“Now, Evan, don’t tease Sharon.”

Heather smiled, taking Sharon’s hand—but her brow furrowed the moment her fingers brushed the calluses on the girl’s palm.

“I’d love to taste your cooking too, dear. For my sake, just cook for us today, alright? And never talk about leaving this family again. You’re Evan’s fiancée. You belong with us.”

Without waiting for a refusal, she nudged Sharon toward the kitchen.

Sharon’s fingers trembled slightly as she picked up the knife, her breath catching in her throat.

An hour later, she finally brought the sprawling feast to the table.

“Not bad,” Evan said with a dismissive shrug, already reaching for a second helping. “Leah, have some more.”

“Thank you, Evan.”

Sharon kept her head down throughout the meal, never once glancing at Evan, as if none of it had anything to do with her.

A hot, irrational fury seized him. He slammed his fork down, voice sharp. “Sharon, why are you just eating? Have the dessert.”

Dessert… Sharon looked at the mango mousse. Evan had specifically asked her to make it, claiming it was Leah’s favorite.

But he knew perfectly well she was allergic to mangoes.

Her hands were already red and swollen from peeling them. If she swallowed any, it could kill her.

“Sharon, you’re being difficult again.” He made air quotes around the word. “I know you’re ‘allergic.’ You just need to build up a tolerance. Since when did you become so delicate? I’ve spoiled you all these years.”

He leaned closer, voice dropping to a threat. “Eat it, or I’m sending you straight back to the Institute.”

At his words, Sharon flinched as if struck, her whole body trembling. She grabbed the mango mousse and shoved it into her mouth. Tears and mucus streamed down her face from the discomfort, but she kept eating mechanically.

“Enough!” Evan knocked the spoon from her hand and stood up angrily. “I told you to eat it! Don’t you know when to stop?”

She didn’t need to be told twice. Bolting for the bathroom, she collapsed in front of the toilet and retched violently.

Just then, someone walked in. A hand landed on her shoulder.

“You gonna die in here? Need an ambulance?”

“Help me!”

“Please! Don’t touch me! Don’t touch me!”

The past slammed into her. With all her strength, Sharon swung her arm up and slapped Evan hard across the face.

“Sharon, have you lost your mind!” Evan clutched his cheek and shoved her away violently. “I came to check on you, and you dare hit me!”

He stood there breathing heavily for a moment. Then his lips stretched into a humorless smile.

“Is that it? You’re jealous because I was nice to Leah?”

“Relax. I owe you for saving my life, and you’ve finally learned your place. You’ll always be my fiancée. That position is secure.”

The light snapped off abruptly.

In the sudden darkness, Sharon couldn’t see a thing. She only felt a heavy weight on her chest, then her clothes were ripped open roughly.

Without any preamble, Evan’s hand slid beneath her skirt.

“Just relax. It’s your first time. I won’t hurt you.”

Sharon’s breathing hitched, the stabbing pain in her upper abdomen intensifying.

On her very first day at the Institute, she had been ordered to strip naked before all the instructors to “verify her virginity.”

They hadn’t taken her then, but they’d found other ways to torment her.

Cold sweat beaded and dripped from her forehead. She couldn’t bear it any longer. Her vision tunneled to black, and she finally passed out.

When I woke again, I was lying in a hospital bed, an IV drip attached to my hand.

“Sharon,” came a cold voice. “What the hell have you been doing these past four years? How could you let yourself fall apart like this?”

Evan stood watching me, his expression hard.

“The doctor says you’re severely malnourished. If you don’t start eating properly, you’ll die.” He paused, voice dropping. “It was wrong of me to call you a pig back then—but that doesn’t mean you should stop eating altogether. Sharon… you’ve truly disappointed me.”

With that, he turned and left without another word.

Watching his retreating figure, my numb face finally showed a flicker of expression.

I murmured the words I’d repeated countless times over the past four years.

“Evan… I really don’t dare to like you anymore.”

“Evan… I really don’t dare to like you anymore.”

The year I turned ten, my parents died in a car accident.

Leah and I were both taken in by the Jiang family. True to their promise, they made me Evan’s fiancée.

Evan never liked me. He mocked me for eating street food, sneered at me for reading romance novels.

Even though we went to school together every day, studied together, attended the same tutoring classes—he never once gave me a kind look.

Because of my connection to Evan, the school’s reigning queen bee cornered me in the bathroom, threatening to shove my head in the toilet and flush it.

Then Evan suddenly appeared.

“Leave her alone,” he said. “She’s mine.”

From that day on, Evan started treating me better and better.

Even though he was terrified of heights, he went to the amusement park with me, riding the roller coaster ten times in a row.

Knowing I loved animals, he patiently volunteered with me at the stray dog shelter.

We made plans: attend the same university, get married right after graduation, have one boy and one girl, and be together forever.

All of it turned to ashes after the kidnapping.

Evan was once my light.

Now… that light has gone out.

