Chapter 4

In the days that followed, I was treated like discarded trash, left in the darkest corner.

The staff, seeing Julian’s and Mom’s attitude towards me, became even more cruel. They ordered me around at will, constantly yelling and hitting me.

Lucas found new entertainment.

“Little monster, come here! From today on, you’re my pony!”

I didn’t dare to move. He came forward, grabbed a handful of my hair, and dragged me into the garden, forcing my head down.

“On all fours! Hurry!”

I gritted my teeth and crawled on the ground. The coarse gravel bit into my knees, a searing pain.

Lucas climbed onto my back, clutching my hair and yelling, “Giddy up!”

I could only endure the pain and crawl forward. If I slowed down even a little, the small riding crop in his hand would lash fiercely across my back.

Sometimes, when he wasn't satisfied, he would make the staff bring Brutus over.

“Brutus, chase her! Make her run faster!”

Brutus's barks echoed behind me, and my heart hammered against my ribs, threatening to burst. I crawled with all my might, my knees scraped raw and bleeding, but I dared not slow down.

What pained me most was Mom.

She sat under a sun umbrella in the garden, sipping her afternoon tea, her eyes fixed on me as Lucas rode me around.

A faint, chilling smile even played on her lips.

“Lucas, be careful not to fall.”

Her gaze never once lingered on me, not even when the riding crop tore the fabric on my back.

In her eyes, I seemed to be nothing more than a beast of burden, a toy to be ridden and abused.

Here, I went hungry every single day.

Lucas didn't like carrots. Every meal, he would dump the carrots from his plate into the flower beds.

So, when no one was around, I would sneak into the flower beds and pick up the dirt-covered carrots.

The gritty, earthy taste coated my tongue, but at least it filled my stomach a little.

Today, I was so incredibly hungry that I chewed a couple of bites before realizing something was wrong. It wasn’t a carrot.

“What are you doing?!”

Mom rushed over, her eyes falling on the trampled flowers in the flower bed.

“My flowers! How dare you eat my flowers?!”

Lucas heard her voice and ran over. When he saw the carrots on the ground and the ruined flowers, his eyes flickered with panic.

He was afraid Mom would discover he had been picky and wasteful, throwing his food here.

“Mommy, she tried to steal my carrots and deliberately ruined your flowers!”

Mom’s already furious emotions escalated, spiraling into a furious rage.

She lunged forward, grabbing my arm and shaking me violently.

“You ungrateful wretch! It’s a miracle I haven’t let you starve to death, and now you dare to steal Lucas’s food and destroy my flowers! I shouldn’t have let you live!”

“Enough, darling. Don’t get yourself worked up.”

Julian Thorne had appeared nearby at some point. He walked over, put an arm around Mom’s shoulder, and gently patted her back to calm her. His eyes, however, fixed on me with a fierce glare.

Once Mom’s emotions had somewhat settled, he slowly walked to me, knelt down, and his fingers clamped around my jaw, forcing my head up to look at him.

“I’m warning you, don’t ever make her angry again, and don’t ever bother Lucas. In this house, not even a single flower is yours to touch.”

“Dare to transgress again, and I’ll show you something far worse than being chased by Brutus.”

I looked into the cold malice in his eyes. Terror seized me, my body trembling uncontrollably. Tears streamed down my cheeks, but I was too terrified to even whimper.

The pain in my jaw intensified until he finally released me. I collapsed onto the ground, weak and limp, watching as Mom was led away by Julian.

Lucas even turned back and stuck his tongue out at me.

Mom knew perfectly well that Lucas was much stronger than me, and I was always the one being bullied.

Yet, she would rather believe Lucas's lies than spare me even a glance.