"Just looking at you makes me sick! One day, I'll make sure you're disfigured. My aunt says bad women deserve to be ugly!"

The venom in his young voice should have stung, but all I could hear was an echo of the past.

I remembered when Stephen was three, burning with fever. I had stayed up for two nights straight, neither eating nor sleeping, just to take care of him.

When his fever finally broke, exhaustion weighed on me. My hair was a tangled mess, and dark circles were painted beneath my eyes, making me look like something out of a ghost story.

But he had wrapped his tiny arms around my neck, his childish voice sweet and soft.

"Auntie is the prettiest! Even prettier than a fairy!"

That memory was from another lifetime.

As he grew older, Tessa’s visits became frequent, and with each passing year, his hatred for me deepened.

I picked up the dart, rolling it between my fingers before calmly taking aim.

"Stephen, have I ever taught you that when you hurt someone, you'd better be ready to face the consequences?"

He knew my aim was deadly. I had grown up in the countryside, perfecting the art of hitting my mark, stones, birds, targets. I never missed it.

For a brief moment, fear flickered across his face. But then, stubborn as ever, he straightened his back and shouted, "You can't scare me! You seduced my dad and made my mom so angry she died! You stole her place! I have to get revenge for her; I’m not afraid of you!"

"If you’ve got the guts, kill me now! Otherwise, next time, it won’t be a dart; I’ll throw acid on you instead!"

With that, he spun on his heel and bolted into the bedroom, slamming the door shut behind him.

My hand lingered in the air, frozen in place, before I finally let out a quiet, bitter laugh. The dart slipped from my fingers and landed in the trash.

I had made this set of darts as a birthday gift for him. I never imagined they would one day be turned against me.

Suffocating under the weight of reality, I returned to my room and silently packed my belongings into a suitcase.

Laughter spilled from the bedroom at the end of the hallway, bright and unrestrained, cutting through the silence like a blade.

By morning, as I stepped outside, the sight before me drove the dagger deeper.

Tessa was playing shuttlecock with Stephen, his laughter filling the crisp morning air. His small face was flushed with excitement as he threw himself into her arms, eyes sparkling with admiration.

"Auntie, I like you. You look just like my mom, and you can even play the piano pieces she composed! You’re so much better than a certain useless fraud."

His next words came with cruel innocence, each one sharper than the last.

"Seeing you is like having my mom back. Can you marry my dad? I want him to divorce that scheming, barren woman; I want you to be my mom!"

Tessa gently wiped the sweat from his forehead, her voice soft and soothing. "Stephen, you shouldn’t say such things about others. But if your father is willing, of course, I can be your mother. Your sister in heaven would be happy, too."

Then, as if only just noticing me, she turned with a feigned look of apology. "Miss, Stephen is still young and speaks his mind. Please don’t take it to heart."

Despite sharing the same birth mother, Tessa had never once called me her sister.

Stephen shot me a glare before grabbing Tessa’s hand and pulling her toward the study, no doubt to ask Carlos to divorce me.

That suited me just fine.

Just as I was about to leave, a firm hand seized my arm.

My brother Ezekiel Cavendish’s voice was sharp and accusative. "What kind of wife are you? You can’t even hold on to your own husband? How could you let Tessa and Carlos be alone together? Thank goodness Stephen was there last night!"

"Carlos only loves Evie. Tessa looks like her; what if she catches his attention? I refuse to let my sister be anyone’s substitute."

I met his gaze; my voice calmed yet cutting. "I’m your sister too. Why is it fine for me to be trapped in a marriage where I don’t even have a place in his heart?"

Ezekiel frowned, blurting out without hesitation, "That’s different! Even if Tessa never marries, I can still ensure she lives in luxury. But if you leave the Davis family, you’ll have nothing."

So that was the truth.

He couldn’t stand the thought of Tessa being used as a replacement, yet he had no qualms about keeping me shackled for the sake of his own interests.

So, I was the one meant to be sacrificed.

Ezekiel studied my silence before speaking earnestly. "Dahlia, I heard about your adoptive mother, but you’re carrying the future of this family on your shoulders. The South District development project is about to be approved. If you walk away now, what if President Davis pulls out of the deal?"

