Her voice was chanical, devoid of emotion. She smiled faintly, but there was no warmth in it.
"Of course you should apologize." Her eyes darkened. "Because now... you’ll pay for what you did."
Smack! Another slap. Lily didn’t resist.
Didn’t react. Only a thin line of blood slipped down from her lips.
She looked down at her with absolute control. "From today onward," she spoke slowly, "for one month..."
"You will return from university... and kneel in the living room for two hours. Every single day."
The words echoed like a sentence. A punishnt. A fate worse than humiliation.
"You will recite everything you did wrong," Shay’s voice was calm, almost indifferent, as if she were assigning a simple task. "And if you fail to do so... then you can forget about eating."
The words fell coldly into the air.
Lily imdiately curled into herself, her shoulders trembling as she nodded repeatedly.
"Y-Yes... I understand..." her voice broke, and a faint sob escaped her lips, raw and helpless, as if she could no longer bear the weight of everything she had been enduring.
...............
When Aurora received this news, she froze.
Her fingers tightened around the phone, the faint glow of the screen reflecting in her widened eyes.
’This... this family...’
A chill ran down her spine. The Brown family was truly... strange. No. Dangerous.
Her mind quickly pieced everything together. ’She... is a hypnotist.’
Not just any hypnotist. A master.
Aurora didn’t dare to doubt it anymore. Lily’s unnatural obedience, her sudden emotional shifts, the way her will seed to vanish in an instant.... it all pointed to sothing deeply unnatural.
’If Shay can control soone like Lily...’
Aurora’s heart sank slightly. ’Then she’s far more dangerous than I thought...’
Her thoughts imdiately shifted to Abby.
If Abby stayed there any longer, there was a high chance she might attract Shay’s attention.
And if Shay discovered the truth... everything would collapse.
Aurora quickly sent a ssage. "You need to leave."
But Abby replied almost instantly.
"I won’t get caught. I’ll be careful. I can even gain Lily’s trust. If I can wake her up... then the Brown family will fall apart."
Aurora frowned slightly, her brows knitting together. ’Too risky...’
This plan was dangerous. Reckless, even.
But she knew one thing: she couldn’t pull Abby out halfway now. After a long discussion, they adjusted the plan.
When everything was finalized, Abby was practically glowing with excitent.
"This... I can handle this," she whispered to herself, a faint grin forming on her lips.
.............
The next day, Lily went to the university as usual.
By the ti she returned, the sun had already begun to dip, casting long shadows across the streets. The faint sll of dust and fresh vegetables lingered in the air as people moved through the evening market.
That was when she saw Abby. Standing near a vegetable stall. Buying groceries.
For so reason, Lily felt a strange itch in her heart. Curiosity.
Or sothing deeper. She walked up to her.
"What are you doing here?" she asked, her tone slightly sharp but not hostile.
Lily was never allowed to use private vehicles. She always had to travel between the university and the mansion on her own. Seeing Abby here, in such an ordinary setting, felt... unusual.
Abby imdiately lowered her head.
"I... I ca to buy groceries," she murmured softly. "The head maid asked to."
Lily studied her for a mont, then gave a small nod. "I see."
She turned to leave. But just as she did... Abby quickly paid for the vegetables and followed behind her.
Lily frowned slightly, glancing back. "Even if you try to get close to ... I won’t like you," she spoke coldly.
Abby smiled faintly. "I know."
Her voice was calm, without resentnt. "I’m not expecting anything."
They were just about to reach the mansion when... a group of n suddenly stepped out, blocking their path.
The air shifted instantly. Heavy. Dangerous. Lily’s eyes widened in fear.
Her instincts scread at her...
’Push Kate forward... run...’
But before she could act... Abby rushed ahead.
Placing herself directly in front of Lily.
"Lily, run!" she shouted, her voice firm despite the fear in her eyes. "I’ll handle this!"
Lily froze. Her mind went blank. ’She... is protecting ...?’
For the first ti in her life, soone stepped forward without calculation... without expecting anything in return.
Her eyes moistened slightly. Behind her, the thugs sneered.
"Move aside," one of them growled at Abby. "Otherwise, you’ll regret it."
