Chapter 2
After saying that, he turned on the fire suppression system inside the boiler room and said to me coldly. “Since you claim there was an explosion in here, let me help cool you down a bit!” Then he walked away with Blair, who giggled sweetly without even looking back at my screams. They didn’t know that the water meant to spray from the system had already turned into sulfuric acid. I crawled desperately into a corner. There was a divider here, just big enough to shield me from the falling acid. Hiding under a panel once used for workers during renovations, pain tore through my chest. I couldn’t understand how someone who once loved me so much could turn so cruel the moment he found out I wasn’t the real daughter of the Lewis Family. He burned down the house we were supposed to live in after marriage and destroyed all the photos we took together. He even gave away all our savings and assets to Blair. Blair, who had never seen that much money before, was thrilled but still kept teasing Spencer, never really giving herself to him. Until he drugged her. Every time I saw Spencer chasing after Blair, I remembered how he used to hold my hand so sincerely, telling me that all he wanted was to marry me, Scarlett and grow old together. But now, the pain and the will to survive pulled me back to reality. I banged on the walls of the boiler room, shouting, hoping someone would hear me. But the person who came was the Lewis Family’s steward. “Still pretending to be the young miss of the Lewis Family, huh? You don’t even see what you are and you still dare to cause trouble in the boiler room!” “Do you not understand your place now? A bastard worse than a dog. How dare you bark around here!” Ever since it was revealed that Blair was the real daughter of the Lewis Family, my adoptive parents’ attitude toward me had changed completely. I had always felt guilty toward Blair and my parents, thinking I had stolen her rightful place, keeping them from their true family. So, I always gave in. But I never expected they would just keep pushing further. The servants in the estate saw the shift and followed their lead. Now, they treated me worse than a dog. But at this moment, desperate to survive, I had no choice but to swallow my pride and beg softly. “There’s something wrong with the boiler room. The fire system is spraying sulfuric acid. Please, I beg you, let me out, or I’ll die in here!” The steward hesitated. Maybe because he sensed it was truly life and death, he gave in and made a call to ask for instructions. The call went to my adoptive parents. As soon as they heard it was about me, the father who once loved me dearly now spoke with nothing but disgust. “Sulfuric acid? That brat can’t even lie properly! She just wants attention again. Does she really think she can do whatever she wants in the Lewis Family just because she’s a stray?” Mother hesitated for a moment. “That doesn’t sound right. Scarlett was never the kind to lie like that. What if it’s true?” Then Blair’s voice came through the phone. “Mom, how could something like that even happen? Scarlett just can’t stand to see us happy. That’s why she’s saying such scary things, to get you to go back and check on her. Who knows how she even ended up in the boiler room!” Blair’s words made Mother upset as well. “If that’s the case, Scarlett, you’ve really gone too far! We raised you all these years and you have no gratitude. Now you want to tear this family apart? Have the steward lock the door! If she wants to stay in there, then let her stay!”