“Eula! Have you no conscience left?!

“That’s my grandmother’s heirloom!

“What right do you have to give it away?!

“For the sake of the seven years our family raised you, give it back to me!”

Eula’s face instantly twisted into a hideous grimace.

Smack!

With a sharp slap, my head was violently jerked to the side. My ears rang.

Eula hated it most when people brought up her past as a dependent.

It shattered what little self-respect she had left into a million pieces.

“Who told you to bring that up?!

“As expected, you really have always looked down on me!

“Zephyr, you really have always thought of me as nothing more than a dog your family kept!”

Luke wrapped his arm around her as he added fuel to the fire.

“Eula, don’t get angry. Zephyr didn’t mean it. He’s just in a bad mood.”

As he spoke, his gaze drifted casually toward my room. A sinister smile played on his lips.

“By the way, I think I saw Zephyr’s computer in his room just now. The browser was even logged in.

“Why don’t we just fill out his college applications for him? Let’s save him the trouble.”

My heart clenched suddenly.

“No!”

I screamed at the top of my lungs. But my arms were once again pinned down so tightly I could not move an inch.

The fury on Eula’s face slowly faded. A cold, cruel smile took its place.

“Zephyr, do you think being the valedictorian makes you so great?

“Let me tell you, even if you get into the top universities like Ozford and Hafard, you’d still have to do as I say!”

She turned to look at Luke. Her flippant tone was tinged with a hint of barely perceptible affection.

“Luke, where would you like Golding to go to school?”

Luke tapped his chin with his finger, pretending to think.

“Hmm, let me think. I heard there’s a community college with a pretty good beauty and hairdressing program. Why don’t we send Zephyr there to further his studies?

“With his looks, he might even become the school’s heartthrob!”

A burst of laughter immediately erupted around us.

“Eula, I’m begging you.

“This is my future. You can’t do this to me…”

My pleas did not elicit a shred of pity. Instead, it only made them laugh even more wildly.

“Zephyr, I’m just trying to help you. What’s wrong with studying beauty and hairdressing?

“You’ll be able to blow-dry my hair for me in the future. Wouldn’t it be convenient?”

Luke snuggled up beside her and grinned happily.

“That’s right, Zephyr.”

He sighed and feigned concern. In contrast, his tone was shrill and grating.

“You’re always so eager to serve Eula. If you study beauty and hairdressing, it’ll be the perfect way to learn even more service skills.

“You’ll even be able to design hairstyles for Eula in the future. Don’t you see how thoughtful that’d be?!”

He deliberately emphasized the word “service”. His gaze was full of provocation and mockery.

“Hahahaha! Luke is right!”

“We might be able to get in on the action too! Having the valedictorian wash our hair? That kind of treatment is beyond our wildest dreams!”

“Eula is awesome! That’s exactly how you deal with him!”

I watched helplessly as Eula filled out every slot on the application form, listing that community college as the sole choice.

I screamed in agony.

“No! Eula, you can’t do this to me!”

She finished submitting the application and flashed me a triumphant smile.

The application had been submitted. Everything had been set in stone.

The two arms that had been holding me down finally let go. I collapsed to the ground in despair.

Eula seemed to want more. She intended to crush my last shred of hope in the most ruthless way possible.

Amid the deafening cheers and applause from the crowd, she grabbed my laptop.

“Zephyr, take a good look. This is your future!”

The moment she finished speaking, she let go with a sudden jerk.

The casing shattered instantly.

One of the shards grazed my cheek, leaving a thin trail of blood.

I really could not understand what our family had ever done to her.

She was doing everything in her power to destroy me.

I braced myself against the cold floor, slowly stood up, and walked toward the door.

There was still time. I was going to find a computer and change my college application.

“Oh, right, I almost forgot. Tomorrow is the deadline for college applications.”

Luke covered his mouth, feigning surprise.

“Zephyr, you aren’t planning on going to an internet cafe to change your application, are you?”

My heart sank.

Eula looked at me with an unexpectedly dark expression.

“Lock him in the basement.”

She gave concise orders to the two lackeys by her side.

The basement of my house was dark and damp. It never saw the light of day.

Most importantly, I had claustrophobia.

I have had it since childhood. Until that moment, it was still a nightmare that I could not shake off.

“No!

“Eula, you can’t lock me in the basement! Please, you know I’m afraid of it.”

I pleaded incoherently. My dignity had long since been crushed to dust.

“I’ll stay in the living room. I won’t go anywhere, okay?

“I’ll just sit here and watch you guys. Please…”

Eula seemed slightly moved. However, that flicker of hesitation was quickly dispelled by Luka’s soft snort.

“Eula, you can’t let your heart get in the way.

“What if he runs away? Wouldn’t all our efforts today have been for nothing?”

The last trace of hesitation in Eula’s eyes vanished instantly.

“Drag him down.”

I was roughly thrown into the basement.

The darkness was absolute. The silence was as still as death.

I curled up in fear on the cold floor. My whole body trembled uncontrollably as my teeth chattered.

From upstairs came the sounds of their revelry, which grew even more unrestrained.

I heard Luke’s excited suggestion.

“Eula, let’s go on a trip. I want to go skiing in Swisserland!”

“Sure,” Eula replied with a laugh. Her tone was full of passion.

“We’ll go wherever you want to go. I’ll show you the world.”

When I opened my eyes again, I was already in the hospital.

It turned out that after Eula and the others had left, the maid hiding in the kitchen had immediately rescued me.

Just as I started speaking, the hospital room door burst open.

My parents rushed in, looking haggard. Their faces were filled with anxiety and relief.

When Dad learned the whole story, he was so furious that he was shaking all over.

“That beast! We, the Golding family, have raised her all these years, only to end up with an ungrateful wretch!”

He immediately grabbed his phone. His voice was overflowing with uncontrollable rage.

“Freeze every single bank account in Eula’s name!

“From today on, the Golding family has nothing to do with her!”

After hanging up, he looked at me. His eyes filled with heartache and guilt.

“Zephyr, it’s my fault. I let that disaster into our home and caused you so much pain.”

I shook my head, nestled into Mom’s embrace, and forced a smile.

Actually, I had already secured a guaranteed spot at Ozford before the SATs.

I had only taken the exams to support Eula.

So, whatever college she listed as my choice had absolutely no impact on me.

She thought she was ruining my future. But in reality, she had only destroyed the last shred of affection between us.

Meanwhile in Swisserland, Eula discovered that her cards had been frozen.