I snapped out of my memories.

My mother looked delighted. She was like a proud hen that had won a chicken fight.

"It wasn't easy to convince you to come home. Why would I let you escape so easily? You'll be the daughter-in-law of the Wagners from now on. Give me a grandchild and take care of me like a mother-in-law."

This was ridiculous.

I already had a husband. Even if I did not have one, there was no way I could be with my stepbrother, Boris.

The mention of Boris reminded me of my mother's wedding night with my stepfather, Titus Wagner. I had been sleeping in my room then. At night, a man slipped into my bed while no one was paying attention.

Feeling the figure of about 200 pounds press down on me, I woke up right away and struggled underneath his heavy body.

His smelly, sweaty hand covered my mouth while his other hand groped me beneath the covers as he tried to take off my clothes.

It was too dark to tell who the man was. I cried in a panic, begging him to let me go.

I told him that my mother and Titus were right next door. Someone would come for me right away if I screamed, and he should leave if he knew what was good for him. I promised not to say a word about what he did.

He laughed instead. He leaned close to my ear and said something that made my eyes widen.

"Titus is my dad. Who do you think he'll side with? I'll get my dad to let you marry me. You'll take care of me your entire life!"

I was so shocked, I could not move. All I did was lie in bed blankly.

Thinking that I had given in, Boris turned around to take off his clothes. I grabbed the opportunity to push open the windows and jumped out.

I spent the night in a huge stack of firewood that the townspeople had put together. Before anyone else woke up the next day, I snuck home to get my college acceptance letter and my identity card. I left the town right away.

Since then, I never returned.

I did not want to be reminded of that horrible memory.

It never occurred to me that I would be dragged back into this nightmare by my mother after I escaped this hellhole with everything I had.

As I was thinking about this, Titus and Boris, who had come back from visiting relatives in the neighboring town, walked through the door.

Boris' eyes lit up when he saw me crouching in the corner.

"You're back, Raven! You've gotten even more beautiful than before. It's making me hard just by looking at you."

I suddenly felt like throwing up. I cowered backward in fear, trying to hide.

However, my mother grabbed me by the hair and dragged me forward. She pushed me forcefully toward Boris.

After releasing me, she leaned onto Titus' shoulder and clapped her hands. "This little wretch tried to escape three times. I'm exhausted!"

She added, "No need to hold yourself back, Boris. A woman deserves a beating if she's disobedient. Just go hard on her and she'll learn her lesson."

My eyes widened in disbelief. I was nothing to my mother. I was no better than a dog on the street!

Boris could not wait as he quickly lunged at me with a lecherous smile.

I quickly stood up and tried to dodge him. My mother blocked the door when I tried to run out. She even pushed me back toward Boris.

My mother turned out to be an obstacle I was not prepared for. I was not able to avoid her push, and I fell to the ground.

Boris crouched to the floor. He grabbed my hair and pulled my face up toward his. He forced me to look at him.

His fat, oily hand patted my cheek. There was excitement in his eyes.

Boris was fat and muscular. I struggled hard to get away from his grip, but I could not stop him from dragging me into the room.

I suddenly felt a hot flow from my abdomen. The rusty smell of blood started to spread from behind my pants.

Titus and Boris were taken aback. It took my mother by surprise as well. Her shrill voice rang in the air.

"Are you menstruating, Raven Charleston? Why didn't you tell me earlier that you're on your period? What bad luck!"

Her shrill voice sounded like music to my ears. I curled up on the ground while hugging my stomach. I was relieved. I did not even realize that my back was wet from cold sweat.

Boris kept cursing as he released me. He got my mother to lock me up in his room. He wanted her to watch me and prevent me from escaping.

My period had come suddenly, and my pants and shirt had turned red from the blood. My mother flung my luggage into the room and told me to change.

She spent the next few days watching me like a hawk. My food and movements were limited. My mother would bring my food to me, and when I went to the washroom, she would stay close behind.

I thought about getting my phone back from her, but she glared at me and punched me hard on the arm.

"Do you think I have no idea what you're up to? You want your phone because you're planning to call for help. I won't give you that chance."

