Chapter 3
“Grandpa and Grandma are calling you inside,” Lily finally came out and said to me in an unfriendly tone.
I nodded and followed behind Lily into the house, my face pale.
“Olivia, after all these years, you still can’t let go of what happened?” my father immediately questioned me sternly as soon as I walked into the living room.
I shook my head, looking at him uncomprehendingly.
“Do you think this is something easy to let go of?” I asked.
Back then, Emily not only took over my family but also guided young Lily to push me into the abyss.
Yet they didn’t see any fault with Emily. Instead, they all pointed their fingers at me. How could I possibly let it go so easily?
My mother snorted coldly as she looked at me.
“Even if Emily hadn’t married Jack, do you think you’d still be worthy of him?”
“A woman like you with no education and a disfigured face - Jack would probably be laughed at just for taking you out in public. How did I give birth to such an ungrateful daughter?”
Hearing my mother’s words, I once again felt as if my whole being was being torn apart.
During my school years, my grades were actually quite good, even better than Emily’s.
But at that time, our Reed family wasn’t well-off. It was already a struggle to support one child through college, let alone two.
After their constant persuasion, I had no choice but to give up my studies and start working to support Emily through college.
Later, with our family’s all-out support, Emily not only went to college but also got into graduate school.
Emily naturally became their pride and joy. And I, the sister who had given up everything for her, not only didn’t receive their gratitude but was belittled to the core.
In their words, it seemed everything had become my fault.
I could no longer control the emotions in my heart and shouted at them.
“Put your hand on your heart and ask yourself - is this really my fault?”
The room fell into a brief silence.
My father finally sighed and spoke again.
“Emily is the younger sister. As the older sister, shouldn’t you have given in to her a bit?”
“Everything is in the past now. There’s no use dwelling on these things anymore. I just hope you can let go of all grudges and stay by our side to take care of us. Jack’s business is growing bigger now. We can’t let them be distracted.”
Hearing his words, I laughed coldly in my heart. Now I finally knew their purpose for calling me back - they needed a housekeeper at home and wanted to call back their obedient daughter to be their caretaker.
If it wasn’t for this, they probably wouldn’t have even remembered my existence as their daughter.
I closed my eyes, took a deep breath, and tried hard not to feel too hurt.
“I can only stay here for one day. I can’t stay by your side forever,” I said firmly.
Even if they had spoken a bit more tactfully, or shown a little more warmth towards me, as their daughter, I would have stayed by their side without hesitation.
But their words and actions were too hurtful, completely extinguishing the last bit of hope I had for them in my heart.
“You think you still have a choice in this matter? Olivia Reed, let me make this clear to you today - no matter what, you must stay by Mom and Dad’s side to take care of them,” Jack said, his tone full of arrogance, leaving no room for argument.
I looked at him in disbelief. “Do I not even have the right to choose my own life anymore?”
Jack snorted coldly.
“Isn’t staying with our family better than begging everywhere? We’re all doing this for your own good.”
Before I could react, Jack waved his hand. Several Young family servants rushed over, roughly tying me up, gagging my mouth, and locking me in a guest room nearby.
The guests watching this scene had long become used to it. They all knew that Jack had abandoned a previous wife before. And I didn’t need to guess to know that I was Jack’s ex-wife.
My facial features were too distinctive after all.
“Olivia Reed, I think you have too many problems now. Today I’ll let someone help you correct this bad attitude first,” Jack said to me before locking the door.
Several servants holding clubs were eyeing me menacingly in the room.
Before I could react, those servants had already started beating me viciously with their clubs.
The intense pain made me curl up and struggle constantly.
Soon, my whole body was covered in blood.
However, those servants seemed to have received Jack’s instructions and showed no signs of stopping.
Gradually, my consciousness became fuzzy, and I felt like I could barely breathe.
Only then did Jack walk in again, looking at me with a twisted expression.
“If you don’t agree to stay, I’ll beat you like this every day until you agree!”
Hearing Jack’s words, my heart was filled with despair. Was I really going to be trapped here like an animal for the rest of my life?
Tears mixed with blood kept sliding down my cheeks. I felt like I had fallen into a bottomless abyss once again.