My mother suddenly spoke.
For a fleeting moment, I thought she had grown a conscience.
But then—
“Don’t beat her too much. If she’s broken, how will we deliver her to the Dawson family tomorrow?”
My heart turned completely to ash.
“I’ll handle it.”
From the doctor’s medical kit, she pulled out a syringe.
“This is a sedative. Beating you isn’t working—it’ll make you more obedient.”
Terror gripped me as I realized my own mother intended to drug me.
I struggled desperately, but after the savage beating, my body had no strength left.
My father and Sophie pinned me down from either side.
I felt the cold sting of the needle pierce my skin.
Before darkness swallowed me whole, I caught one last sight: Sophie clutching my hand, pressing it onto the contract, leaving my fingerprint as a seal.
…
When I woke again, it was already midnight.
I had been moved to a bedroom. My entire body ached as though it had been torn apart.
From outside came the sound of laughter—my parents and Sophie. Along with it, the acrid smell of burning paper.
Dragging myself to the door, I peered through the crack.