I had no chance of escaping. It made me anxious, and my voice eventually turned hoarse from the panic.

"Mom, I'm your daughter. Why are you doing this to me? You know I'm married. My husband and I have been married for three years. Why are you doing this?"

My mom looked down at me. She was not even listening.

"It doesn't matter if you're married. You can get divorced. You should get pregnant with Boris' child first. We'll have your wedding after your child is born. After that, you can live a married life with Boris. We're a family, anyway. We don't even need to pay any dowry."

I questioned my mother for doing this, but she said she had her reasons. "Our family will relocate soon. If you get pregnant, your unborn child will make up the number of people in our family. That means we will be compensated with an extra house and millions more.

"Besides, your husband of three years has never shown up before. You might just be making this up. You might not really be married. Since you're home, don't even think about leaving. Just stay here and live the rest of your life here obediently. Marry Boris, have children, and take care of your in-laws!"

My heart had chilled toward my mother long ago, but those words completely broke it.

Despite praying numerous times in my heart, the date when my menstruation would end was nearing. Moreover, my mother was keeping an even tighter track of the dates than I was.

After seven days, I was finally permitted to eat at the dinner table.

My mother kept busy in the kitchen while Titus and Boris smoked in their seats. My mother ordered me to get some alcohol from the storeroom and serve the men.

A thought popped into my mind while I was looking at the bottles of alcohol. I hurriedly told my mother that I was suffering from diarrhea and went back to my room to get some toilet paper.

Before my mother followed me into the room, I quickly grabbed a few pills from the luggage. I clenched them in my hand and ran into the toilet.

The toilet was outdoors. After pretending to have diarrhea, I walked out of the toilet and headed straight to the storeroom.

I bent over with my head lowered and pretended to pick a few bottles of alcohol, but I was really stuffing pills into them.

As I was worried the pills would not dissolve in time, I howled with pain as I clutched my stomach.

"What's going on? Are you still having diarrhea?"

As everyone complained about it, I ran into the toilet and stayed in there for a while.

I quietly counted the seconds. Before they lost patience and started pouring drinks for themselves, I brought the alcohol out from the storeroom and obediently poured drinks for Titus and Boris.

Boris laughed happily when he saw how obedient I was. He reached out to rub my cheeks.

He was not gentle at all. Boris purposely pinched my cheeks with a sort of vengeance, bruising them. I had fair skin, and the bruising only made me look comical and messy.

Boris was delighted to see me lower my head and let him have his way with me. He patted my cheek and let me continue pouring drinks for him and Titus.

I tried to hold back my disgust as I pretended to obediently serve them at dinner. I watched as Boris strode back into his room.

The next second, my mother pushed me from behind and into Boris' room.

I panicked and turned to bang on the door. "Open the door, Mom!"

My mother said viciously from outside the door, "Stop yelling! I've told you to stop having ideas. Just be good and get pregnant with the family's child!"

Even though I was mentally prepared, it still hurt when I heard her cold words. My hands grabbed the door handle as I asked her one more time.

"Mom, I'm your daughter. Do you really want to push me into a life of hell because of Titus and Boris?"

I spoke softly, but every word I said felt like a dagger to my heart.

My mother did not catch what I was trying to convey. She locked the door without hesitation.

"It's because you're my daughter that I'm allowing you to marry Boris. The Wagners are a good family. You can't find another family like this anywhere. I'm warning you. You should know what's good for you. Give us more trouble, and I won't stop Boris from beating you up."

She had never stopped him to begin with.

My head lowered as I touched my bruised wounds. I lost all love for my mother.

I turned to look at Boris, who was lying spread-eagled on the bed. My heart turned cold.

After that night, I became listless all the time and would even feel nauseous sometimes.

My mother smiled at this. She was happy to see me this way and no longer forced me to sleep with Boris.

She put a thin mattress in the storeroom for me to rest.

Half a month passed. The developers came to town on the day everyone was supposed to relocate to distribute the compensation.

The rich businessman leading the developers went crazy when he saw my bruised cheeks and the bump on my tummy.

It was my husband. He was finally here…