Chapter 2
When Jason came to the orphanage to pick me up, I was fighting with other kids over a toy. They got me beaten to the ground.
It was a brand-new toy, just donated by a kind stranger.
The head of the orphanage said I was older now and should share with the younger kids. But this toy was given to me! Just because others liked it didn't mean they could snatch it from my hands like it was nothing.
It turned out the toy was from my real parents.
They had always meant to bring me home. But every time they tried, Sophie would fall sick. A fortune teller said I was a curse to her.
So they left me in the orphanage for two whole years.
The first time I saw Jason, I felt like the past years of my life had been a joke.
I had never seen anyone so handsome.
He stood in the sunlight, in casual clothes, just like the male lead in the comics I used to hide under my bed.
He reached out his hand to me. "Ellie, I'm your brother. I'm here to take you home."
Brother... home... For the first time, I felt these words could truly belong to me.
I heard it was he who insisted on bringing me back, even when everyone else was against it.
I really liked him.
He gave me my first home.
And now, he had come for me again.
I gripped his hand tightly.
With a trembling voice, I pleaded, "Jason, I won't do it again. I promise."
What an ugly lie.
Who was that, lying like that?
I tilted my head slightly. The voice... it came from my own throat.
"Ellie, your eyes..." Jason gasped.
My eyes?
I couldn't see him, but I could feel the wind.
And the wind had to be coming from the way out.
"Someone's dead... There's a dead body." It was Jason's secretary, Michael's voice, so shrill and disgusting.
They'd found the body. They knew what I'd done. I had to run.
Stumbling desperately toward where the wind was coming from, I rushed out.
My head hit something hard, but I ignored the pain.
My knee slammed into something, but it didn't matter.
Warm liquid trickled from my temple into my mouth. I licked it instinctively.
It tasted like rusty metal, disgusting.
But I didn't care—I hadn't had water in ages.
I thought I really made it out.
But outside, it was still dark.
I couldn't see a thing. But I didn't dare stop.
I ran as hard as I could.
Jason shouted anxiously, "Ellie. Stop!"
He was my brother...
No, he's not my brother. He's Jason—he's Sophie's brother.
He's the one who locked me in that dark room. I couldn't let him catch me.
"Ellie, watch out!" He yelled out behind me.
Thud! I tumbled down the steps. My survival instinct kicked in, and I forced myself up, but after just two staggering steps, I collapsed again, this time for good.
"Ellie!" Jason's voice was laced with panic.
"Please... don't hit me... I'll be good!" I pleaded with a trembling voice, "I won't fight with Sophie anymore. You're her brother. I'm just a mistake... I'll do whatever you say from now on..."
Even as I was slipping into unconsciousness, I kept begging him.
When I came to, I smelled disinfectant.
I heard voices—Jason's and my parents'. No, not my parents. They were Sophie Carter's parents.
Sophie sobbed, her voice trembling with guilt, "It's all my fault... If I hadn't kept running a fever, Jason could've picked up Ellie sooner. Then she wouldn't have ended up like this..."
Sophie was sobbing her heart out.
Hearing her cry, Jason, Edward, and Margaret Carter all rushed to comfort her.
My eyes stayed shut tight. The last thing I needed was for them to pin Sophie's heartbreak on me—again.
Maybe I acted too stiffly. They noticed I was awake.
What now?
Would they think I made Sophie cry and lock me up again?
"Ellie, are you awake? Open your eyes and look at Mommy, sweetheart." Margaret's voice trembled with worry. "The doctor said you're suffering from severe shock and acute malnutrition—it's even affected your eyesight. But Mommy's right here now. Open your eyes, sweetheart..."
A pair of ice-cold hands reached for me. I flinched violently and slapped them away.
I screamed, "You're Sophie's Mom, not mine! Please, don't hit me. Don't lock me in the dark room. I swear I didn't bully her. No—no, wait, it was me. I did it; it's all my fault. Please, don't hit me. I'll confess to everything."
"Ellie, you..." Margaret's voice was full of worry.
I could see light now, though blurry and dim.
Through the haze, I saw Margaret crying.
It terrified me. Thankfully, the police arrived.
"Officer, I killed someone. Take me away. Give me the death penalty." I scrambled out of bed in a panic, desperate to escape.
I'd rather die than fall back into their hands again.
But the police didn't take me in. They
classified it as self-defense, and after the psych eval deemed me unstable, the DA declined to press charges.
I was taken back to the Carter family's house.
Around the Carters, I had to be
the picture of the perfect, submissive doll.
I sat quietly in the back seat, afraid to move.
"Ellie, sweetheart, are you tired? We'll be home soon." Margaret tried to comfort me.
I smiled, showing two little teeth, and nodded. "I'm good. I won't cause any trouble."
She stiffened. Tears started falling from her eyes again.
I shrank into myself, unsure what I'd done wrong this time.
When the car stopped, I jumped out in a hurry, terrified they'd find some new reason to blame me.
But my body gave out, and I crashed into the ground.
Edward rushed over to help me. But I jerked away in fear.
"I can do it myself! I can walk on my own. You go take care of your real daughter. I won't fight with her for Daddy's love anymore, I promise." I struggled to stand up.