"And Stephen is your child, too. Can you really bear to abandon him like this? You can’t be so selfish."

A slow smile curved my lips. "You forget, I was never a Cavendish to begin with. That name was something you forced upon me, and now I’m giving it back."

"Tessa is grown now. The burden I carried for seven years should finally shift to her. If she wants the benefits, then she should be willing to pay the price. Isn’t that how this works?"

Fury flashed in Ezekiel’s eyes before he struck me hard across the face. "A bastard like you has no conscience! I should’ve listened to Mom back then and left you to freeze to death in the snow. You ungrateful wretch!"

My birth mother was Erica Cavendish.

But my father? Just an unknown male model, selling his looks in a club.

Back then, Erica wanted revenge on her husband for his affairs, so she picked a male model at random for a single night. She never expected to end up pregnant with me.

The doctor warned her that, given her condition, an abortion might leave her unable to conceive again.

So, she kept the pregnancy a secret. And when I was born, she ordered Ezekiel, who knew the truth, to leave me in the snow to freeze to death.

But he was just a boy, too afraid to take a life. Instead, he left me on the doorstep of my adoptive mother’s house.

For twenty years, she and I lived together until Ezekiel found me again. This time, he wasn’t offering salvation. He demanded that I donate my eggs to Evie as if my body belonged to the Cavendish family.

In his mind, if not for him, I would have died long ago. Any sacrifice I made for them was only fair.

I wiped the blood from the corner of my mouth and met his gaze.

"Because of your fleeting hesitation that night, I lost seven years of my freedom. I lost all of my eggs. I can never have children of my own."

"What I owed you, I’ve already repaid."

Thinking about what Tessa had just said, I met his gaze and reminded him, “Instead of wasting time arguing with me, why don’t you go ask your dear sister? Maybe she’d be more than happy to be that replacement.”

Something flickered in Ezekiel’s eyes. A realization.

Then, without another word, he shot me a glare and stormed toward the study.

Behind me, familiar footsteps echoed in the hallway. Moments later, Carlos appeared, his presence as suffocating as ever.

I had no idea when he had stepped out, but the bodyguards trailing him were carrying several large boxes.

His gaze swept over my suitcase, his expression unreadable. Then, in that cold, measured tone of his, he said, “Are you still sulking over Stephen? He’s just a child. And besides, you were the one at fault yesterday. Stop being so stubborn.”

My fingers curled around the handle of my suitcase, but I said nothing.

“I’ve thought it over. Since you care so much about your adoptive mother, I’ll go with you to pay your respects. We’ll burn these offerings for her, fulfill your filial duty. Just don’t wear white again.”

“Also, I’ve already agreed to let Stephen call Tessa ‘Mom.’ She looks like Evie; maybe it will ease his longing for his mother.”

I almost laughed.

For seven years, Stephen had never once called me ‘Mom.’ And Carlos had never corrected him.

It turned out that the one thing I had longed for the most—all it took to receive it was a face that resembled Evie’s.

I let out a soft, bitter chuckle. “There’s no need. Once I leave, I’ll have nothing to do with the Davis family anymore. My adoptive mother has nothing to do with you, President Davis. And as for Stephen calling someone ‘Mom,’ that’s none of my concern.”

Carlos parted his lips as if to speak, but before he could, Tessa came running over, her face drained of color.

In her trembling hands, she clutched a black-and-white photo.

It was a picture of her, but her face had been defaced with lipstick, the features scribbled over until they were unrecognizable.

And scrawled across it, in bold, jagged letters, ‘Die.’

The image was unsettling, downright terrifying.

Tessa trembled, then threw herself into Carlos’s arms, her sobs trembling through the air.

“Brother-in-law, I was just looking for you with Stephen. We thought you might be in Dahlia’s room when we didn't find you. But the moment we walked in, we saw this photo.”

“I never imagined Dahlia would hate me this much. I just don’t know, does she despise me, or does she hate this face of mine? After all, I look so much like my sister…”

The moment those words left her lips, Carlos’s expression darkened completely.

