12
When I came to, I found my hands were tied. Looking up, I saw Frank, who had been on the run, standing in front of me. Isabella was there too.
Isabella stepped forward and slapped me hard: “My dear sister, bet you never thought you’d end up in my hands!”
Frank held up his phone to make a call: “Lucas, long time no see! Guess where I am!”
Lucas’s voice came through the phone: “Frank Chen!”
“Oh my, Mr. Howard sounds so scary. Come listen!”
I clenched my teeth, refusing to make a sound. Another slap landed, the pain forcing a cry from my throat.
Lucas said anxiously: “Frank, don’t you dare hurt Sophia. What do you want? Name it!”
“Mr. Howard gets right to the point! I don’t want much. Five hundred thousand in cash, a bank card with five million dollars, and two new identities. You come alone to deliver it!”
<
“Fine! Don’t touch her.”
Frank hung up the phone and walked over to me, grabbing my chin: “My good daughter, you’re still worth something after all.”
I shook off his hand: “Frank Chen, you’re just like Grandpa said – vicious and evil to the core. You’re a wolf in human skin. No, that’s an insult to animals. Even beasts don’t eat their own young!”
He patted my face, his eyes complex: “You look so much like your mother! Just as proud, with that same haughty young miss attitude!”
Isabella’s murderous gaze intensified. Because she had been kidnapped, she had never even seen our mother.
I looked at Isabella gripping the knife and remembered she still didn’t know the truth about her disappearance. Perhaps I could use this to turn them against each other.
“Mom died because of you. How dare you mention her!”
“Isabella, do you know? You didn’t go missing because of me. It was because of your dear father Frank. He lost you when he went to meet his mistress.”
She froze, repeating: “Impossible, impossible.”
I continued stirring the pot: “Mom’s death was also because of his daily mental torture. He pushed the blame for losing you onto Mom, making
her think you were dead. She killed herself out of despair.”
Frank’s expression was panicked, but he said: “Isabella, use your brain. Sophia is lying.”
Isabella’s expression was conflicted. I pressed on: “Think about it. Who would expect a six–year–old child to watch over a three–year–old? Why couldn’t Frank look you in the eye for the first few months after you came back? Think carefully.”
“Is what Sophia saying true?” Isabella gripped the knife tightly. Frank’s expression convinced her Sophia was telling the truth. Had she been hating the wrong person all along?
Isabella took a few steps forward. As she grew more agitated, she kept waving the knife around. Frank slapped Isabella hard across the face:
“You little bitch, shut up!”
Isabella clutched her face as she collapsed to the ground, falling into confusion.
At that moment, Lucas arrived. He tossed down the black bag in his hand: “The money’s all here. Take it and let Sophia go.”
Frank picked up the bag from the ground and pressed the cold blade against my neck: “Lucas, I’ve changed my mind. Kneel down and kowtow to me. Kowtow to the son–in–law you look down on.”
Lucas didn’t hesitate at all. He knelt on the ground and knocked his head on the floor three times.
Lucas had always been a proud person. I had never seen him bow his head to anyone before. But for my sake, he knelt on the ground and
kowtowed three times.
“The high and mighty Mr. Howard actually kowtowed to me.” Frank laughed wildly. The blade in his hand pierced my neck, instantly drawing
blood.
“Stop! What else do you want?” Lucas shouted.
A crazed light gleamed in Frank’s eyes as he waved the knife: “Pick up that knife on the table and cut off your right hand. A crippled Mr. Howard, hahaha!”
“Tell me, will your father Mr. Howard come back from the grave to find me?”
“Lucas, don’t worry about me. Run!” I yelled.
Frank’s knife sliced across my cheek. The pain made me cry out involuntarily.
“Okay, okay, don’t move. I’ll go get it.” Lucas inched towards the table and picked up the knife. The blade slowly approached his right hand.
At that moment the forgotten Isabella suddenly lunged at Frank, plunging her knife into his neck.
Frank shoved her away, clutching at his gurgling, bleeding throat. He stabbed Isabella in the abdomen. Once, twice.
Lucas quickly ran to my side and untied me, pulling me into his arms.
Frank collapsed soon after. Blood spread across the white wool carpet. His eyes were wide open.
Isabella still had a breath left. She laughed.
13
That night, Frank died, but Isabella didn’t. I agreed to her request to see her one last time.
She was wearing a prison uniform. Her first words to me were: “Sophia, I won. I did what you couldn’t do. I killed him.”
She fell silent for a long while, her eyes filled with helplessness: “Sophia, did you know that if you live in a basement for too long, your body starts to smell moldy?”
“Did you know some people are afraid to take off their shoes at other people’s houses? Because their socks always have holes.”
“Did you know that while you were living the good life, I was starving, eating spoiled rice?”
