Chapter 3

Suddenly, the voices stopped, and my body trembled with a strange exhilaration.

My expression was blank as I watched Chloe’s face turn purple. Her struggles weakened, and her legs grew still.

A sudden force yanked me away, slamming me into the sharp edge of the sink. Pain shot through my waist.

Julian held Chloe in his arms, roaring, “Clara, are you insane?”

My thoughts snapped back to reality, and the horror of what I had just done washed over me. I had almost killed her.

“No, no, I didn’t mean to…” I stammered.

“You’re vicious! I saw it with my own eyes, and you’re still lying!” Julian’s eyes burned with intense disappointment.

His gaze crushed me, and a heavy wave of shame enveloped my senses. I just wanted to hide.

Then, the voices returned, relentless and cruel.

“Clara, you’re disgusting.”

“I was just playing with you.”

“You’re so stupid, just filthy trash.”

I clutched my head and screamed.

Julian froze, his brow furrowing in confusion. “What’s wrong with you? Are you still refusing to admit it? The hospital didn’t cure you at all.”

“No, please, I can’t go back!” I dropped to my knees, banging my head against the floor as I begged. “I’ll be good, Julian, please.”

He simply stared as blood began to trickle down my forehead.

“No, this lunatic needs to go back!” Chloe rasped, glaring at me from the safety of his arms.

I shook my head in absolute terror.

Julian hesitated.

“No, I won’t go back. My mind is fine!”

Run. Escape. Get out.

I scrambled to my feet, but Julian grabbed my arm. “Where do you think you're going?”

He was a cockroach, dragging me back down to hell.

I bit his arm as hard as I could. He yelped in pain and released his grip.

I crashed through the door, laughing maniacally as I ran.

“I’m free! I’m free! I don’t have to go back!”

Down in the mansion, Dad and Mother watched as I ran wildly through the halls, barefoot and with my arms outstretched. Their faces drained of color.

The staff whispered among themselves, “She’s fresh out of the hospital and already crazy again…”

“Seize her!” Julian ordered.

The staff swarmed in, easily restraining me.

No, my freedom!

I reached out, desperately grasping at empty air.

No one heard my silent pleas. In this house, I had always been completely insignificant.

They sedated me. I lay in bed, staring blankly at the ceiling, too afraid to close my eyes, terrified that I would wake up back in hell.

Eventually, sleep won.

I dreamed of my long-buried past.

My biological dad loved his liquor. When he was sober, he would pat my head, hand me a few bills, and say, “Sweetie, go buy Daddy some beer.”

I would bring it home, and he’d offer a warm grin. “Good girl.”

But when he was drunk, he turned into a monster. He would smash chairs over Mother, cursing her as a whore, and call me a bastard who should have been drowned at birth.

Mother used to shield me, but over time, she grew cold, glaring at me with deep-seated resentment.

“Why were you even born? You’re just dragging me down,” she would say. “It’s all your fault.”

I never knew what my crime was, but if Mother said I was wrong, then I was.

I apologized endlessly, yet her hatred only seemed to grow.

One night, Dad dragged Mother out of the elevator with a knife in his hand, ready to kill her.

He didn’t succeed.

I had slipped antibiotics into his beer.

He was rushed to the hospital, but he didn’t make it.

After Dad died, Mother wanted to abandon me.

She took me to an amusement park and promised to buy me ice cream. I knew she meant to leave me there.

I waited all day. The ice cream never came.

But Mother eventually came back, crying and hugging me, swearing she would never leave me again.

She broke that promise, too.

Soon after, she married Julian’s father.

She introduced me to Julian, saying, “He’s your brother now. Make sure you get along.”

I looked at the polished boy playing on his brand-new tablet, his face completely indifferent.

I stood awkwardly beside him, thinking to myself: He has so much. He won't steal Mother from me, right?

I didn’t realize then that he would never have to compete for anything—everyone already orbited around him.

I had nothing, and I always would.

When I woke up, I snuck out of the house, terrified they were going to send me back.

Wearing only a thin dress, I stood on a bridge overlooking Crestwood.

Skyscrapers lined the river, their lights shimmering on the surface. The dark water sparkled despite the starless sky.

It was so beautiful.

If, one night, stars blanketed the sky and I could just float away in the waves, I thought I might finally be happy.

Would I die alone like an isolated island, or drift peacefully to the ocean’s far shore?

Cars roared past and people buzzed around me, giving the city its vibrant life.

Yet, I felt utterly alone.

The briny river wind stung my face, damp and biting cold.

My mind still wasn’t fully healed.

Whether it was back then or right now, my life felt entirely meaningless.

Mother had said it would be better if I had never been born, so she could have just left Dad.

Dad had called me a bastard and a leech draining his money.

And Julian had said that being loved by a lunatic like me was absolutely disgusting.