The young man's voice from before sounded again. "Summer, you actually triggered Ash again! You're so cruel that you don't even deserve to be called my sister. Hurry up and come out. You need to apologize to Ash!"

He called me his sister, but the way he treated me was anything but affectionate. He looked more like someone confronting an enemy.

Before I could even process what was happening, he grew impatient and stormed into the dark room, grabbing my arm and yanking me toward the door.

I couldn't physically fight a grown man, but the fear of the outside world made me struggle instinctively. "No… Stop!"

I stretched my hands out and gripped the only table in the room, my nails digging into the wood until they nearly broke.

Feeling my fear, the man just snorted. "Are you finally scared now? What took you so long? Someone like you needs to suffer a bit to learn your lesson!"

He kept pulling me toward the door with brute force. My nails finally broke, and the pain shot through every finger, making me cry out.

"Can you shut up? If you keep yelling and it scares Ash, I won't go easy on you!"

This man, who I assumed was my brother, kicked me in an attempt to make me quiet down. Seeing that I kept screaming, he clamped his hand over my mouth.

The closer we got to the door, the more my eyes shook with fear. Somehow, I found the courage to bite down hard on his hand. He yelped and released me.

Without hesitation, I scrambled back into a corner.

He laughed under his breath, annoyed and amused all at once. "Summer, you've really picked up some nerve, haven't you?"

In the darkness, lit only by the faint glow of his phone, he swung his arm and slapped me across the face.

"You're the eldest daughter of the Reid family, yet you've got zero manners. How dare you bite me? Didn't you used to beg us on your knees because you were terrified of going into the dark room? What are you pretending for now? This is just about not wanting to apologize to Ash!"

I didn't answer. I was just stunned.

Were they really my family?

In my understanding, families should support each other and live in harmony. At worst, they might act distant. But what were these people doing? They shoved me into a pitch‑black room, hit me whenever they felt like it, and wouldn't even spare me when I fell to my knees.

What exactly was I to them? Their daughter? Their sister? Or their enemy?

I shivered all over. No matter how I tried, I couldn't find an answer.

Seeing that I didn't respond, my brother grew angrier. "Don't want to come out? Fine. Then stay in here for the rest of your life!"

He kicked the door hard, then told someone to lock it. Before he left, I heard him tell the others not to bring me any food or water.

The room fell quiet again, and everything was dead still.

It seemed the room had been soundproofed. After the door closed, all I could hear was my own ragged breathing. Not a single other noise reached me.

I stayed huddled in the corner. As I was unable to hear anything, I couldn't even tell how much time had passed. But my spasming stomach reminded me that I needed to eat.

I couldn't remember anything clearly, but it felt like I'd already been shut in here for days with no food. That explained the gnawing hunger and the pain in my stomach.

I pressed my fist against my abdomen, trying to dull the pain even a little. But it didn't help. I didn't know how many times this had happened, but my stomach felt torn up. Waves of pain shot through my body, making cold sweat pour down my body.

I lifted my arms and banged on the door, hoping someone outside would rescue me. My movements were practiced like I had done this hundreds of times before. But even when I ran out of strength, the door didn't budge.

This place felt like a prison made just for me.

I didn't know how long it was until my lips cracked from dryness and my body was close to giving out.

Then suddenly, I heard a soft click.

A faint beam from a flashlight cut into the darkness, and a plainly dressed woman slipped inside. When she saw me, her whole face was filled with worry.

"Ms. Summer, is your stomach acting up again? I brought you some medicine and oatmeal. Hurry and eat before Mr. Reid or anyone else finds out."

As the woman spoke, she set a tray down in front of me. On it were some stomach medicine and a warm bowl of oatmeal.

I swallowed hard. Even though she looked a little familiar, I still watched her with caution. "Who are you? And why are you bringing me food?"

The woman's eyes widened like she couldn't believe what she was hearing. "Ms. Summer, don't you remember me?"

I nodded slightly and told her I seemed to have lost my memory.

The look of pity in her eyes only deepened.

If she hadn't told me she was a maid, Melinda Cole, I would've thought she was the only one in this house who actually cared about me. After all, the people who locked me in this little dark room didn't even treat me like a person, much less feel any sympathy for me.

I thanked Melinda, took the stomach medicine, and lifted the bowl of oatmeal, gulping it down in big mouthfuls. It was just plain oatmeal, nothing special, but I had no idea how long I'd gone without eating.

"Slow down. If it's not enough, I'll get you more from the kitchen. I really don't know what Mr. and Mrs. Reid are thinking. How could they treat their own daughter like this?"

She looked at me with pity, feeling indignant for me.

From her, I learned some things about the Reid family. It sounded like something out of a melodrama.

My name was Summer Reid, and I was my parents' biological daughter. When I was born, they mixed me up with Ashley Reid, and we didn't get switched back until we were ten.

At first, my parents, Bobby Reid and Sapphire Loyes, along with my brother, Liam, felt guilty toward me, the child who had grown up outside the family.

But they favored Ashley more. And after she developed depression from feeling insecure and fearing they'd abandon her, my parents and Liam decided I should be the one to make sacrifices.

