Chapter 1

I was the daughter of a criminal, taken in and raised by the kind family next door.

One day, my adoptive sister tried to help a young couple out with their problems.

But the girl turned on her, accused her of trying to steal her boyfriend, and eventually had my sister killed.

Afterward, the girl even bragged about it. "I'm mentally ill—what's the law gonna do?"

The law might be limited, but my revenge wasn't. I came from bad stock, and I was about to prove it.

*****

When I saw my adoptive sister, Regina Wilson, again, she was already dead.

She was lying in a dimly lit alley, covered with a white sheet.

David Wilson and Olivia Wilson, my foster parents, were sobbing hard, unable to bring themselves to approach. In the end, I walked over and pulled back the sheet.

Even though I thought I was prepared, the scene still hit me like a punch to the gut.

Regina's clothes were shredded, and her body was covered in fresh bruises, which suggested she hadn't been dead for long.

At the police station, a young woman in her early twenties named Sarah Lewis was waiting.

Sarah openly admitted that she was responsible for what happened.

Before we could even express our anger, she slammed a psychiatric exemption certificate on the table.

She looked at us with smugness as she said, "I was just walking with my boyfriend when she approached and tried to steal him from me. I got pissed, so I dragged her into the alley.

"See this? I'm legally insane, so nothing I do is my fault. And honestly, I didn't expect your sister to die so quickly from just a few squeezes."

David and Olivia were heartbroken as they stared blankly at Sarah's totally unconcerned face.

Later, the police actually informed our group that Sarah could not be charged because of her psychiatric condition.

The moment we stepped out of the police station, I overheard Sarah boasting to the man waiting for her. "Luckily, my parents pulled some strings to get me this psychiatric certificate when they knew how often I caused trouble.

"Otherwise, I'd still be stuck dealing with those penniless hicks," she said arrogantly.

When she turned and saw the three of us still glaring at her, she spat in disgust. Before getting into her car, she added, "They've completely ruined my day."

I understood then that she was not actually mentally ill at all.

Since she seemed to enjoy pretending to be mentally ill, maybe I should give her a real reason to be.

*****

After leaving the police station, I first calmed my foster parents, who were emotionally shattered. Then I managed to convince them to allow an autopsy on Regina's body.

I grew up with a criminal father, so I recognized the kind of violence he inflicted on his victims.

The moment I saw Regina's body, I knew that Sarah hadn't been acting alone.

Since Sarah used a legal technicality to escape justice, my only option was to track down the others who were responsible.

But on the morning the autopsy was scheduled, someone sneaked into the hospital morgue before we did and took Regina's body.

When we finally found her, all that was left was a handful of ashes sealed inside an urn.

As Sarah handed me the urn, her arm gave a deliberate shake. With a phony "Oops," she let it slip, and the urn shattered on the ground between us.

Just a few days ago, Regina had been alive. Now, what remained of her lay scattered amid the broken pottery.

Olivia finally broke down, collapsing to her knees as she desperately tried to gather the ashes, shielding them from the wind with her hands.

Even David, who was usually so timid, snapped.

He grabbed Sarah by the collar and yelled, "What kind of monster are you? You killed our daughter, robbed us of our chance to say goodbye, and now you won't even let us keep what little we have left of her!"

But before David could throw his punch, the man who was with Sarah grabbed his arm and pushed him back. "Back off, old man. Try touching my girlfriend, and we'll see what happens."

Sarah spoke in a cold, calm voice, "I was ready to pay you compensation to make this go away, but you just had to insist on an autopsy and investigation.

"Let me be real with you—there were several guys involved with your daughter, but you'll never find any evidence. And even if you do, my family would make it disappear."

She then signaled to her boyfriend, who shoved David to the ground.

"Consider this a warning," Sarah said to my foster parents, sending me a meaningful glance. "If you keep digging into this, you might just lose your other daughter too."

*****

When we returned home, Olivia became even more emotionally distraught and cried constantly, while David lost all motivation to go to work.

I could no longer tolerate the heavy atmosphere at home, so I made the decision to move out.