Chapter 1 Chapter 1

When I got back from the reform center, the whole family came to the airport to pick me up. I had a perfect smile plastered on my face. It made me look sweet and gentle, like my name, Angelica Bower. There were ice-cold expressions on my parents' faces, but when they saw me smiling, they immediately removed their sunglasses in excitement and ran toward me. "Look at how meek you look when you smile! That's what a lady from a prestigious family should be like.""That reform center is pretty good. I should have sent you there earlier." My parents' smiles widened when they saw me and my perfect manners. I stood there elegantly as the television channels took videos of me. I was from a rich, elite family, and I was very introverted and reticent. I never liked smiling, nor did I like meeting people. I also disliked attending the numerous banquets for the elites with my parents. I only enjoyed reading and writing on my own, immersed in my own world. My teacher said that I liked studying and was very mature, and that I would be a good candidate for research in the future. My parents, however, were extremely disappointed in me. "Why do you act so aloof all the time and just hide yourself at home? You don't behave like a Bower at all!""Look at your sister. She's a year younger than you, but she's perfectly at ease with everyone she meets. Everyone compliments her when she goes out with us. Can't you learn from her?" In the past, I could not be bothered with them. Now, however, my smile was even more perfect than Arabella Bower's. My parents brought me home, looking pleased. The house was already packed with guests who were there to hold a welcome party for me. I looked up and saw my sister, Arabella, smiling widely at me. She raised her glass of red wine and inclined her head to me in greeting. "It's been a while, Angel. How were things at the asylum?" My hands clenched tightly involuntarily, and my legs gave out. I almost fell to my knees. However, Arabella walked up to me in her evening gown and caught me. She leaned over to my ear and spoke in a voice that only the two of us could hear. "Angel, why did you come back?" As she spoke, she shook her glass slightly. The wine immediately stained her pure white gown, and the glass shattered on the floor. Her features twisted, and she backed several steps away as she pointed angrily at me. "Angel, I just wanted to say a few words to you. Do you hate me that much?" She was making me the scapegoat, just as she had done since we were children. In the past, I would have turned and left at once. However, I tried to protest this time. My whole body was trembling. "Sorry, I'm sorry. I wasn't careful—" Before I could finish, my father rushed up to me and slapped me so hard that my head twisted. "Why are you causing trouble as soon as you get out? I knew that you were just putting on an act just now! Deep inside, you're still an uneducated wench. You're not fit to be my daughter!" My mother was anxiously checking Arabella's wound, and she breathed a sigh of relief when she had ascertained that everything was fine. "It seems like you haven't learnt to behave yourself yet. Why don't we send you back to the reform center for a couple more months?" When I heard that, I could no longer endure it. I fell to my knees. Dark, damp memories flooded my mind.

