On the day my dad and my brother went to church for prayer, I had just flown back from abroad and was told to return to our family estate to look after my mom, who had transformed into a small white snake.

My mom, Grace Smith, was a descendant of the Native American Sacred Bloodline. In order to shield my dad and my brother from a looming disaster, she exhausted her spiritual energy and was forced back into her original form, becoming a white snake trapped in slumber.

Every day, Richard Smith and Ethan Smith went to church, kneeling in prayer, begging for Grace to awaken soon.

Just as I was carefully caring for her, waiting for the moment she might wake up, our housekeeper, Martha Brown, and her daughter, Chloe Brown, barged into my room.

Chloe slapped me across the face, looking down on me with arrogance.

“I told you, Mom, there’s another maid in this house. See, I was right.”

“Cheap tramp, eyeing this place because it’s full of men, hoping to claw your way up? Let me tell you, the only women in this house are me and my mother. We’re the rightful mistresses here!”

They beat me until I was barely conscious. The weak white snake, who had just begun to stir, struggled to protect me. But in the end, Martha and Chloe beat it to death.

Afterwards, they cooked the snake into a soup and carried it to my dad and brother.

“Dad, Ethan, here’s a special dish I prepared just for you. It’s a real tonic!”

Grace, despite losing much of her spiritual power after marrying Richard, still used her gift of prophecy and healing to save countless lives. Many people called her the “Healing Lady,” and some even built a shrine in her honor.

But when she sacrificed herself to shield Richard and Ethan, Heaven struck her back into her original form, forcing her into a decade-long sleep.

Once she had turned into a snake, Richard took her deep into the mountains to recuperate. Surrounded by natural energy, he treated the small white snake as if it were his very lifeblood.

When I was little, every year, respected elders traveled long distances to our home just to thank Grace for her guidance and protection.

Richard waited day after day, carefully tending to the snake. Once, when large birds circled nearby, fearing they might harm her, he personally cleared the entire region of predatory eagles.

If the snake lost even a single scale, Richard treated it as though he had lost flesh from his own body. He hired priests and doctors, and even spent a fortune to create a high-tech incubation chamber so the snake could rest safely.

When I was young, curiosity made me take the snake out of the chamber to observe it. Richard struck me with a cane until my skin split open and locked me in a dark room for a full day and night. Even Ethan, who usually adored me, refused to speak up for me.

The day Richard and Ethan summoned me home from abroad marked the tenth year of Grace’s slumber.

Many who had once benefited from her kindness returned to our mansion that day to express their gratitude. It was also the date foretold by the tribal priest that she would awaken.

Ten years had passed, but the little white snake lay there unchanged, as if it were a sleeping beauty.

As I stroked her gently, my eyes stung with tears. It had been ten years since I had last seen my mom.

Just then, Martha and Chloe stormed into the room in anger.

I frowned—this room was strictly forbidden to outsiders. I was about to drive them out when Chloe slapped me hard across the face. My head slammed against the glass of the incubation chamber, and my vision went black.

Chloe looked down on me with a sneer, her hands on her hips.

“So this is where you’ve been hiding?”

“This morning, I heard there was a new maid in the house. Turns out it’s you?”

“Trying to take our place? I’ll teach you a lesson today.”

Martha’s eyes were full of rage as she yanked my hair and slapped me repeatedly. My nose bled, and stars danced before my eyes.

“You little slut, this is our home. Who gave you permission to come in here?” Chloe snarled.

“And you dare to steal my things?”

She ripped the emerald earring from my ear, tearing flesh as she yanked it free.

“This is mine…” I gasped.

Chloe’s eyes turned cold.

“Yours? A while ago, my brother asked what kind of jewelry girls liked. I told him about these earrings, and he flew all the way to France to bid on them. And you dare to claim they’re yours?”

I tried to explain, but before I could speak, Martha kicked me hard in the stomach. I doubled over on the floor, pale with pain.

“Ethan and Richard pay their staff well. And yet you dream of taking what doesn’t belong to you!” Chloe spat.

