Chapter 4

"Vanessa, I'll tell you one last time. I'm Julian's own sister, and what you're holding is a keepsake from our parents." My voice trembled, and my eyes burned red. All I could see was the memory of my mother, her hands shaking as she stroked that trophy during her severe illness.

"Are you going to kneel or not?" she demanded, looking down at me with pure arrogance.

I swallowed hard, choking down the grief and fury that made me want to kill her, and slowly sank to my knees for my mother's sake.

The woman live-streaming immediately shoved her phone in my direction. "Look, everyone! The mistress is kneeling. If you want to hear her bark like a dog, drop a follow and a like."

"Woof, woof." I swallowed the humiliation, desperate only to save my mother's precious keepsake.

The crowd erupted into cruel laughter.

Then came a sharp, sickening snap that made my very soul tremble.

Vanessa sneered at me, her contempt painfully obvious. "Oops, my hand slipped," she lied, her tone dripping with sarcasm. On the shattered pieces on the floor, the words "First Prize" were still faintly visible.

In that instant, blind fury consumed me. I lunged at Vanessa, grabbed a fistful of her hair, and raked my nails across her face with every ounce of strength I had. I didn’t know how to fight; I just acted on pure instinct. My nails bit deeply into her flesh. I just wanted to hurt her the way she had hurt me.

I moved so fast that no one in the room had time to react. By the time a group of people finally swarmed in to pull me off, Vanessa's face was already covered in bloody scratches.

As they dragged me back, I realized I was still clutching a tuft of her hair, bits of scalp still attached to the roots.

Vanessa covered her bleeding face and screamed frantically. "You bitch! How dare you hit me?"

The people around us were clearly rattled by my sudden, violent outburst. They only dared to hold me down, too intimidated to actually strike back.

"Strip her naked and drag her through the streets!" Vanessa shrieked. "Let everyone see what a slut she really is!"

"Take a video and post it on her school's forum so her teachers and classmates can see exactly what kind of person she is."

Vanessa lunged forward and started tearing at my clothes. I struggled frantically, but three or four strong women pinned me firmly to the floor.

I was only wearing a dress, and Vanessa managed to rip it off in seconds. When she reached for my underwear, I lunged forward and sank my teeth into her hand.

Several people immediately scrambled to pry my jaws apart. I was slapped so hard my vision blurred, and only then did I finally let go.

My mouth was filled with the metallic taste of blood, which trickled slowly down my chin.

I glared viciously at the women surrounding me. As long as I made it out of this alive, none of them would escape my revenge.

"She's a literal mad dog," someone muttered, staring at the deep, bloody bite mark on Vanessa's hand.

"Vanessa, don't strip her anymore. If we do, the platform will ban the live stream," one of her friends warned.

Vanessa hesitated. Glaring down at my sports bra and safety shorts, she spat reluctantly, "Fine. Let's go. Parade her through the streets."

Half-naked and restrained, I was shoved roughly out the door.

By the time we reached the gates of the residential community, a massive crowd had already gathered. The security guards were struggling just to maintain basic order.

"Hey everyone, we brought the mistress out!" the women shouted to the onlookers. "Come take a look!"

Stripped down and put on display, I felt my hatred surge to an absolute peak.

The captain of the security team recognized me and hurried over, but someone else beat him to it.

"Julian, look at this bitch. Look at what she did to my face..."

The moment Vanessa saw Julian, her entire demeanor shifted, her voice dripping with manufactured grievance. But before she could even finish her sentence, Julian delivered a slap so vicious it sent her crashing to the ground.

"Vanessa, are you out of your mind?" he roared. "How dare you treat my own sister like this?"

The crowd instantly fell dead silent, completely stunned by Julian’s explosive outburst. Every eye turned toward Vanessa.

Sprawled on the pavement, blood trickling from the corner of her mouth and her face covered in my jagged scratches, she looked almost as pathetic as I felt.

Julian strode forward and violently kicked away the women restraining me, one by one.

Without a word, he stripped off his coat, wrapped it around my shoulders, and shielded me with his body.

Then Julian looked at Vanessa.