Fiona was suddenly leh speechless by Ste’s blund words.

The rooms fell silent bas /bSte retreated to her room. She grabbed her soiled pants, sealed them in a stic bag to dispose ofter, and headed straighti

the shower

Ste always showered with cold water. She couldn’t stand hot water. Even the slightest heat on her skin would send waves of unbearable pain

it bwasn’t /bjust about idents. Ste often had to endure the feeling for long stretches with no way to clean herself As disgusting as it sounded, this was here in Dusty Pines,

No one ever wanted something like this to happen. Back then, she was so depressed that she honestly thought she would be better off dead

But there was no room for despair. Even when she pretended to be a fool, men still tried to take advantage of her at night. All she could do was fight them off and battle against fate.

Then, Ste snapped back to reality when she heard the door to her room open. Someone was approaching the bathroom. She tensed instinctivel had been so focused on her pants that she had forgotten to lock the door. Who could it be? she wondered.

Fiona’s voice came from outside the bathroom. “Take your time, Ste. Don’t worry about your pants. I had someone throw them out. That was my mistake. When youe out, I want to talk to you.”

Ste remained silent, continuing to shower, When she stepped out, she noticed, bas /bexpected, that the bstic /bbag she had left by the door was already

Fiona brought a bowl of soup for her. “Ste, why don’t you have some soup? Dr. Dewitt bsaid /byou shouldn’t eat solid food right now, but a little soup would be good for you.”

Ste didn’t take the soup. As Fiona had expected, she set it down on the table. “It’s fine if you don’t want it now. When you feel like it, just ask the maid to warm it up. I’ll leave it here.”

Ste acted as if Fiona weren’t even there, pacing around the room and ignoring herpletely.

Fiona added, “I’ve been thinking a lot about byour /bsituation. We really didn’t understand. We never experienced what you went through. When the police reports camest time, we didn’t even read them properly. We failed to see things from your perspective.”

She continued, “But it’s not your fault. Who could’ve bguessed /b

Ste’s expression hardened, and she shot Fiona a re impatiently. “Are you done?”

Fiona hesitated, realizing her mistake. “Yes, Tunderstand. You don’t want to talk about it anymore. I’ve already told bthe /bservants not to mention it again, so you won’t feel embarrassed when you go out.”

“Embarrassed” Ste scoffed. “Fiona, I’m not as fragile as you think.

“Back in Dusty Pines, when i had my first ident and couldn’t bclean /bmyself up, I had to live with that smell for days, with everyone staring at me in disgust. After that,pletely lost any sense of embarrassment.”

Fiona’s heart ached as tears streamed down her face. “My poor girl, how could you bhave /bendured so much hardship?”

Ste said coldly, “If that’s all you came bto /bbsay/b, then please leave.”

“No” Fiona said quickly. “I’ve thought a lot about this. Since you came back, I haven’t had a proper conversation with you. And that time i say you was wrong. I’m sorry, Ste.”

Ste didn’t even nce at her, and she saw right through Fiona. “Don’t worry I won’t go back on my word. But you’d better not go back on yours,

10-10 wed, su

either.b” /b

Fiona fore, her face flushing s

with embarassment. She stood there, momentarily nk.

After a long silence,

brad and asked coldly. “Anything che?”

Fiona began to cry, dabbing at her eyes with a tissue

Ste’s in itation only deepened at the watched her

Fiona said, “Ste, I know you’ve been carrying so much pain since you came back. Forcing you to marry Henry was thest thing I wanted. A thousand times cvet, I was against it. But had no other choice.

“I wish the kidnappers had taken me instead. Let me bear all that suffering. You were just a child, with your whole ahead of you

Ste said coldly, “I’m exhausted, Just leave

“Ste… Fiona was about to say more when Ste shot her a cold re that silenced her,

Fiona wiped away her tears. “Fine, I’ll go. I’ll leave right now.”

Ste stood there, unmoving and heartbroken. These were her own family, bed to

by bloodb, /byet they did everything they could to hurt her.

She couldn’t ept their apologies. Alter all, the s scars from her past would stay with her forever.

There was another knock at the door, Ste turned to see Anna standing there, her eyes red band /bswollen from crying

Ste didn’t let her in, but Anna rushed bover /band threw her arms around her.

She said, sobbing “Ste, I’m so sorry. This bis /ball my fault. If I hadn’t blurted out about your condition in front of everyone, you wouldn’t have been humiliated like this.

“Mom just tore into me. I came to say I’m sorry. Go ahead. Hit me. Punch me. Do whatever you want. I promise I won’t get mad, no matter what you do to

“Let go,” Ste snapped, her face cold.

“Tim not letting go. Ste, hit me Anna grabbed Ste’s hand, trying to force it onto bher /bown body

Ste jerked her hand backb, /bstepping away to put distance between them. “Anna, drop the act. This isn’t the first time this has happened. People might not realize you’re doing it on purpose, but do you really think I don’t see through it?”

Anna opened her mouth to bspeak/b, but Ste cut her off “Besides, I wouldn’t by /bba /bhand on you. The second i do, Fiona and everyone else will rush in, using me of bullying you and saying all sorts of nasty things.

“Haven’t you yed the victim enough since we were kids?”

Anna’s face crumpled with feignied innocence. “Ste, what are byou /beven saying? I would never do anything blike /bthat.”

Ste was butterly /bbsick /bof her fake expression. “Anpa, get out.”

Anna clung to Ste, pleading, “I’m not leaving If you won’t forgive me, stay right here, no matter how long it takes”

Ste bit her lip. “Fine. Stay here then”

Anna’s face lit up with relief, but her smile froze when Ste, who was already dressed band /bready to go, turned and walked out without a nce.

b2/3 /b

b10:10 /bWed, 30 Jul GJ

“Ste” Arina cried out in disbelief

Ste ignored Anna. Noticing Fiona looking over, she shot back an icy

Usually, Fiona would’ve snapped, raying. “Ste, your sister’s talking to you. Are you deal?”

But Ste was too tired of hearing it and sick of the look on her face.

Ste walked out once again. As she made her way, her mind flooded with thoughts.

“Enough,” she thought to herself. I’m done with all this. It’s exhausting”

With herptop in hand, Ste headed straight for the library. She found a quiet spot and started working on some matters for Jordan’spany

She wrapped it up in barely half an hour.

Then a message popped up from Jordan. bYou /bstill got it. Even after three years away fromptops, you solved it in record time.

Nia: [ developed that software myself, so I know it inside out. There are hidden features that no one would find unless I show them.

Ste:

After a brief exchange, Ste packed up herptop and decided to take a wa

She strolled leisurely. What others would cover in twenty minutes took her more than an hour. But taking her time to observe her surroundings helped her adjust to the world.

While walking. Ste spotted Anna shopping with Emily. She had no idea when Anna had left home.

?