“Do you know how much they hate women with scheming hearts like yours? So many others tried to worm their way in before. Guess what happened to them?”

She paused, her eyes flashing with jealousy.

“But I’ll admit, you do have a pretty face.”

She eyed the bracelet on my wrist, her gaze lighting up before she ripped it away.

The Browns had come from the mountains to the city, nearly homeless until Richard pitied them and gave Martha work, even funding Chloe’s college education. Chloe had been clever and gradually earned a bit of favor from Richard and Ethan.

But greed has no end. The two of them grew more and more ambitious, spending money on luxury and even coveting the role of mistress of the house. Chloe began to act as if she were the true heiress.

At her coming-of-age, she secretly took my sports car from the garage to show off and ended up injuring a child in an accident.

She and Martha knelt before Richard and Ethan, sobbing and begging for mercy. Chloe even slapped herself in tears, pleading for help.

Feeling sorry for them, I convinced Richard to let them keep their jobs at the mansion. Little did I know, I had welcomed wolves into our home.

“That’s mine—it’s all Mom left me…” I cried.

“Mom? The mistress of this mansion died ten years ago. Don’t you dare lie!” Martha shouted.

They summoned others to hold me down, kicking me in the face until blood filled my mouth and teeth shattered.

“This little slut is good-looking, but did you really think you could become the mistress?”

“Look at that vixen’s face!”

Chloe grabbed my hair and smashed my head against the incubation chamber.

Cracks spread across the glass. With a shattering crash, it broke, and blood streaked my face.

My blood dripped onto the white snake’s body.

In the next instant, the snake opened its eyes.

It looked at my battered form with shock and sorrow, then darted forward, hissing at Martha and Chloe.

Through my haze, I thought I saw that gentle figure from memory—Grace—standing in front of me, shielding me from harm.

“A snake? Where did this come from!”

“Ugh, disgusting! I hate snakes the most.”

“Not only stealing, but now bringing snakes into the master’s house?”

“Relax, Mom, it’s not poisonous.”

But the snake had been dormant for too long; its body was weak. Chloe seemed to notice and grabbed a stool, smashing it down hard on the snake.

The snake writhed in pain. Even without human consciousness, it had always been gentle, never striking at people.

Martha, emboldened, picked up a nail-studded stick and beat the snake again and again until blood seeped between its scales.

“No!” I cried.

Grace had been weakened after protecting Richard and Ethan. If she were injured again, this sleep wouldn’t last just ten years—it could be forever. The high priest had told us to protect the snake at all costs. If it died, Grace would vanish from this world as well.

I threw myself over the snake, shielding it with my body. Nails drove into my back, tearing flesh. Blood poured from my mouth, staining its scales red.

The snake looked at me with sorrow, then shot forward, wrapping itself around Martha’s wrist to stop her from striking again.

“Damn snake, get off me!” Martha roared.

She seized its tail, swinging it violently, smashing it to the ground over and over. Blood streaks marked the floor.

Still, it fought to hold her wrist, determined to protect me.

Chloe sneered, “You like tying things up? Let’s see how you like this.”

She wound the snake around the nail-studded stick, driving the spikes through its body.

The snake let out a low whimper, a tear of blood sliding from its eye as it looked at me.

“Stop! Don’t hurt it! Mom…” I screamed.

Chloe’s eyes gleamed with cruelty. She twisted the snake’s body into a grotesque knot and tied it to the stick.

“Two filthy creatures. Disgusting.”

At that moment, my phone buzzed violently.

By now, Richard and Ethan’s flight should have landed. They had told me to care for the snake, that important guests were bringing rare medicinal herbs to prepare for Grace’s awakening.

Before I could answer, Chloe snatched the phone, her lips curling into a sneer when she saw the caller ID: “Precious One.”

“See, Mom? I told you she’s just a gold-digger,” she mocked.

“Who knows how many old men she’s slept with. Filthy slut.”

Martha frowned. “Chloe, stop for now. They’ll be back any minute. Today’s some big occasion, and I was told to tidy the house for important guests…”