“Dahlia, it seems I’ve been too lenient with you,” he said coldly. “That’s why you keep making mistakes, again and again.”

“Kneel. Bring out the family punishment.”

Because this involved his beloved late wife and the sister she adored, he didn’t even grant me a chance to defend myself. In his eyes, anything I said was nothing more than an excuse.

The bodyguards seized me, forcing me to my knees. They pried open my hands.

Then came the first strike.

A metal rod laced with barbs slashed across my palms, tearing through flesh with merciless ease. Another blow followed, then another, each one more brutal than the last. Within moments, my hands were nothing but a bloody ruin.

Carlos’s voice cut through the agony, cold and unyielding.

“Watch her. Without my permission, she is not to get up.”

Carlos cast me a cold, indifferent glance before throwing down his final words and walking away, Tessa’s hand in his grasp.

The midwinter snow arrived without warning, blanketing the ground in an unforgiving frost. Blood from my torn palms froze over, hardening into icy crusts.

I let out a bitter laugh, so even leaving was this difficult.

I didn’t know how long I knelt there. Snow piled on my shoulders, weighing me down like the crushing burden of my fate. The biting cold seeped into my bones, making me shiver uncontrollably.

Then, I heard laughter.

Stephen came running over, holding a lipstick in his hand, bouncing with excitement. His grin stretched wide, his voice filled with cruel amusement.

“It’s freezing, isn’t it? Hahaha, Auntie really had a good idea! Dad is furious. Maybe you’ll freeze to death, you wicked woman.”

Hearing this, what else was left for me to not understand?

I looked at him, my voice quiet.

“Stephen, do you really hate me that much?”

He pouted, crossing his arms.

“Of course! Auntie said you’re a bastard, just like that gigolo father of yours. You love ruining other people’s families! My mom died because of you!”

A window creaked open.

Tessa’s voice rang out, soft and affectionate. “Stephen, come inside. Dinner’s ready.”

“I know, Mommy!”

Stephen darted toward the warmth of the house, but just before disappearing inside, he turned back, his voice dripping with disdain.

“If you know what’s good for you, hurry up and get lost. A vicious woman like you doesn’t deserve to take my mom’s place. Only Auntie, someone as kind as her, does.”

His small figure vanished beyond the door, but his words remained, cutting deeper than any wound.

I thought back to the first time I met him.

Back then, he had been just a tiny baby wrapped in soft swaddling clothes. I held him in my arms, my heart swelling with tenderness.

I had loved him without reason, without hesitation, even though he wasn’t coming from my womb.

That was why, when the Cavendish family decided to send me here, I had agreed.

After all, where else could I go?

My birth mother wanted me dead.

My birth father never even knew I existed.

My siblings saw me as nothing more than a stain on their name.

But I never thought even the child I raised would come to hate me this much.

A shadow fell over me.

Carlos stood there, his gaze settling on my torn hands, the frozen blood crusting over my fingers. His voice was eerily calm.

“Get up. I hope this finally teaches you a lesson.”

“I’ve already sent a private doctor to your room. Go get your injuries treated.”

I swayed unsteadily as I pushed myself to my feet. Without hesitation, I pulled out the divorce papers once more, pressing my bloodstained fingerprint onto them.

“Since I can leave now, sign them, Mr. Davis.”

He stiffened. A flicker of anger flashed through his eyes before his lips curled into a sneer.

“You’re jealous of Evie and pulled such a cruel stunt, yet I chose to let it go. And you still won’t stop?”

“Fine. I’ll grant your wish. I want to see if you truly have the guts to give up the life of a rich wife.”

His hand moved immediately, scrawling his name across the page before he flung the papers at my feet.

“Dahlia, if you step one foot out of this house today, don’t ever think about coming back.”

I carefully picked up the papers, my gaze lingering on the bold, flowing strokes of his signature. A quiet smile curved my lips.

I was finally free.

Dragging my suitcase behind me, I limped out of the old mansion, each step lighter than the last. No more threats. No more walking on eggshells. From today onward, I will live on my own terms.

I hailed a rental car. The driver asked me where I was headed. I thought for a moment.

“First, the funeral home. Then, the airport.”