Chapter 2

When I finally came to, I found myself lying in a hospital bed.

The doctor beside me spoke with regret, "Because of the head injury, Edith's intelligence is now like that of a five-year-old child. But if she gets proper training, she might be able to recover in the future."

My dad let out a long sigh. "Doctor, I'm counting on you to help Edith get better."

The doctor hesitated. "There's one more thing. When we examined Edith, we found she had bruises and wounds all over her body. Should we call the police?"

Hearing this, Mom walked over to me.

She quickly lifted my shirt.

The moment they saw all the bruises and wounds covering my body, they stood there in shock, both their eyes welling up with tears.

When I woke up, I realized my teddy bear was gone.

"Where's Teddy? I want my teddy bear," I said.

That was when my parents realized they'd forgotten to get my teddy bear out of the water.

Mom pulled me into her arms and gently stroked my head. "Edith, sweetheart, don't cry anymore. I will help you find your teddy bear, alright?"

I wiped away my tears and nodded.

When we got home, Dad helped me fish my teddy bear out of the water.

I clung to my dripping wet teddy bear and couldn't bear to let go.

As soon as we stepped through the door, my twin brother, Michael, darted in front of me, blocking my path.

"Edith, stop right there," he said.

His face twisted with anger, brows knitted tight as he snapped at me, "Was it you who pushed Erica into the water?"

I quickly blurted out, "Erica said she wanted to jump into the pool and end it all. I was just trying to help her out."

With a smack, my cheek stung with a fresh red handprint.

Michael yelled at me, "Who the hell do you think you are? How dare you hurt Erica? This is Erica's home.

"She's the only sister I have."

Seeing what happened, Mom came running over. "Michael, stop it!"

Michael shot them a glare, clearly pissed off. "Dad, Mom, why did you have to bring her back? Have you even thought about what this means for Erica?"

"Erica's always been sensitive. She can't take this kind of thing."

Tears welled up in my eyes as I nervously bit my lower lip, totally terrified by Michael's moves.

When I was a kid, whenever Frank and Linda were upset about something outside, they'd make me come over.

And before I knew it, they'd just start slapping me across the face.

Seeing Michael's furious face, I just stood there, stunned, clutching my teddy bear.

Suddenly, I felt a warm trickle running down my leg.

All I could feel was shame and humiliation.

I buried my face in my teddy bear.

Everyone saw the puddle at my feet. Fighting back tears, I pressed my legs together even tighter.

Seeing this, Michael started to panic. "Edith, you..."

Dad got furious and slapped Michael twice.

Dad shouted, "If you ever hit your sister again or scare her, you can pack your bags and get out of this house!

"Edith is your own sister!"

Michael was frozen in place, just staring at me with a conflicted look in his eyes.

Mom gently took my hand and led me to the bathroom. My eyes were still filled with tears.

After my bath, Mom brought me a gorgeous dress.

It was adorned with sparkling crystals, just like the princess gowns I'd seen on TV.

I couldn't hide my excitement.

Ignoring the scars on my arms, I slipped into the dress and spun around in front of the mirror, over and over.

As soon as I stepped out, Erica looked me up and down.

Suddenly, she shot to her feet and stormed over. "Why are you wearing my dress? Who said you could touch it?

"You thief! Take it off, now!"

With that, she started yanking and clawing at my dress, her nails raking my skin and leaving scratches all over me.

I looked at her, bewildered and with tears in my eyes. "Mom gave it to me to wear. I'm not a thief," I tried to explain.

But Erica wouldn't stop pulling at my dress, clawing at me nonstop.

With no choice, I meekly unzipped the dress and gave it back to her.

I stood there in the living room, completely naked, not knowing what to do.

Mom and Dad came down the stairs and, seeing me standing there with nothing on, turned absolutely furious.

As soon as Erica saw them, she started crying. "Mom, Dad, Edith stole my dress! Does she have to take everything from me?"

Dad said, clearly annoyed, "Erica, you have over two hundred dresses. Didn't we tell you to give a few to Edith first?"

Erica pouted. "But I hadn't even picked which ones to give her yet, and she just put one on without asking."

Mom frowned and smacked Erica right across the face.

Then she grabbed the dress away from Erica.

"I gave this to Edith. When did you start yanking clothes off other people?" Mom demanded.

Erica looked deeply hurt.

"Mom, you actually hit me because of her?" she shouted, her voice shaking with disbelief.

She shot me a vicious glare, then turned and ran out of the villa.