Chapter 1
Ten years ago, my mother disappeared while pregnant with me.
My father mobilized every connection in Sario, turning everything upside down in his search.
He was determined to find her, alive or dead.
He even hired the renowned journalist, Harley Blaine, and the story dominated the trending lists for three whole days and nights.
Ten years later, my mother passed away, and I narrowly escaped death myself.
Only to discover that Harley had become my stepmother.
Harley accused me of being competitive with other girls and bullying classmates at school.
Furious, my father threw me out into the snow as punishment.
I stood there until my hands and feet went numb, but he showed no emotion.
He said, "When a child is poorly raised, the blame falls on the parents.
"How can you learn your lesson if I don't teach you one?"
*****
The outside was freezing cold, and I was only wearing a nightgown.
By the time I was born, my mom had already been forced to become someone else's wife.
That family looked down on me as a bastard and chained me up in a pigsty.
It was the same kind of freezing winter back then.
I curled up with the pigs, crying out for Mom again and again.
My mom tried to protect me, but she got slapped twice for her trouble.
The cold seeped into my bones, piercing every inch of my body.
My skin felt numb and prickly.
Just one door separated me from the warmth inside.
I knew Dad was watching me through the window.
But Dad, why was the winter inside this house so much colder?
My consciousness started to fade, and I was barely able to stay on my feet.
Stuart Hatcher, the security guard patrolling outside, saw me and looked shocked and heartbroken.
"Oh my, it's freezing out here, in the teens below zero Fahrenheit. Come on, kid, let's get you to the security office and warm you up," he said.
I tried to give him a grateful smile, but my facial muscles were too stiff to move.
At that moment, Dad rushed out, wrapped me in a thick cotton coat, and held me in his arms.
He barked at Stuart, his voice cold as ice, but when he looked at me, his eyes softened with concern.
"Caitlin, my dear," he called out.
He kept calling my name again and again.
He said, "Why are you so damn stubborn, Caitlin?
"Is it really that hard to just admit you were wrong to me?"
But Dad, I never bullied my classmates.
I wanted to pull up my sleeve and show him the scars on my skin carved by a utility knife.
But then I remembered what Harley said, that I was always lifting my shirt for any guy and loved competing with other girls.
So I stopped, my hand freezing mid-movement.
Harley followed close behind Dad, wearing the exact same worried look on her face.
But then she said something that made my blood freeze.
She said, "Caitlin, that classmate you dumped cold water on? She felt just as freezing as you do now.
"Try to imagine how she felt. You can't go around doing stuff like that again."
The concern in Dad's eyes turned sharp in an instant.
My stiff body couldn't stop trembling.
Dad didn't believe me.
He was silent for a moment, then carried me inside. But as he did, I caught a glimpse of Harley's dark, calculating look.
Dad told the maid to warm up some food for me.
She brought me a big bowl of food and made hot soup.
Earlier, when Dad threw me out, she had risked his anger to beg him to reconsider.
But Dad just wouldn't listen.
Harley noticed my hands were so stiff I couldn't even hold my fork, and she flashed a sweet smile.
She said, "Caitlin, you really need to get along with your classmates. This is an elite school, after all.
"You can't be doing things like this. Don't embarrass your dad."
"But I didn't..." I said.
Icy tears slid down my cheeks, cold and sharp.
Dad stroked my hair, watching my clumsy movements. He cut me off, his tone full of pity.
He said, "It's okay, Caitlin. I know you'll make things right.
"Let's just put this behind us and never mention it again."
Harley gave me that overly gentle, fake-warm smile.
She pulled out a fancy little jewelry box.
"Your dad said if you behave, you'll get this as a reward," she said.
Inside the box was a pocket watch.
It was my mom's pocket watch.
How could Dad let Harley keep it?