Chapter 9

As dawn broke,I was roughly dragged to my feet.

Someone took me somewhere,and I fell onto a cold tile floor.

The next second,a blast of icy water from a showerhead jolted me awake.

I was fully conscious now,and I saw Seraphina holding a pressure washer.

Her eyes were filled with undisguised contempt and mockery,a triumphant smile on her face.

She had the water on its coldest setting,standing far away,spraying me down like a stray dog.

“Sister,Mom and Dad said they're holding a press conference at the New York Stock Exchange today.To announce to the whole world that you've been kicked out of the Sterling family.”

“They're going to publicly declare that I am the only daughter of the Sterling family,and Damian's only bride.”

“With the Blackwood and Sterling merger,I'll be the jewel of two great families.And you?You'll be sent back to the countryside.A dirt-poor peasant,married off to some disgusting pig farmer.”

I glared at Seraphina.

Yes,this was her true self.

She never bothered to hide her ambition from me.

From the very first day she came to the Sterling house and insisted on sharing my room,she told me she was here to replace me.

But back then,I thought I had the“blessing contract.”I thought,how could they ever leave me?

Reality slapped me hard in the face.

The icy water had made my limbs numb.

Then suddenly,Seraphina switched the water from cold to scalding hot.

The boiling water poured over my back,instantly re-opening the wounds that had just started to scab over.

Blood mixed with water,swirling down the drain.

The bathroom filled with steam.I was red and swollen,the pain in my back so intense it felt like it wasn't even part of my body anymore.

Seraphina laughed.“Mom and Dad told me to wash you up.I have to be thorough.”

Then,she poured a large bucket of what looked like red wine mixed with something else all over me.