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…”

“So many people have come, and I hear they’re bringing treasures worth a fortune!”

Chloe Brown looked at me like I was nothing but filth.

“If you want to stay alive, you’d better learn your place.”

Her eyes brimmed with threats.

Martha Brown frowned. “Chloe, maybe we should drag this slut out first.”

“You need to show your face more. These people are all important. If one of them notices you, it could be your big chance…”

“But I heard they came to see a patient…”

“Who else? Your godfather and your godbrother haven’t been in good health. Of course, they came to visit them.”

“That makes sense.”

Chloe glared at me with pure disgust.

“I bet you sneaked in here on purpose today—not only to seduce my godfather and my brother, but also to cast your net wide, right?”

“Sluts like you, I’ve seen plenty. Do you know how many maids I’ve had to deal with before?”

She sneered and dragged me toward the backyard.

So that was it! I had asked Dad and Ethan to hire more maids, but they always said only Martha and Chloe remained—others quit mysteriously after a short time.

Now I understood. These two had been running rampant in our house all along!

I struggled and lunged at Chloe.

She looked down at her blood-stained dress and shrieked in horror.

I couldn’t help but laugh bitterly at her pathetic act of forced elegance. A beast is still a beast—even dressed in the mistress’s clothes, it can’t hide its nature.

That only enraged her further.

“You bitch!”

“Somebody come! Grab this thief!”

“Sticky fingers, huh? Let’s see how clean I can make you.”

Martha struck me over and over with a stick.

My screams roused the dying white snake, which managed to break free. Just as the stick was about to smash down on my head, the snake bit Martha’s hand hard.

“Damn creature!” Chloe snatched up a knife and, with one swift motion, brought it down.

The snake’s head was severed.

“No, Mom…”

Despair washed over me as I trembled, cradling the broken body.

“If you care this much about this snake, calling it your mom…” Chloe sneered. Then, before my eyes, she chopped the body into several pieces.

“Tie this thief up in the backyard. If she loves snakes so much, cut off her hands and feet—let her crawl like one for the rest of her life.”

“No…” Terror gripped me. As a music student, if I lost my hands, I’d lose my future.

“Just one more thing…” Chloe’s eyes gleamed with excitement as she forced open my mouth.

The scissors cut. Salt and iron filled my mouth, and the pain drove me into darkness.

“Now you look like a snake.”

“Drag her away.” Chloe waved dismissively. “Dad and Ethan will be back soon. We need to prepare dinner. They say Dad’s been feeling better lately.”

Martha’s eyes flickered with shyness. “I’ll make sure to take good care of him. Who knows what could happen…”

Chloe looked at the snake pieces on the floor, a cruel smile tugging at her lips.

“They say snakes are earthly dragons—the most nourishing of all.”

A group of men dragged me into the backyard.

Only then did I realize that the old servants had already been replaced.

“This woman’s yours to deal with. Do whatever you want with her.”

“Make sure she learns her lesson.”