down from the window seat and went out. Before she opened the door, she put her mother’s picture on her desk and looked at it gently once again. Outside in the living room, standing Joe and three other strangers. 

Joe was well-groomed. He cleared his throat and then introduced the well-dressed 40-year-old woman alongside two other teenagers, “Ann, this is Beth, your new mom, and Vivian, your sister, Alan, your younger brother.” Saying, he wrapped his arms around the beautiful teenage girl, who had her gorgeous blonde hair all decorated with satin ribbons. 

“Vivian and Alan are not your step siblings. They are your half sister and brother.” Joe added. 

Ann felt suffocated. She felt like crying to see this perfect new family. They are like Cinderella’s new mom and siblings, Ann thought. Vivian seemed 18, the same age with Ann, and Alan younger, 14. Vivian got Joe’s eyes and Beth’s nose and lips. She looked like a princess and acted like one too. Alan seemed shy, but he definitely got Beth’s facial features with Joe’s physique. 

Suddenly, Ann felt deeply betrayed.

It only had been a few months since her mother died, and Joe couldn’t wait longer to bring his mistress and bastards home. Besides, Vivian seemed like only a few months older than Ann, which meant Joe had been cheating since the beginning of their marriage.

This harsh truth was like a punch in the gut for Ann. She fought with the urge to frown and replied, “I see. Beth, Vivian, and Alan, nice to meet you.”

Out of surprise, Beth and Vivian rolled their eyes and didn’t say anything. Then Beth - Ann’s new mom - took off her expensive fur coat and handed it to Ann, saying, “Here, take this and put it in that closet.”

Ann felt even more suffocated. She glanced at Joe and saw how he would react. But he didn’t say anything, instead, he proceeded to the dinner table with the other three of them. 

Ann was about to cry. 

When passing Ann, Beth smirked, “You…you’re no longer the little princess here. Know your role.” 

Ann froze. She felt very disappointed and wanted to shout or cry. At the same time, she thoroughly realized how little she and her late mother meant to Joe. 

Soon after the short meeting, everyone gathered around the dinner table together. Ann was also in. 

In front of them was a fancy meal, which was made by the maid of their apartment. This meal was so abundant as if there was a feast. Everyone else was laughing and talking around the dinner table. It sickened Ann to see all these. 

Beth, who was sitting at Ann’s late mother’s seat, caressed the tablecloth, saying, “How tacky the design is. Do you mind we replace it, darling?”

Joe replied gleefully, “Sure, whatever you want shall be yours, my love.”

Hearing this, Ann mustered all her courage, saying, “You can’t. My mother made that.”

“What? What did you say?” Beth asked, and couldn't believe her ears.

Clenching her fist, Ann stood up and said, “My mother sewed the tablecloth for my dad and I. It doesn’t belong to you. You have no right to throw it away.”

Just as Ann finished her speaking, Beth started to laugh loudly. Then, she headed to Ann and threw the food on her plate at the tablecloth, smirking, “Well, your mother’s dead now. What are you going to do about it?” 

Ann, stained with soy sauce all over now, grabbed Beth’s arms. She grabbed her so hard that Beth even started to wince. Ann said, “Don’t you dare utter anything about my mother. You are nothing compared with her.”

Beth gritted her teeth in annoyance. Suddenly, she raised her hand and slapped Ann hard enough to cause her to fall on the ground. Then, Beth said, “Let me offer you a piece of advice, kid, if your dead mother was so important, then how come we’re here now? Your father never loved your mother and you, never.”

Finishing her words, Beth left the dinner table and went to her bedroom. Vivian and Alan followed her. 

Ann’s cheeks were throbbing, but somehow, what Beth had said hurt her more than anything else. “Your father never loved your mother and you, never.”

Ann was now soaking in soy sauce and raw fish. She glanced at her father, but Joe was nonchalant. He stood up and went to his bedroom after finished eating. He acted as if Ann didn't even exist.

Ann immediately ran to her room.

She was in tears. Her mom died of cancer a few months ago. Now, she felt like she had lost her mother and father at the same time, or perhaps, Joe really never loved them. 

The three of them used to be a happy and perfect family, and for a long time, Ann believed that nothing could ever take that happiness away from her. Her father and mother loved each other, and both of them loved her very much, but now… Why did everything come to this?

Days dragged on like this, Beth and Vivian were ruthless towards Ann, but Joe — her father, kept pretending as if nothing was wrong. 