The day I was about to be discharged, my sister Leah came to the hospital.

She pushed the door open, carrying a pink insulated lunchbox, her voice sweet and lively.

“Sharon, I came to see you! I brought you something delicious. Eat up, then we can go home.”

Dressed in a pretty floral dress, she looked radiant, a smile in her eyes. Others in the ward couldn’t help but praise her.

“Miss Sharon, is this your sister? She’s even prettier than you.”

“You have the same mother, but you don’t look much alike,” someone joked curiously.

“We don’t have the same mother.”

“What did you say?”

“We don’t have the same mother.” I bit my lip, my hands at my sides clenching into fists.

It wasn’t until after my father died that I learned the truth: the man I’d always believed was a devoted family man had a mistress on the side, who bore him a child—Leah.

“Sharon, I made this nourishing soup just for you. Simmered it for a full three hours.” Leah acted as if she hadn’t heard, taking out a spoon and lifting it considerately, ready to feed me. “Evan had something to do today. I drove, so we can head back together later. Try it. I promise you’ll love it.”

After a moment’s hesitation, I took the spoon from Leah’s hand and brought it to my mouth.

“Is it good?”

“It’s okay.”

“See, Sharon? I told you you’d love it!” Leah’s mouth curled into a smirk, her eyes cold and sharp. “Guess what kind of meat is in this soup?”

“It’s Lucky!”

“Your dog, Sharon.”

Lucky…

A dull ache bloomed in Sharon’s upper abdomen, while the nerves in her head throbbed like a drumskin stretched too tight.

Lucky—the stray she and Evan had adopted from the shelter, a living witness to all their sweetest memories.

And now… they’d *cooked* him?

A coppery tang surged up her throat. She clapped a hand over her mouth. When she pulled it away, the crimson blood staining her palm stabbed at her eyes.

Reason deserted her. She flung the container aside, lunged forward, and wrapped her hands around Leah’s throat in a frenzy.

“Why would you do that to Lucky!”

“If you hate me, come at *me*! Hit me, curse me! Why… why do *this*!”

Her eyes were bloodshot, her grip tightening relentlessly. She was moments from strangling Leah when a powerful shove sent her sprawling.

Her forehead cracked against the table’s edge. Blood streamed down, quickly coating her face in a grotesque red mask.

Pain stole her breath. Through the haze, she saw Evan’s eyes—filled with a rage that promised murder.

“Sharon! And here I was, actually believing you’d changed, that you’d turned a new leaf!”

“I didn’t even want to come get you today. Leah begged me for ages before I agreed. And this is how you repay her? You ungrateful bitch!”

Sharon shook her head frantically. “No, it’s not like that. Leah… she cooked Lucky and fed him to me.”

“What Lucky? Lucky is perfectly fine, playing in the garden at home. Did those years in that… place rot your brain? Have you gone insane?” Evan’s face twisted with disgust.

Others in the ward chimed in:

“Honestly, a girl so young, and not a word of truth in her. I clearly saw her attack her sister first.”

“Right? Probably jealous her sister’s prettier. Doing it on purpose. Tsk… maybe she really is crazy.”

“No, no, that’s not it.” Sharon stumbled backward in a panic, the blood caking her face giving her a ghastly, savage appearance. Finally, a nurse took pity and stepped forward with a cloth to wipe it away.

But the sudden movement made Sharon scream.

The past from those years flooded back—the blood, the whippings, the agony.

She dropped to the floor and started beating her head against the ground in a frantic rhythm. Once, twice, three times…

This was her old ritual, whenever the pain became unbearable. Hurting her body could sometimes drown out the pain inside.

“You lunatic! If anything happens to Leah today, I’ll make you pay a thousand times over!”

Evan spat the words through gritted teeth, then scooped Leah into his arms and stormed out.

His footsteps retreated down the hall until silence swallowed them. Sharon couldn’t hear anything anymore. The world before her blurred.

Evan had already settled the bill. Fearing she’d cause more trouble, the hospital found an excuse and simply discharged her.

Her luggage was dumped on the roadside.

“Disgusting! What bad luck!” Someone spat in her direction.

Sharon lifted her battered, blood-streaked face with blank eyes. She crouched down and began gathering her things, piece by piece.

She walked for what felt like an eternity. It was past midnight by the time she finally reached the Evans' estate.

Suddenly, arms wrapped around her from behind, pulling her into a tight embrace.

“Does your head still hurt?” Evan’s hand reached up to gently touch her temple, his fingers carefully wiping at the dried blood.

“I asked Leah today. She did say the soup was Lucky, but it was just a harmless joke.”

“You’re the older sister. Can’t you let it go? Hmm?”

When Sharon remained silent, Evan finally lost all patience. He stood over her by the bedside, looking down with icy detachment.

“There’s a gathering next Monday. You’re coming with me. Do that, and I’ll return your mother’s jade pendant.”

“Sharon, this is your last chance. Don’t disappoint me again.”