"We’re not here for you."
Their eyes shifted toward Lily. "It’s her we want."
Fear gripped Lily’s heart. Without another thought, she turned and ran.
Her footsteps echoed loudly against the pavent as she sprinted toward the mansion, her breath ragged, her vision blurring with tears.
Behind her... a dull thud.A cry. The sound of blows landing. Her heart clenched painfully.
’She’s... getting hurt because of ...’
Tears stread down her face as she ran faster.
......
When she reached the mansion, she stumbled inside, her voice shaking.
"S-Soone... go... save her...!"
Servants imdiately rushed out.
By the ti Abby was brought back, her condition was bad.
Her clothes were torn slightly, stained with dust and faint traces of blood. A deep bruise had ford near her chest, dangerously close to her heart. Two of her ribs were fractured, and her breathing was shallow and uneven.
She was placed on the bed, pale and weak.
Lily stood beside her, her hands trembling. Her eyes were filled with guilt.
’If she hadn’t... that would have been ...’
Slowly, she reached out and held Abby’s hand.
"Hey... Kate..." her voice cracked. "Thank you... for saving ..."
Abby forced a weak smile.
"It’s... nothing..." she whispered. "It’s my duty... to protect my master..."
Those words struck sothing deep inside Lily. The servants quietly stepped back.
Lily’s lips trembled. Tears welled up in her eyes. She tightened her grip on Abby’s hand and began to sob softly.
For the first ti...she felt it. There was soone... who acknowledged her. Soone who chose her.
The Brown family never did. They never cared.
But this girl... did. Overwheld, Lily lowered her head and gently pressed her lips against Abby’s hand.
Inside, Abby felt a wave of disgust rise in her chest. ’If this were the past... I would’ve slapped her already...’
Her fingers twitched slightly. This sa girl had bullied her countless tis. Mocked her. Frad her.
There was even a ti when Lily had shalessly labeled her a slut without hesitation, just because Shay had told her to.
Lily wasn’t innocent. Not even close. Sotis she acted under Shay’s orders.
Other tis... It was her own cruelty. ’She’s just as rotten...’
And yet... Abby suppressed everything. Because this was necessary. Because this was part of the plan.
Despite the pain radiating through her body, she felt a small sense of relief. ’It worked...’
She had gained Lily’s trust. Aurora had initially suggested faking the injuries.
But Abby had refused. ’Soone from that family would definitely check...’
Her instincts had been right.
That night, as she lay on the bed, her breathing slow and controlled, she suddenly felt it.
A presence. Soone had entered the room. The faint sound of footsteps.
Careful. asured. Abby remained completely still, her eyes shut.
’They’re here...’
She had already noticed earlier that the water given to her had contained a sleeping agent. But it didn’t work on her.
She was immune.
So she lay there, pretending to be unconscious, as the unknown figure approached... and began to examine her
She could feel it clearly. A hand. Cold. Careful.
A man’s fingers pressed lightly against her injuries, tracing along the bruised skin near her ribs.
The touch was probing, deliberate, as if he were asuring the depth of each wound. Abby forced herself to remain completely still, her breathing slow and shallow, her eyelids unmoving.
’Don’t react... don’t react...’
The man didn’t stop there.
His fingers pressed harder this ti, rubbing against the bruised area, almost scraping across the surface as if trying to determine whether the injuries were real... or just makeup.
A sharp wave of pain shot through her body. But she endured it. Silently.
Not even a twitch. After a few more monts, the man seed satisfied. The pressure lifted.
Footsteps followed, soft, fading, until the door clicked shut.
Only then... Abby exhaled.
A long, shaky breath escaped her lips as her body finally relaxed slightly against the bed.
Her back was damp with cold sweat, the sheets beneath her faintly wrinkled from how tightly she had been holding herself still.
’That was close...’
She had been holding herself back the entire ti, suppressing every instinct to react. But while Abby was risking herself like this....
There was soone else, far away, trying just as desperately to remove a problem from her own life.
It was Selena. Lately, Sel had started appearing more frequently.
Too frequently. Selena pressed her fingers against her temple, a dull headache throbbing behind her eyes.
’Why now...?’
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