Chapter 2 Chapter 2

My parents had always been unhappy about my reticence, because they felt that it made me unfit for company. They often hit me and scolded me because of it. They also frequently used Arabella as an example to lecture me. Arabella had been cheerful and perky since she was a child. She liked laughing and playing around, and she would always cling to me, saying that I was the pure white moon while she was a shining sun. However, everything had changed two years ago, after she returned from attending a cocktail party with my parents. She no longer squeezed into my bed to sleep with me, nor did she whine playfully to me anymore. Instead, she looked at me with hatred and jealousy in her eyes. "I'm the child our parents like best. How can you compare yourself with me?" She was becoming better and better at gaining favor with our parents. She was effortlessly confident in social situations, and she had snatched away the last remaining vestige of my parents' care for me. She had cut her own finger, but my father had hit me so hard that my nose was bleeding, and I was locked in my room. I was not allowed to eat. When she got back from school and said that she had been bullied, my mother slapped me in the face at once and demanded to know why I hadn't protected my sister and hadn't been the one who had gotten hit. Even when Arabella sulked, my parents would come and scold me, "Did you bully your sister again? What are you plotting in silence all the time? Why do you have such a malicious heart?" In their eyes, I wasn't just a quiet daughter who could not make them proud. I was an evil, recalcitrant troublemaker. Therefore, when Arabella said that I could be sent off to a reform center, they agreed without even thinking twice. The day they sent me off, my mother had examined the reform center very excitedly. It was filled with girls who were all smiling brightly. They bowed meekly and were extremely obedient to all the instructors' commands. My parents were delighted. They flung down a card and pushed me toward the main doors, which were covered with an electric grid. They got into their car without looking back, leaving me screaming in fear on the spot. What they didn't know was that an instructor had stuck a hand up my skirt while covering my mouth tightly with the other. In the end, I fainted from lack of oxygen. When I woke up again, I was in hell. Although it was called a reform center, it was actually a converted asylum. My hands were tied, and I was on a leash. I was forced to crawl on the floor. If I didn't obey, I would be stripped naked and pushed onto a high platform for everyone to see. I ate slops and tainted food every single day. If I didn't eat or resisted, I would be beaten up until I was covered in bruises. One day, I could no longer stand it. I grabbed the chance to run out through the doors. However, I was hit by a taser. I convulsed on the floor and lost control of my bladder. When I woke up, the instructor said that he was going to teach me a lesson. He pried my mouth open and made me kneel to be a chamberpot for him. When my mother said that she was going to send me back, I immediately thought of those shameful memories, and I knelt on the floor. I instinctively clasped my hands behind my back and licked my mother's diamond-encrusted high heels like a dog. "Sorry. I'm sorry. I was wrong. Forgive me. I'll never do it again." My mother pulled her feet back in horror and stared at me as if I were a stranger. She couldn't understand why her proud and aloof daughter would do something so demeaning. I was terrified, and I crawled forward on my knees. I grabbed the shattered wine glass on the floor and stuffed it in my mouth. "I'll clean it up, I'll clean it up. If I eat it, then it'll be clean. I'll eat it." There was a dead silence. My parents seemed frozen in place as they watched me swallow the glass shards and vomit out a huge mouthful of blood. Despite this, I continued to stuff my mouth with the broken glasses, as if I could feel no pain. Someone screamed, and everyone recovered at once. My father yanked me aside. My mother grabbed me and made me stop eating the glass shards. Someone called the hospital, and an ambulance came. Someone started to take photos. There was chaos. I looked up and saw the dark look in Arabella's eyes as she stared fixedly at me. She seemed suspicious, while also surprised. However, I felt nothing except an intense pain in my throat. My head lolled back, and I fainted.

