when I woke up, I was in a predatory compound. My hands and feet were severed, and I was tied to a bed, left to be tormented and defiled by anyone. My adoptive parents and my husband, however, stood with the compound’s manager.
I desperately demanded to know why. My adoptive parents each slapped me, and my husband kicked me in my
three–month preg- nant belly. “If you hadn’t been so vain, so greedy for the company, deliberately humiliating Eva, she wouldn’t have died! This is all what you owe Eva!” It turned out that after Eva left, she went to a foreign country looking for work, was tricked, and ended up in one of those compounds, where she suffered endless humiliation and eventually died. That’s why they hated me so deeply. In the end, unable to bear the endless degradation, I bit my tongue and bled to death.
Recalling the torture I endured in my previous life, I clenched my fists, seething with anger. I looked at Eva with cold eyes, letting out a mocking laugh. “Back for just a day and already wanting the company, huh?”
22-16
Eva’s eyes immediately reddened, and she started to cry. “Pathy, I just want to do something for the family. i knew I shouldn’t have
come back. Please don’t be angry, Pathy. I’ll leave right now. I promise I won’t disturb your family anymore.” With that, Eva made a
show of pushing Mrs. Thorne away, as if to leave.
Mrs. Thorne immediately wrapped her arms around Eva, holding her tightly, her face filled with pain. “Eva, this is your home. You’re
not the one who should leave.”
The next second, Mrs. Thorne slapped me across the face, pointing at me and screaming abuses. “Audrey Bellwether! We kindly
took you in and raised you, and now you want to steal our family’s property and force our biological daughter away? How utterly
wicked can you be?”
Mr. Thorne also looked at me, his face displeased. “Audrey, the company belongs to our family. Isn’t it only right for us to give it to
our biological daughter? What right do you have to drive my daughter away?”
I let out a bitter laugh. They had forgotten. It was Grandpa Thorne who adopted me. After Grandpa Thorne passed away, he entrus-
ted the company to me. At that time, the company was on the brink of bankruptcy, more than a hundred million in debt. It was !
who spent every day pleading with banks and investors, pouring all my energy into saving the company. For that, I developed chron-
ic health issues. The Thorne parents, knowing they lacked the ability to manage the company, had washed their hands of it, simply
dumping it on me, And yet, I still gave them fifty million a month, letting them indulge in their leisure. Moreover, most of the comp-
any shares were acquired by me. I only kept the Thorne name out of gratitude to Grandpa Thorne. How dare they have the audacity to demand the company back?
I looked at Mr. Thorne, letting out a cold scoff. “Three years ago, when the company was on the verge of bankruptcy, you threw me to the ruthless creditors, telling them I was the company owner, telling them to demand their money from me. Now the company is about to go public, and you want to give it to your daughter? Where do you get the nerve to say such a thing?”
