CHAPTER 40: LITTLE GIRL WITH BAD LUCK

Right in front of her, Caelum confessed that he was one of the people who helped to create the petition without anyone knowing.

He had created a pseudonym, so mysteriously that no one knew who he was, and helped by providing tons of evidence and what had happened to Selene in the past to make her who she was today.

A major trauma that changed Selene’s life into someone who is very angry and also cold-blooded.

Flashback

Selene was born into a small Zondalian family. Even so, her family name is not an ordinary family name but one of the families registered with the ISI or International Security Intelligence.

Her father, Harry, was rarely home because of his job. That’s why there were only three of her at home, along with her mother and younger sister Zora.

However, whenever her father came home Selene would always be his main target.

THUD!

The brown-haired girl fell to the floor, after her father hit her in the face because he was annoyed at one of his teammates who was considered a burden.

Ah his anger became overflowing let alone making Selene the target just because the girl was late in bringing the drink he asked for.

"You useless child! I told you to bring me a beer, but just like that you take forever to get it!" Harry snapped at her.

"I’m sorry, mom sent me to do laundry so I was in the laundry room earlier. Zora is nearby, why don’t you ask her to get you a beer?" asked little Selene while pointing at her 9 year old sister.

Even though their age difference was only 2 years, at that time Selene was already 11 years old. However, her parents loved Zora more than her, and referred to her as a blessed child rather than Selene as an unlucky child.

It all happened simply because Selene was the only family member with dark brown hair. The others had blonde hair.

"You dare to speak to me like that?!" He hit Selene again until her lip was slightly torn and bleeding.

"Now get out of my sight, you disgust me!"

The little girl stood up from where she fell, then walked to leave the living room. Just then, she heard Zora shouting happily to show her father her drawing.

"Dad, look at my drawing! Am I a very talented child?" Zora asked happily.

"Of course you are, you’re very talented and the only child I love!" replied Harry as he kissed Zora on the forehead.

Selene who witnessed this could only remain silent, trying to remember. Had her father ever spoken to her like that?

Having finished the laundry, Selene went to her room and she saw some small trophies that she had gotten from competitions at her school. She had entered several competitions just to prove to her parents that she could do better than Zora.

But it was all in vain, she could never be the Spotlight in front of her parents no matter how smart she was.

She lay on the thin mattress in her room, hugging her body that felt so cold. Closing her eyes, she hoped this hell would end soon.

However, she knew she would be there forever.

THUD!

Selene fell, lying on the floor as her mother choked her with great force. She kept calling her an unlucky child, especially since her presence broke up her household.

"Why did you have to be born? Because of you and your damn dark hair, your father always accused me of cheating on him! We all have blonde hair, only you have dark hair like a monster!" she said as she continued to strangle Selene.

"Cough cough, mom stop... I can’t breathe... Mom... Please..." She held her mother’s hands around her neck, with her feet pushing on the floor as if begging to be released.

Her face started turning blue, and she really couldn’t breathe at all. Eventually, she fell unconscious. She almost lost her life, if only her neighbors hadn’t come over to hear her cry for help.

Even so, everything continued as before because the family was very good at talking. Successfully deceiving the police by giving false statements that they were not the ones who tortured Selene all this time.

This allowed them to escape the law and continue all the hellish tortures Selene had endured.

Flashback End

Selene sat on Caelum’s desk, remembering all those nightmares that happened to her when she was a child. She probably felt so calm when she finally escaped from the house. It took until she was 18 years old for her to truly leave, without looking back.

Although her family looked for her because to them Selene was a servant who did all the work without being paid.

"It sounds so ridiculous when they differentiate me from Zora. Comparing me to someone who can’t even be on the same level as me. Just because my hair color is different," she said coldly.

Despite the coldness, Caelum could feel the pain behind her words.

"You’re right, and after I investigated it turns out that you got your brown hair from your own paternal grandfather. The genetics you got still come from your father’s family," he said.

Selene who laughed at that, she herself only found out after 3 years out of her house. She wondered if her family was really clueless about genetics or if they were deliberately covering it up and calling her an unlucky child, so that she could be enslaved and treated badly by them.

What was certain was that Selene hated them. It was this hatred that made her unhappy with people who tortured children, because it reminded her of her bad childhood.

Especially her younger sister Zora, who took advantage of the situation by constantly provoking her parents that Selene was always doing something wrong.

"But it’s lucky that I got their genetics by being able to fight like this. I secretly read that monster’s manual to survive," she said with a laugh.

Hearing her laugh, Caelum stood up from his seat and pulled her into his arms. This surprised her and even confused her. Why was he suddenly hugging her?

But once again it was quite surprising because it felt so warm and comfortable in his arms. She felt her resentment and fear from the past slowly fade away as she felt the man’s body embrace her.

She buried her face in his chest while closing her eyes. Her body began to tremble, she felt that this was the first time someone hugged her.

"Damn, what have you done to me?" she muttered.

’Don’t give me any hope of staying alive when I know my life is going to end soon.’