Chapter 2

A car horn sounded outside. Julian stepped out, and a girl emerged from the passenger seat—long hair, innocent aura.

It was her. Chloe Mercer.

My best friend.

I looked at her, conflicted. She glanced back, raising an eyebrow, her gaze playful.

“Dinner’s ready,” Dad announced.

The maid, Mrs. Jenkins, brought out exquisite dishes. I hadn’t seen so much food in years. The warm aroma made my stomach churn, nausea rising.

“Clara, it’s been ages! You’re so thin—eat up. I remember you loved shrimp bisque,” Chloe said, feigning concern as she served me a bowl.

I paled. “I can’t eat soup right now.”

I pushed it away, but she insisted. In the brief struggle, the soup spilled across the table and dripped onto the floor.

Everyone’s faces darkened.

Julian slammed his fork down. “Three years in the hospital, and you still haven’t learned? You’re not eating tonight.”

Mother scolded, “Chloe was just being kind. You didn’t have to make a scene.”

“Maybe we should send her back for a few more years to tame her,” Dad added.

Their accusing glares pierced me like knives.

I couldn’t go back there. Trembling, I dropped to my knees, banging my head against the floor until it bled. “I’m sorry, I’m sorry! It’s my fault, I didn’t mean it. Please, don’t send me back!”

I licked the spilled soup off the floor, tasting the dust mixed in.

They stared at me, shocked into silence.

Julian’s face twisted. “Clara, stop this pathetic act. Get up.”

I shook my head, my stomach spasming from the sudden heat of the soup. Cold sweat dripped down my face as the agony hit. Unable to hold it back, I vomited, a mix of bile and tears pooling on the floor.

Chloe gasped, covering her mouth.

I knew Mother’s face was livid.

I had ruined everything.

Their gazes burned into my back. I fled to the bathroom, clutching my stomach and retching violently.

Leaning against the toilet, I laughed bitterly.

How pathetic, Clara.

When Chloe entered the bathroom, I was curled up in a corner, completely dazed.

She smirked, clearly delighted by my misery. “You’re such a loser. How could you ever deserve Julian?”

“Sending you to the asylum was the right call.”

Her malice stung. I stared up at her. “Why did you lie to me?”

In my darkest days, she had burst into my life.

She used to bring me strawberry milk and bread in the mornings, playfully ruffling my hair. “Clara, you’re too skinny. Eat up.”

At Christmas, she had tied a red ribbon around my wrist, held my hand, and wished, “May Clara be safe and happy forever.”

She brought light into my world, only to betray me. She had egged me on to confess my feelings to Julian, just so she could spread the video and orchestrate a wave of cyberbullying.

She thought I didn’t know.

I was just pretending, too terrified to shatter the only shield I had.

“Why betray me? Weren’t we best friends?” I stood up and stepped closer, gripping her wrist tightly.

“Best friends?” She laughed like it was a joke. “I was just messing with you. Did you actually believe it?”

“Was everything a lie?” I stared into her eyes, my voice low and hoarse.

Whispers filled my ears, countless voices clouding my thoughts.

“Not everything,” she said. Leaning in close, her eyes venomous and her voice soft, she whispered, “You really are disgusting.”

She burst into laughter, doubling over.

I stared at her as a slow smile crept onto my face. In the mirror, my disheveled hair and bloodshot eyes made me look like a demon.

*Slap!* I struck her left cheek, leaving it red and swollen.

“You enjoy making me suffer?”

“Did you just hit me?”

*Slap!* I hit her right cheek.

“You’re too loud. Be quiet.”

The voices in my head grew louder, faster. My eyes burned as the rage finally boiled over.

*Clara, what are you waiting for?*

They all lied.

Julian promised to take you home soon, but you rotted in hell for three years.

They made you bark like a dog and whipped you with salted, barbed lashes.

Chloe lied, too. She said you were her best friend and wished you happiness.

All lies.

I lunged forward, tackling her to the ground and straddling her. She screamed.

*Slap!* “I told you to shut up.”

She clawed at my face, her nails drawing blood.

I frowned, merely annoyed.

My hands wrapped around her throat, squeezing tight.

She thrashed beneath me, her nails digging into my skin and leaving bloody trails.

I felt no pain.

My mind was perfectly clear.

*Kill her! Kill her!*