Chapter 1

1.

At the recognition banquet filled with the sound of clinking glasses, Lauren Chester, who had been regretful and pained while holding me just yesterday, now allowed those who had bullied me to take me away.

In the garden, the leading girl pinched my chin and sneered. "Do you really think you've become a rich lady?"

"The Chester family had lost and found countless daughters. Do you think you're the real one?"

I pursed my lips and said nothing. Seeing my weak demeanor, the girl pulled out a bottle from behind her. Shaking it, she asked, "Jessica, want to try my new toy?"

I looked at the bottle labeled sulfuric acid and smiled slightly, provoking her. "Sure, why don't you see if you can walk out of this villa alive tonight?"

Her reaction was clearly enraged. Just as she opened the bottle and was about to throw it at me, I screamed at the top of my lungs and ran towards the hall, lifting my skirt. "Someone's trying to kill me!"

My terrified screams instantly drew the attention of the guests in the hall. Seeing the girl with the sulfuric acid pursuing me, they all rushed to stand in front of me. I grabbed Lauren's arm and started crying uncontrollably. In an instant, the lively banquet turned into a farce. Lauren looked at me with an even darker expression.

2.

In the end, the girl and her group were all taken to the police station. The guests sensed something was off and quickly found excuses to leave. Suddenly, the vast villa fell silent, with only the eerie sound of liquid sloshing in glasses.

At that moment, I knelt down before Lauren, clutching her leg and sobbing, "Mom, I’m sorry. I shouldn't have acted like that. But she almost killed me. Didn't you see what was in her hands?"

Slap!

The sharp sound of a slap echoed through the villa.

"I told you to call me Mrs. Chester. You don't deserve to call me 'Mom'!" Lauren's face was grim.

As I covered my face and looked up to plead, she exchanged glances with Jack Chester, who had been silent all along. Before long, he took out a syringe from behind him and walked straight toward me.

Seeing the panic on my face, Lauren smiled with satisfaction. She yanked my hair back hard. "What are you afraid of? You don't feel pain. It's just a syringe. This is the condition for you to be my dear daughter."

Her voice was light, but her eyes were filled with obsession. Despite my struggles, she pressed me firmly against the sofa, while Jack readied the syringe and aimed the liquid at my arm.

Lauren leaned close to my ear, laughing softly. "You truly are the one I personally selected. Such a large dose and there isn’t even slightest side effect on you. My dear daughter, as long as you’re obediently, I believe we will have a good time together."

I buried my head, staring at the dried bloodstains on the sofa. A slight smile appeared on my lips. Of course, we would have a good time together. After all, what conflicts could there be when collaborating with the dead?

3.

After that day, Lauren kept me under house arrest, claiming that I was too stimulated, but her torment of me didn't lessen at all.