A clap of thunder.
Grace Alston abruptly opened her eyes, a vestige of the unshed fear and despair still lingered in her gaze.
As if by instinct, she tried to sit up, only for a fierce force to violently press her down at her waist.
A familiar yet unfamiliar tremble came from her lower body; a burning heat was consuming her. Grace Alston let out a shrill scream only to be forcefully turned by someone, her lips sealed by his thin lips.
Only when a piercing heat invaded her body, she was discarded like trash.
A splitting headache.
Chaotic remnants of her memories danced ceaselessly before her eyes.
“Grace, she is your sister. Shouldn't saving her be the obvious thing to do?”
“Heh...comparing yourself to her? You wish.”
“My child? I'm not interested in raising another man's son...”
The seemingly disjointed pieces of her memories eventually converged into a pair of extremely indifferent and cold eyes, accompanied by a bone-chilling sentence-
"If you want to die, do so far away so as not to dirty her eyes.”
Grace Alston pupil shrank as the indifferent gaze in her mind slowly magnified until it overlapped with the face in front of her.
Sweat trickled down James's chiseled face, making him look sinfully attractive. He looked at her emotionlessly, the depth of his eyes reflecting her messily disheveled appearance. Yet, he stayed immaculate in his perfectly fitted suit, elegantly fastening his trouser's buckle.
Meeting Grace gaze, his dark eyes were slightly deep, yet still filled with cold indifference as he turned to leave. Grace clearly saw the mockery and contempt that flashed in his eyes. Though her mind was blank, her watery eyes were filled with intense hatred. Without hesitation, she grabbed something near her and threw it at James, "You beast!"
James tilted his head and glanced at her, "Playing the saint after being the whore?"
His lips curved in a smirk, reaching out to grip Grace chin and lifting her up. "You can continue to stay in the Stone’s house, but better keep your poor acting under wraps, or else—"
Impatience replaced the indifference on his face. "Tomorrow, your lasciviousness will be spread all over B City."
Finished, he picked up his suit jacket and angrily swung the door open, leaving.
Leaving...the Stone’s family?
Grace vision went black and waves of excruciating pain rushed through her. The cool breeze blew through the open door, sobering her up a little, a look of bewilderment flashed in her eyes.
This was the stone family's villa, her room.
How did she end up here?
The last thing she remembered was the nurse injecting cold air into her veins.
She had felt her breath being taken away, the air in her lungs slowly leaving her. As she dragged her blood-soaked body to the door, clutching at the hem of his pants begging for help, all she received was a look of disgust and a cold retort —
"Die somewhere far away; don't dirty her eyes."
Grace Alston clenched her hands tightly; the same desperation she felt when she was near death rushed back. At the same time, chaotic footsteps could be heard. She instinctively grabbed the sheets to cover her bare body. The next moment, several figures burst in.
"Mom, what did I say? This cheap slut would show her true colors sooner or later. Look, she's climbed into elder brother's bed." A girl who seemed to be no older than twenty took out her phone and snapped a few photos of Grace Alston embarrassing state.
"Heh, a bastard will always be a bastard. Your foster mother just passed away, yet you can't wait to disgrace yourself." A grandly dressed lady with her arms folded scornfully looked at Grace Alston.
In front, a middle-aged man in a suit, although he bore similar facial features to James, was scowling as he scrutinized her, coldly asking, "What exactly is going on?"
Grace Alston mind was buzzing, her eyes filled with bloodshot streaks, shining a horrifying red glow. Yet, the corners of her mouth slightly curled up, revealing a smirk twisted with hatred.
Familiar scenery, heart-wrenching memories.
She, Grace Alston….
Grace who was bullied and tortured by the Stone family for five years, who ultimately died on the operating table, surprisingly returned to this day five years ago, the day her nightmare began.
Perez Jones her adoptive father.
Joice, the new wife her adoptive father had just brought home.
Nelly, her adoptive father's daughter with Joice, by name her elder sister...
Her gaze swept over each shadow before her. In an instant, all expressions on Grace Alston face were wiped clean, only leaving an ash-like cold indifference, only her pair of shining black eyes were filled with deep hatred, combined with the bloodshot streaks to produce a chilling glow.
Like a trapped beast.
Under the stare of such a pair of eyes, the air stiffened slightly. The face of Perez who was the closest to Grace Alston froze. She glanced at him indifferently and said without any expression, "I need to bathe and change clothes, you want to keep staring?"
"You shameless wretch!" Her stepmother, Joice, was taken aback for a moment, then pointed at Grace and cursed.
A trace of impatience flashed in Grace eyes. She flipped back the bedsheet and stood up.
The physical discomfort caused her to stumble a little, but she bit down hard on her tongue and straightened her back amidst the severe pain, walking towards the bathroom with bruises of green and purple all over her body.
Perez quickly turned his head, the faces of Joice and Nelly were black as the bottom of a pot, Perez screamed in frustration, "Where is Clay Brown! Call him to me!"
In the bathroom, Grace Alston steadied herself with both hands against the cold walls, turned on the shower head, and put her head directly under the cold water.
The icy touch made her even clearer. She sorted out her thoughts and shifted her gaze towards the direction of the bathroom door.
She grew up in the stones family, yet she is not the daughter of the Stones family.
Perez original wife, Shely, was frail. After giving birth to Li Sheng Yan, she lost her ability to conceive. However, she desperately wanted a daughter, so twenty years ago she brought three-year-old Grace back to the Li family, and she became the young lady of the Li family.
In a blink of an eye, twenty years have passed and two months ago, Shely died suddenly from a heart disease. Less than a month after her death, Perez brought Joice and two other children back to the Stones family...
"Heh." Grace let out a cold laugh.
Perez actually had the audacity to ask her what happened?
Why did Nelly roll with her in her room... isn't her foster father supposed to be clearer than anyone?
Grace stood in front of the mirror, raised her hand to wipe off the mist on the mirror, and looked at the young and pretty face in the mirror, yet it appeared pale to the extreme, her fingertips slowly landed on the tear marks at the corner of her eyes.
In her past life, they had all done something to her, had pushed her step by step to a dead end, this time around, she was going to make them pay tenfold, a hundredfold!
