Chapter 2
As soon as the door opened, a delicate figure rushed over.
It was Jane.
She was dressed in a white princess dress, her hair styled into gentle ringlets. Her eyes were red as she clung to Zora's arm, crying with tears streaming down her face.
"Zora. You're finally back!" Jane's voice was soft and sweet, yet clear enough for everyone coming down the stairs to hear. "I've missed you every single day. These past two years without you, I could hardly sleep. I was always afraid you were having a hard time in there..."
She pressed her face against Zora's shoulder, her tears staining Zora's clothes. Then, she whispered in Zora's ear, just for the two of them,
"Zora, you're lucky Verdant Hill Mental Health Facility didn't finish you off. Get out of the Ralph family. This is my turf now. Try to take anything from me, and I'll send you right back. This time, you'll never see the light of day."
Zora didn't move.
The perfume Jane wore was exactly the same as the one that orderly at Verdant Hill used to wear, the one who roughed her up every day.
She didn't push Jane away or say anything. She just lowered her gaze, watching the girl in her arms pretend to be all fragile and innocent.
Jane's heart skipped a beat.
She felt something was off.
She always figured Zora would come back from Verdant Hill either totally crazy or scared out of her wits. But the Zora in front of her was way too calm, so calm it was almost creepy, like staring into a dead, silent pond. It made Jane's skin crawl.
Jane bit her lip, thinking she might as well go all the way.
As soon as she finished, Jane staggered back several steps, the hot milk splashing all over her white princess dress. The scalding milk streamed down her skirt, and she lost her balance, landing on the cashmere carpet, shaking and sobbing.
"Jacob..." She looked up at the man coming down the stairs, big fat tears rolling down her cheeks. "I just wanted to give Zora a cup of hot milk to warm her up, but she said I was being fake, then she threw the milk at me and pushed me..."
Jacob's expression turned grim.
He was twenty-five, dressed in a custom-tailored black suit, radiating a vibe that screamed 'keep away.' Right now, the anger in his eyes was practically spilling over.
He strode over and gently helped Jane up. When he saw the red burn marks on her arm, his brows twisted with concern. Then he turned to Zora, who hadn't moved an inch from the doorway, his gaze icy cold.
"Zora," he said.
His voice was low, weighted with menace, every word slicing through the air like a poisoned blade.
"I had Winston bring you back so you could learn to be a decent person, not so you could come back and torment Jane.
"She was just trying to help, offering you some warm milk, and this is how you repay her? Two years in Verdant Hill and you haven't changed one bit, still as cruel as ever."
Zora finally looked up at Jacob, her own flesh and blood brother.
She remembered how, when she first came back to the Ralph family, she'd nervously called him, hoping he'd be the one to stand up for her.
But it was this very man who threw her into hell with his own hands.
Just a few tears from Jane, and he never even asked if she was actually guilty.
Zora didn't defend herself. She didn't cry or throw a tantrum. She just stared at Jacob like he was a total stranger.
That stone-faced attitude of hers only made Jacob's temper explode.
He stormed forward, his tall figure almost swallowing her up, the air thick with pressure. He jabbed his finger right at her nose, his tone pure menace.
"Let me make this clear, Zora. You better behave yourself. Jane's been the Ralph family's precious girl for fifteen years. She's my sister. If you so much as lay a finger on her, I'll send you straight back to Verdant Hill Mental Health Facility, and you'll rot there for the rest of your life."
Rot there for the rest of her life.
Those words were like a rusty key, unlocking a door in Zora's mind that had been locked away for two years.
Suddenly, the crackle of a stun gun filled her ears, along with the staff at Verdant Hill cursing her, and her own hopeless sobs echoing from the isolation room. And then Jane's smirking voice came through the glass partition in the visiting room: "Zora, you're never getting out of here. The Ralph family is mine, forever."
She'd made it through two years of hell, toughing it out every single day.
She wasn't that desperate little girl anymore, the one who used to kneel and cry, begging Jacob to believe in her, even just once.
The living room was dead silent. Jane clung to Jacob, shooting a secret, gloating glance at Zora; she just couldn't hide the smugness in her eyes.
Jane knew all she had to do was cry a little and Jacob would always be on her side. How could Zora, the nutcase just out of Verdant Hill, ever hope to beat her?