The big bedroom that was prepared for me was taken back. And even though I was the biological daughter, they told everyone that I was adopted.

They always assumed I bullied Ashley, and to make her happy, they built this room to punish me.

Melinda had only been working here a short time, and she'd already seen me locked in here dozens of times. Every time, I begged them not to do it. But the Reids never listened.

Melinda felt sorry for me, but as a maid, there wasn't much she could do. "Ms. Summer, you've tried everything to make them like you more. You don't deserve to be treated like this!"

She looked like she was about to cry.

Honestly, as I had lost my memory, I didn't care what that family thought of me. Listening to her talk about the past just felt like hearing someone else's story. I didn't feel sad or angry.

I took her hand. It was rough but warm. "Melinda, thank you. You've already helped me so much."

She brushed away her tears with her other hand, her eyes holding emotions I couldn't make sense of. Quietly, she murmured, "It's probably better that you don't remember any of that."

I heard her but didn't think much of it. I just kept eating. I was so hungry I felt like I could've eaten the tray too, but in reality, my appetite was strangely small. It was just a tiny bowl of oatmeal, yet I barely made it halfway before my stomach started to feel uncomfortably full.

I was reluctant to stop, but my stomach just couldn't take more.

I was about to hand the bowl back when a cold, icy voice came from the doorway.

"Melinda, Summer, what are you two doing?"

Melinda's face went pale with fear. "Ms. Ashley, why are you here?"

I looked toward the person standing in the doorway. She was wearing a silk nightdress, her hair smooth and neatly done. She looked like she was living a pampered life, down to the last detail.

I glanced down at myself. All I had on was a five-dollar plain cotton T-shirt. My hair was dry and split at the ends, while my arms were thin and twig-like. Compared to the socialite in front of me, I didn't look like part of the Reid family at all.

Just as I was thinking that, she suddenly let out a cold laugh and slapped Melinda across the face. "This is my house. Since when do I need your permission to walk around? You're just a maid. Who do you think you are, talking to me like that?"

She was arrogant and overbearing, showing none of the fragility she usually displayed around the Reids.

I caught a flicker of malice in her eyes, as if she were about to strike again. I instinctively stepped in front of Melinda.

She paused before flashing me a taunting smile. "Summer, looks like you still don't understand your place in this house."

She picked up a bowl nearby and smashed it hard on the floor. The sharp sound echoed clearly through the quiet night.

The moment it sounded like someone was coming downstairs, the same girl who had been acting so high and mighty suddenly smacked herself hard across the face and dropped to the floor. Tears came on cue, and when she opened her mouth again, her voice shook with the kind of practiced desperation you'd expect from a seasoned actress.

"Summer, why did you hit me?"

The footsteps outside sped up.

The same three people I'd seen that afternoon appeared at the door of the dark room again, and once more, they formed a shield around Ashley.

"Ash, are you okay? What happened?"

Ashley clutched her cheek and whimpered, "I thought Summer must be starving since she skipped dinner, so I brought her something to eat. But when I opened the door, Melinda was already here. They said I was gloating and that I shouldn't even be in the Reid residence.

"Dad, Mom, Liam, if I go back to the countryside, will Summer stop being mad at me?"

Seeing her fearful expression, my parents immediately flared with anger. "Summer, you really are crazy! How dare you lay a hand on Ash!"

They were furious, as if I'd committed some unforgivable crime.

Melinda stepped in front of me, trying to explain, "It's not like that. I'm the one who brought the oatmeal!"

Liam let out a cold laugh. "Oh? So you're saying Ash is lying?

"Melinda, we only hired you because you begged us to let you see Ash. We let you in because you're her biological mother. Now, it's clear why Summer turned out this way, always lying and stirring up trouble. It must've been your influence!"

I looked at Melinda, and that strange familiarity I felt earlier finally made sense. She was once my mother.

Melinda stayed in front of me. She wasn't particularly broad-shouldered, but it felt like she was trying to shield the entire sky above me.

"Sunny's a good child. She's never done anything wrong. It's all of you who are blind, even after she's done so much for you!

"Mrs. Reid, Sunny's the one who gets up before dawn to prepare the medicine you take for your headaches every single day. Don't you know that?

"Mr. Bobby, Sunny learned massage techniques just to ease your stress whenever you needed it. Have you forgotten?

"And Mr. Liam, every time your stomach problems flare up, who's the one who takes care of you? It's always Sunny! She's just a young lady!"

As Melinda listed every detail, my so-called family froze for a moment, as if they were actually trying to remember whether I had done all that for them.

Seeing their hesitation, Ashley panicked.

"If it weren't for me, Summer wouldn't have been ignored by everyone. It's all my fault. I shouldn't have come back at all! She's so perfect that even my biological mother is on her side. Of course, you all should love her more."

Tears streamed down her face as she grabbed a shard of broken porcelain and stumbled upstairs, crying. Her movements looked desperate, like she might actually hurt herself.

The Reids went into a frenzy.

Sapphire turned to Melinda with fury. "How heartless can you be? All you care about is Summer, even though Ash is your own daughter! You're just a maid. Who do you think you are, meddling in the Reid family's business? Pack your things and get out!"