Chapter 1
I lay dirty on the ground, my clothes half-torn. An old man nearby leered at me, whistling. “Enjoying the attention? You must love being ogled by men.”
Asher’s teasing voice came to my ear. I shivered instinctively, and the rest of my clothes slipped off. Ignoring my dignity, I grabbed his pant leg, crying.
“Asher, you promised that if I performed on the street in lingerie, you’d get my mother out of the etiquette camp.”
I looked up at him, filled with hope. “Do I have to keep every promise?”
Asher’s expression remained indifferent, and my heart sank. “Please, Asher, I’ll do anything…”
“Enough. Addie said the camp has the best medical team. There’s no way a virus could spread.”
“Your mother seduced my father and caused my mother’s death. Now you’re using her illness for sympathy. You’re both shameless.”
His disdainful look drained the last of my strength. Asher was privileged from the start, and I only benefited because my mother worked as a maid for The Asher Family. From the age of three, I was always by Asher’s side. We were the best of friends until the year I turned 18, when my mother and Uncle Asher were caught together. Mrs. Asher couldn’t bear the betrayal and took her life that night.
Asher didn’t make a scene; he calmly handled the funeral arrangements. He spent three years establishing himself at Asher Corp. By the time he was 20, he proposed, “Cora, a mother’s debt is paid by her daughter. I want you to stay with me to atone.”
I looked at the tearful boy before me, unable to refuse. I softly agreed, “Okay.”
But three years ago, on the anniversary of Mrs. Asher’s death, he brought back a woman, waking me from my sleep. “From now on, move to the storage room. The master bedroom is for Addie and me.”
“And Addie’s hungry. She wants sweet and sour ribs. Go prepare them.”
I stood there, confused. Before I realized what was happening, Asher dragged me out of the bedroom, putting an apron on me. I held back my emotions and served the sweet and sour ribs. But Adeline just took a bite and spat it out.
“Asher, this dish is too salty. Is she targeting me on purpose?”
Asher’s gaze turned sharp on me, “Why are you standing there? Do it again!”
I kept remaking the sweet and sour ribs in the kitchen over and over. Each time, Adeline would take a bite and find fault. I endured the pain, raising my blistered hands from cutting the meat.
“Asher, I…”
“Enough, shut up. You can’t even handle a small thing.”
Asher pulled Adeline into his arms, scolding me. Then he noticed my bleeding hands. The next moment, he pushed Adeline away, panic flashing in his eyes as he ran to me.
“Cora, your hands are meant for holding knives.”
He gently wiped the blood from my hands with a disinfectant wipe. Just then, Adeline clutched her stomach and screamed for help.
“Asher, my stomach hurts…”
Asher’s hand slipped in panic, driving the needle into my palm. “Addie, what’s wrong? Are you okay?”
He anxiously held the screaming Adeline. She sobbed quietly in his arms, “Asher, I’m scared.”
Asher glanced at the table, then turned to me. “Cora, I told you the title of Mrs. Asher will always be yours. Why make things hard for Addie?”
With that, he signaled the bodyguards, “Feed the remaining sweet and sour ribs to Mrs. Asher.”
The bodyguards approached and restrained me. They force-fed me the food like I was a pig. The more I struggled, the more they forced it down. Until I choked on a bone, convulsing, my vision fading as I collapsed.
Asher fed an orange slice to Adeline. “Sweetheart, I punished her for you. Does your stomach still hurt?”
Adeline provocatively licked Asher’s finger. “Asher, tonight I want to be in your and her bedroom. Is that okay?”
Asher’s desire was instantly ignited. He picked Adeline up, and the bedroom lights flickered, mixed with man’s roars and woman’s whimpers.