After I Fell In Love With My Non-blood-related Brother

I am the adopted daughter of the Shaw family, a powerful business dynasty, and I have secretly had a crush on my stepbrother since childhood.

When I graduated, my best friend set me up and accused me of intentionally starting a fire to harm her.

As punishment and to teach me a lesson, my stepbrother sent me to a finishing school for ladies.

Little did I know, it turned out to be the darkest hell imaginable.

After enduring torment that felt worse than death, I finally lost all hope.

Then, he brought down the entire training camp and knelt before me, begging for a chance to start over.

***

When the people from the Shaw family arrived, I was in a dark little room undergoing training with Dean Ward.

He slapped me hard across the face, but his actions below showed no sign of stopping.

"You lowly, promiscuous slut, how dare you even think about Mr. Shaw?"

The only light in the darkness came from the screen in front of me, where the impeccably dressed Xander Shaw was displayed.

With every act of humiliation, they placed Xander's photo in front of me, claiming it was to remind me of how filthy I was.

I numbly endured the abuse.

I had lost count of how many times I had faced these insults and humiliations.

Before being sent here, I thought it was just a strictly regulated training camp.

If I could somehow extinguish Xander's anger, I would be willing to try.

On the night I arrived, Dean Ward dragged me into a training room filled with instruments, accompanied by several burly men.

They grinned maliciously, their eyes filled with ill intent.

I instinctively panicked and tried to flee, but I ran into my best friend Mia at the door, desperately pleading with her.

"Mia, I never meant to hurt you; it was all a misunderstanding. We can clear this up!"

"Please take me back; I promise I won't cling to Xander anymore!"

She raised an eyebrow in amusement, looking at me with disdain.

"Xander is afraid you'll change your mind halfway, so he specifically told me to make sure you go in!"

No matter how much I knelt and begged, she pried my hands off the door one by one, crushing all my hopes.

"Jade Taylor, enjoy yourself!"

That day marked the beginning of my nightmare, and from then on, I faced endless insults, beatings, and humiliation."

If there is a hell on earth, this place must be it!

I had tried to escape before. The first time I was caught, they broke the hands that had won me countless international piano competition awards.

The second time I attempted to flee, they branded the word "bitch" on my chest and traced over it with bright paint, creating a permanent tattoo that would never fade.

The third time, I finally managed to get out and called Xander, begging him to take me away.

"Xander, I know I was wrong. I promise I'll be good from now on. Please take me with you, I'm begging you!"

He had once said that if I admitted my mistakes and behaved, he would bring me home.

I thought I was finally going to escape this nightmare.

But instead, he picked me up and immediately sent me back to the training camp without saying a word, personally handing me over to Dean Ward.

"If someone can still escape from your closed-door training, then your camp isn't as impressive as you think!"

Dean Ward bowed his head in a humble apology.

Then he swiftly unleashed all his fury on me, plunging my situation into even deeper despair.

I stopped trying to escape and no longer hoped for Xander to take me back.

I started to seek death.

But unfortunately, I was always rescued.

To prevent me from trying to end my life, the dean would smother me with a pillow, hold me down in water, or force-feed me large doses of sleeping pills before roughly pumping my stomach.

I hovered on the edge of death, only to be tortured back to life time and again.

I became scared and dared not try to die again.

I could only live each day feeling like I was already dead.

I never expected the Shaw family to send someone to bring me back.