Chapter 2
Floating in the air,I cast my gaze downwards to stare at my own skinny body below.
In the shabby shed behind the Carter family's house, my body was curled up, my right hand still frozen in a grasping position. That was muscle memory from years of fighting for scraps.
I once lived a life filled with incomparable pride and joy.
When I was ten, I won the state dance competition, and my dad gifted me a Steinway Grand Piano.
He gently ruffled my hair and said, "Emily, you're Daddy's little princess. Your whole life will be filled with endless light and warmth."
Back then, James was always right behind me. If anyone made me cry, he'd chase them for blocks.
But everything changed abruptly after I suddenly disappeared.
That stuffy summer, someone pressed a handkerchief over my mouth and shoved me into a van.
When I woke up, I was the so-called "wife" of a madman deep in the village.
I made desperate attempts to escape three times in total.
The first time I was caught, they broke my left leg.
The second time, they locked me in a pigsty and made me fight wild dogs for scraps.
The third time, they ripped out my nails, one by one.
For all those painful years, I once thought the longing and yearning for my family was the only thing supporting me to hold on.
But when I was finally rescued and returned home, what awaited me was nothing but endless humiliation and coldness.
Olivia Smith was the child they adopted a year after I went missing.
Mom said she looked a bit like me, as if Heaven sent her to fix the hole in her heart.
But when I finally came back, the girl meant to fill the hole ended up replacing me.
On the second day after my return, Olivia claimed that her diamond necklace had gone missing.
Mom stormed into my so-called room, not caring about the truth.
It wasn't even a real room. It was a cramped shed piled with old newspapers.
She pointed her finger straight at my face.
"Can't keep your hands to yourself, huh? I knew a wild girl dragged out of some backwoods would come home with nothing but dirty habits!" she shouted.
I defended myself, saying I had never taken the necklace.
James ripped open my ragged bundle and threw out my only treasure. It was a hairpin Mom had given me. But James crushed it under his foot.
"You didn't take it, huh? Go stand outside, and come back when you're ready to confess."
Darkness fell, and heavy rain poured down endlessly that night.
I was completely soaked through, with my broken leg throbbing sharply with constant pain.
Through the floor-to-ceiling window, I watched Olivia sitting in the warm dining room, feeding a peeled grape to my dad.
He smiled at her, full of warmth.
That was the love that once belonged only to me.
I suddenly recalled that the System once asked if I wanted to erase all these bitter memories and leave everything behind.
I refused without the slightest hesitation.
I wanted to keep my eyes wide open and see exactly how my so-called family pushed me to the edge, little by little.
Now, I was finally free.
My cold and lifeless body lay silently on the ground, abandoned like worthless rubbish.
Meanwhile, the Carter family's house was still brightly lit, their laughter piercing the rainy night.