I vaguely remembered how clingy she had been when we were little. The first word she spoke wasn’t “Dad” or “Mom,” but “Sister.”
Her expression grew increasingly manic. The guards swarmed in to take her away.
She screamed at me with all her might: “Sophia, why didn’t you come earlier?”
In the middle of the night, I received news that Isabella had committed suicide.
I sat on the balcony, her final question echoing in my mind.
Sophia, why didn’t you come earlier?
I thought I would be starting a new life, but instead I felt lost, unable to think of what to do next. And so I sat there until dawn broke.
Golden light rose on the horizon – the morning glow, breathtakingly beautiful.
Just then, the doorbell rang. I opened the door to find Lucas. He pursed his lips, silent for a long moment.
I gazed outside: “The sunrise is so beautiful today!”
He nodded, his face turning red: “Mm, but you’re more beautiful than the sunrise!”
14
Epilogue – Isabelia
I am Isabella Chen, the second daughter of MJ Entertainment who was kidnapped for 18 years.
Sophia, I often wonder if things would have been different if you had found me earlier. How much earlier?
If you had come when I was 20, I wouldn’t have been pushed through that door by my manager for a chance to join “Shining Girls.” I wouldn’t have had my head smashed against the wall by that rich second–generation group member.
If you had come when I was 17, I might have had a chance to go to university. I wouldn’t have had to sit in that electronics factory tightening
screws.
I hated summer the most. The manager would let dust gather on the air conditioner in the corner, only turning on a few squeaky fans when it got unbearably hot. Sweat would soak through my clothes, but I didn’t dare take them off. There were always bored men who would whistle at
- me.
If you had come even earlier, I wouldn’t have that scar running down my back.
I was bought for 5000 dollars by a childless couple who ran a restaurant. At first, they weren’t too bad to me. At least they didn’t let me go
hungry.
But when I was 6, they had a son. That’s when my life turned into a nightmare.
The air in the restaurant kitchen always reeked of a nauseating greasiness. Not to mention the rats that would scurry out from time to time.
All my childhood memories are steeped in the stench of rancid food, constant scolding, and the pain in my back.
Boiling water poured down my back, fusing my clothes to my flesh. Even after the wound healed, that patch of skin would start to itch every
summer.
There was once a demon trapped in a bottle. The demon vowed that if someone came to rescue him within 100 years, he would grant that person endless wealth. But 100 years passed and no one came. 200 years, 300 years, still no one came. By the 400th year, the demon swore that whoever came to rescue him, he would kill them.
Sophia, when you opened that door and found me, gently telling me to come home, that no one would bully me anymore – it had already been 400 years. So the one you brought home was the demon trapped in the bottle. Whoever saved her, she would kill them.
When I first stepped into that luxurious house, you walked ahead of me, casually introducing me to everything.
I couldn’t help but wonder: when I was crouching in that back kitchen washing dishes, crying because a rat had scared me the garden having afternoon tea?
When you encountered small–time thugs leering at you from alleyways, did you have someone to chase them away?
were you sitting in
No, a young lady riding in a Maybach wouldn’t appear in such places. Just like you wouldn’t have to endure being peeped at while bathing by your adoptive parents‘ son, not daring to close the door for fear of being beaten.
We have the same blood flowing through our veins. You were the princess in the castle, while I was like a rat in the restaurant. It wasn’t fair!
You lost me. You ruined my life. Whether it was Aiden, fame, or status – everything that was yours, I wanted it all.
According to my plan, everything went smoothly. Especially Aiden – he was even easier to get than I had imagined. With just a few low–level provocations, he started to hate you, thinking you were vicious and mean–spirited.
In just one short year, I became the rich, beautiful darling of the entertainment world in everyone’s eyes. Under the spotlight, I really felt like I had become a princess.
But I never expected failure to come so quickly. You teamed up with Lucas, and things spiraled completely out of control. You exposed my scandals of being a diva and bullying assistants. But surprisingly, you didn’t reveal how I had taken revenge on the restaurant owners‘ family.
Later, you told me that my disappearance was all because of Frank – our father – meeting his mistress.
In that instant, everything I had built up came crashing down. I had been hating the wrong person all along.
I had a huge fight with him. He finally tore off his mask of hypocrisy. He wanted to send me to other men’s beds. I tried to run away, but was
beaten badly for it.
For a moment I thought I was back in the past. But I had grown up. I would make those who bullied me pay.
In the end, I stabbed him to death. I don’t regret it.
In prison, the night after I met with you, I had a dream. I went back to when I was three years old.
Sophia, you were sitting on the carousel. Frank was holding my hand, about to take me away.
You called out from behind: “Sister, come back!”
Then you climbed down from the little horse and hugged me.
Sophia, this time, you didn’t come too late.
