Chapter 3
“Brooke says if you two sisters go out to sea together, you can make at least fifty thousand dollars.” “This is such a rare opportunity, you wouldn’t intentionally steal your sister’s thunder, would you?” Mom’s voice was gentle as she approached me, while Dad flanked me from the other side. One of them held my body down, the other pried open my mouth, frantically stuffing peanuts into it. I struggled with all my might. “No! I… I’m allergic to peanuts… I’ll die…!” By the time I swallowed the last peanut, the final shred of kinship in my heart vanished. They knew I was deathly allergic to peanuts, which could cause anything from full-body rashes to death. The allergic reaction hit fast; I could barely breathe. I desperately clawed at Mom’s pants leg, struggling to speak: “Why… I’m your daughter too…” Mom forcefully kicked my leg away, the flash of disgust in her eyes piercing me deeply. They locked me in the room, refusing to give me medicine or water, no matter how much I begged. Only when dawn broke did Mom open the door and make me change into a swimsuit. It wasn’t until I was shoved into the back seat of the car, and Mom and Dad squeezed in after me, that I realized they actually intended to come out to sea with us. Watching them excitedly fantasize about becoming the CEO’s in-laws, I couldn’t help but turn my head, a cold sneer playing on my lips. They still didn’t know that in my past life, Cassie wasn’t actually chosen by the CEO. She got pregnant after this particular yacht trip, which attracted a group of men with peculiar tastes. She took on jobs day and night, earning a lot of money, but her body simply couldn’t handle it. So, she set her sights on Brooke, trying to trick her into working with her again. My parents and Brooke were so blinded by wealth that they couldn’t even see through such a clumsy lie. They were still dreaming of becoming the CEO’s wife. When we got out of the car, Cassie saw me covered in red rashes and frowned deeply. She furiously slapped Mom. “Who told you to mess her up like this?!” “If this ghastly appearance scares off the clients, can you afford to pay for it?!” “Either fix her, or give me back my money!” Mom and Dad were stunned by the sudden turn of events. They stammered for a long time, repeatedly promising that if I took allergy medicine, I’d recover in half an hour. After much pleading, Cassie finally agreed to let me board the extremely luxurious super yacht. Dad glanced back at me, saying haughtily, “You better behave. Once your sister marries the CEO, all this will be ours!” “Then you can drop out of college and become the CEO’s wife’s nanny. It won’t be that bad for you.” I nodded, feigning obedience. About ten minutes later, Cassie walked into the guest cabin to select the first batch of yacht girls. She looked at my still not fully subsided rashes with disgust and clicked her tongue. Ultimately, she only took Brooke and eight other young girls. After they left, only Mom, Dad, and I remained in the guest cabin. I feigned surprise, pointing at the red wine in the wine cabinet. “Oh my god, each bottle of red wine in this cabinet is at least five hundred thousand dollars!” They half-believed me, half-doubted, and spent a long time searching online. When they discovered I was telling the truth, they excitedly opened the most expensive bottles and chugged them straight from the bottle. Not long after, both of them were dead drunk. I quickly got up and left. I hadn’t gone far when Brooke’s heart-wrenching scream suddenly echoed. “No! Let me go! Waaah…!” “It’s too big… it’ll tear…!” “Cassie, save me! Ahh…!” Then came a few extremely miserable shrieks. Followed by Cassie’s nonchalant warning. “Keep it down, don’t disturb the VIPs upstairs.” The screams from inside the room instantly died down, replaced by muffled sobs. Fearing I’d be discovered, I didn’t pause and continued quietly walking towards the upper deck. In my previous life, I had seen some incredibly revealing comments under Cassie’s Ins post. “Hope this batch is more durable; they sent a lot of people to the hospital last time.” “Some guys are kinky, they like older women, can you arrange that too?” “Treat these dark-skinned bodyguards well, and you’ll be rewarded handsomely.” Unfortunately, she deleted that post just a few minutes after posting it. When we boarded, Cassie specifically instructed us to only move around on the yacht’s lower deck and not go to the third floor or higher. After that, over a dozen dark-skinned men dressed as bodyguards entered the lower deck. These yacht girls were just “appetizers” to distract the bodyguards. The real VIPs were on the top deck of the yacht. Just as I was about to step onto the third floor, I heard Mom’s incoherent cries for help from below, along with the lewd laughter of men with exaggerated accents. I didn’t look back and continued upward. I just wanted to find a safe place to hide until the ship docked, then leave. But the moment I stepped onto the third deck, the scene before me nearly scared me out of my wits: A tall man raised a pistol at another person. “Bang,” the suppressed gunshot was barely a whisper, and the man dropped. “Bang,” a second shot, and a bullet whizzed past my arm. I instantly froze, my limbs rigid with terror. The man who fired the gun was none other than Julian Harrison, the CEO! The true owner of this yacht! Oh no, am I about to be silenced…? But when Julian Harrison saw my face clearly, his pupils instantly dilated. He staggered and lunged towards me. I was already rigid with fear, so he just turned my head, revealing the red mole behind my ear. After a long moment, he embraced me, tears streaming down his face. “I’m so sorry, daughter, Dad scared you…”