Chapter 1

The year I turned ten, my mother remarried, and we moved into the Hayes estate.

My stepbrother, Asher Hayes, called me a parasite. Once, he pushed me down the stairs.

He just stood there, his eyes glacial, watching me bleed on the floor. "Don't get it twisted. Your home-wrecker mother marrying my father doesn't make you family. I'll make sure you're gone. One way or another."

He shredded my homework. He ruined my school skirts with permanent ink. The humiliation never stopped.

No matter how hard I tried to please him, his cruelty was a constant.

Then, in college, his best friend Finn Miller told me he had feelings for me.

Miraculously, from that day on, Asher left me alone.

I let Finn into my bed. I saw him as my salvation.

The very next day, I overheard them talking.

Asher's voice was pure venom. "Did you get it on tape? Her first time?"

Finn laughed, the sound cruel and satisfied. "Of Course！She was like a dead fish in bed."

I sobbed silently.

My salvation was just another layer of Asher's revenge.

He had no idea I'd just submitted my application to study abroad.

I was never coming back.