My Sister Was Caged, I Came Back For Revenge

I came home early, hoping to surprise my little sister.

But when I arrived, she was nowhere to be found.

Then, by sheer chance, I spotted a scrap of her clothing poking through the bars of the locked dog cage near the front gate. Alarmed, I rushed over, opened the cage—and froze.

There she was, curled up inside a cramped wooden kennel, no bigger than a square meter. Her tiny frame looked pitiful, huddled like a stray.

I knelt down, trying to keep my voice light. "Why are you sleeping in here, silly? Come out—big sis brought your favorite milk cake!"

But she recoiled, shaking her head desperately. "No, no... milk cake is for the master. Puppies like me don’t deserve it. I can only eat dog food..."

Before I could respond, a mocking voice rang out behind me.

"Cathy said studying was too hard and being a dog seemed easier," my stepmother said lazily. "She insisted on living in the kennel."

I turned. Her pregnant belly was huge—at least eight months along—and around her neck hung the family’s seal, the symbol of our lineage’s authority. One that should have remained between me and my sister.

Noticing my gaze fixed on the seal, she smirked and patted her stomach proudly. "The doctor confirmed it’s a boy. So naturally, Cathy’s seal now belongs to me—and soon, yours will too."

I smiled faintly, biting back my rage. Clearly, she didn’t know the truth: my father was merely a live-in son-in-law, and he’d been infertile since the year my sister was born.

——

And now, the second daughter of the Downing Family—a girl born to be cherished—was chained up like an animal in the yard.

My heart twisted at the sight of the iron collar around her neck.

No wonder she never contacted me during the three years I was abroad. Every time I asked our father, he brushed it off, saying she was busy with school.

The room that once belonged to her had been taken over, the villa refurnished completely. Nothing remained of what it had looked like when our mother was alive.

I helped my sister out of the cage, brushing off the dust clinging to her frail body. She was wearing the dress I had gifted her three years ago—it was now threadbare, barely covering her properly.

I quickly wrapped my coat around her.

"Olivia," I said, cold fury in my voice, "how dare you speak this way to the second daughter of the Downing Family? Tired of living, are you?"

"How dare you speak to your mother like that!" a man bellowed.

Our father—Edmund Reeves—had appeared with a group of strangers, all glaring at me with hostile eyes.

"My mother died long ago," I said flatly. "And she means nothing to me."

"Alice!" my father barked. "Olivia is my wife—your mother—and the rightful mistress of this home! Apologize to her at once, or I’ll disown you!"

I turned on him with a sneer. "A country maid who climbed into your bed is now worthy of being called my mother? And you, Edmund, have you forgotten whose name this household bears?"

My mother was the 75th High Matriarch of the Order of the Azure Serpent—grandmaster of both the arcane and the divine, bearer of the Serpent’s Sigil, and supreme leader of over 8,000 covens across Europe and North America. A woman of unparalleled power and legacy... and yet, she fell for a man like Edmund.

For love, she defied her family, risked her life, and finally convinced my grandfather to allow the marriage.

My sister and I both called my grandfather ‘Grandpa,’ just like she did.

Before her death, my mother split the Sigil of the Serpent in two—entrusting one half to me, and the other to Cathy—warning us only to use it when absolutely necessary.

After she passed, Father claimed my sister needed care, so he brought in his old flame from his hometown.

"I agreed to let Olivia enter this house as a nanny," I said sharply, "not as the mistress of the Downing Family."

Before I could say more, Edmund slapped me hard across the face.

"This is my house now! If you don't like it, then leave!"

I touched my burning cheek, my voice steady and cold. "Don't forget—you're living in the villa my mother purchased before she married you. This is Downing Family property. If anyone needs to leave, it should be you and your mistress."