Ann, however, remained kind and strong in her heart. She carried on and lived despite the harsh treatments and nonchalance of her own father and the other three. All she wanted was to leave this place once she graduated from high school.

One day, when Ann just arrived home from school, she sighed heavily because of the tiredness of all the school work. 

Beth and Vivian, however, with face-masks on their faces, were sitting casually in the living room and heard this sigh. Apparently, Vivian escaped school again.

Beth protested, “Look at this rude girl. You think you can enter this door with that attitude? You don’t even greet us anymore? I will tell your father about this!”

“Like mother like daughter,” Vivian mocked as well. They both laughed.

Ann clenched her fists and began to defend herself, “Please don’t drag my mother into this and I… I’m working really hard to earn my scholarship for college and part-time jobs to pay for my school bills. Unlike the bimbo over there.”

“Ah, this girl, really!” Beth angrily rushed to Ann and heavily slapped her on her face. Just then, Alan entered the door and saw this. He wasn’t a smart guy, and just wanted to do everything on his mother’s behalf. Thereupon, he yielded to Ann without knowing what had happened, “You must have been rude again.” Then, he pushed Ann hard so that she fell on the ground, laughing, “go eat shit.”

Vivian stood up and went to them. She patted on Alan’s head gently, “Good job, Alan.” The three of them laughed loudly about it. 

Looking at the three of them, Ann was humiliated and furious. She had borne enough and couldn’t bear anymore. She jumped at Alan and fought with him. 

Alan never saw Ann like this. He ran to the stairs, wanting to escape from her. Ann followed him and tried her best to catch him. Just at the time, “bang,” Ann accidentally pushed Alan down the stairs. A heavy one. Everyone in the apartment was stunned. After they froze for seconds, Beth and Vivian eagerly rushed to Alan, who fell down on the floor under the stairs. 

Vivian looked up at Ann, who was standing on the stairs and stunned. She then rushed to Ann and grabbed her hair, kicking her heavily. 

It was a total mess. This mess ended up with Alan being sent into the hospital and Ann was scolded heavily by Joe.

Three weeks after that big mess, the whole family went out for a family dinner as Joe requested. They went to a top-level restaurant in The Venice, which is a grand hotel in New York City. 

The atmosphere around the dinner table was sour and bad, for Beth and Vivian kept causing commotions as they harassed Ann endlessly. This made Joe throw a fit. He aggressively pounded the table and left coldly, “That’s it. I’m heading back home first.”

Because of this, Beth became more dissatisfied with Ann. She glared at her angrily. 

Ann felt quite helpless. Why was there a so-called family dinner? If so, why did her father leave early? He organized this! Feeling uncomfortable, Ann excused herself to go to the bathroom to have a quiet moment. 

Out of surprise, when she came back to the table, Beth smiled at her. “Ann, I would like to make a toast,” she said. “We are a family now. I don’t want any rotten things to keep happening anymore. Let's get back to harmony, OK? For your father. Cheers.” 

Ann felt weird, but she couldn’t reject Beth. She raised her glass in front of her reluctantly, and drank the cocktail inside. 

Soon, Ann began to feel sleepy and fell asleep immediately.

The next morning, Ann woke up with a headache. 

She opened her eyes slowly, but instead of in her own bedroom, she surprisingly found that she was laying on a hotel room bed. There were no other people in this hotel room, only her.  She was still in The Venice! Ann was so shocked that she sat up immediately, but only found she was naked under the quilt. 

Ann stood up from the bed, picked up her clothes on the floor, and slightly wore them up. 

Suddenly, she saw something on the sheet. It was red. It was .… Blood! Almost at the same time, she felt great pain in her bottom. Was she raped? She lost her virginity?

What on earth happened last night? She suddenly felt scared.

After taking a deep breath, Ann sat on the edge of the bed. She started to recall. She tried hard, but could only remember things vaguely: there might be a man staying with her the whole night. It was true, because there was a fancy watch and luxurious suit lying on the chair next to her.

Who sent her to this hotel room? Who was that man? Were they the same person? There were so many questions. 

With her heart racing rapidly, Ann stepped out of the hotel room. But no sooner had she gone out than she saw two strange figures showing at the far end of the corridor. Even though she glanced at it very quickly, she recognized they were Beth and Vivian immediately. It was from her instinct. 

Ann rushed there, but there was nobody there.