Chapter 3 Chapter 3

My throat was ruined. The doctor said I would need to recuperate for a few weeks before I would be able to speak. After we returned from the hospital, both my parents looked grim. My mother had clearly been crying. She caressed the injury at the corner of my mouth and said nothing, looking glum. My father stood at the door, smoking. He eyed me suspiciously. "Do you think that torturing yourself is going to work? What kind of act are you putting on with us? Everyone knows that you're full of nothing but bad intentions. I don't care what you're plotting, but you'd better behave!" I turned pale at once. I couldn't speak, so all I could do was whimper and try to beg for mercy. I struggled to pull out my drip and kneel on the floor so I could grovel. I felt uneasy when I was sitting or lying down. I only felt comfortable when I was kneeling, because then I wouldn't get hit. My mother moved quickly to press me back on the bed. My father's expression softened slightly. He stubbed out his cigarette and scrutinized me long and hard. "You'd better not be acting!" The two of them left in a hurry. I saw a vague figure at the door. The sound of her footsteps was very close to the door. She hovered there for a while, but soon disappeared. As if I hadn't noticed, I closed my eyes to rest. My welcome party fizzled out. However, as soon as my throat had recovered, my parents organized a ball. They claimed that it was a belated birthday party for me, and they invited all the socialites to attend. The truth was that I had spent my birthday in a dark room with a rank smell. The instructor had held the cake and grinned widely as he stomped on it. He had then spat a few globs of spit on it and monitored me as I ate it down one bite at a time. However, I still agreed to the birthday party. Deep down, I knew that even though it was called my birthday party, it was just a reason for socializing. My family's business hadn't done well in the past, but for some reason, it had begun prospering in the past few years. They had now surpassed the previous family and had become the richest family in the city. That was why they needed exposure and popularity, so that they could create social connections and find business partners. Arabella and I just had to play the part of being obedient dolls. It had been like that since we were children. Before the party, my parents took us to pick out gowns. In the VIP room, there was a dazzling array of gowns which the attendant had pushed out. My mother pulled me over enthusiastically to choose. "These are all the newest styles of this season, and Arabella chose every single one personally! Look at how understanding she is! She said that you could choose first!" Arabella smiled and nodded. She considerately took out a very luxurious dress. "Try this, Angel. It's the most expensive one among them." The dress was exquisite and encrusted with elegant pearls, but it was extremely skimpy. It exposed almost the entire chest and thighs, especially at the collar, where a bright green python was entwined. It made me think of how the instructor would force us to sleep with pythons back at the asylum. He had claimed that it was to train our courage, but the truth was that he was training our compliance and preventing us from escaping. At night, the python would always wind itself around my feet. The ice-cold, smooth feel of it was disgusting. However, I hadn't dared to move at all. As soon as I did, those sharp teeth would pierce my skin and bite me viciously. It wouldn't let go for the entire night. "Could I exchange this for another one?" My voice was timid, and I didn't dare to look at the dress. However, my father got impatient and lobbed a mineral water bottle at me. It banged against my chest, and it hurt. "Arabella is being so kind. Why can't you just accept it? Why are you being so fussy?" My mother added, "That's right. Look at how beautiful this dress is. Why aren't you willing to even try it on? What acts are you putting on?" Their voices were shrill, and I put my hands over my head in fear. "I'll wear it! I'll wear it!" My mother smiled when I stopped resisting. In the past, I would never have worn such a skimpy dress. I would rather have died. That was why my mother looked so gleeful. She winked at my father. "Look at how obedient Angelica is now." Before she could finish, she suddenly started screaming. I had abruptly started pawing at my own clothes and tearing them off completely, until I was left only in my bra and panties. I didn't care that there were a lot of salespeople in the VIP room, including both men and women. They stared at me with their jaws dropped, but I had to take them off. If I didn't, the instructor would whip me and splash a basin of pepper spray all over me. The wounds would swell and turn red until they began to ooze pus, and I would pass out from the pain. Just as I was about to undo my bra, my mother stopped me quickly. "Have you gone mad? What are you doing?" She pushed me quickly into the dressing room and slapped me. "Don't you have any shame? Why are you undressing in public? Are you a prostitute?" I apologized and put on the gown. When I walked out, I heard the sound of a gasp. I guessed that they had finally seen my body. I was covered in scars. Apart from the skin that was usually exposed, every inch of the skin beneath my collarbone was covered with dark holes from being burned with cigarettes. There were pinch marks and even rotted flesh, which hung loosely on my back. My mother caressed the array of scars and wept. My father flung his cigarette away in terror and asked fearfully, "Who did this to you?" As soon as I had put on the dress, I caught a strong whiff of pollen. I didn't even need to think twice to know who was behind it. I began to itch uncontrollably, and red marks appeared all over my flesh. I started scratching furiously, tearing the scabs off my scars, which began oozing pus and blood. A pungent smell filled the air. Arabella's gaze alighted on me, and for an instant, her eyes seemed to redden. However, she soon looked away and said very regretfully to our parents, "Angelica's in such a terrible state. She seems to be having an allergic reaction. I'll have to go to that ball." The salespeople had gotten suspicious and thought I was being abused. They called the police at once, and I was taken away by force.