At the Police Station, it was already dark. Sabrina Johnson sat on Iren’s small bed, looking at the bright moon outside through the iron bars of the window. In her hand, she clutched a small mirror left by Sienna Johnson.
She held the mirrored side in her palm, not daring to look at her own face.
The Johnson family mbers were incredibly good-looking. Dexter Johnson, Pauline Briggs, and even Old Madam Johnson were all exceptionally beautiful. While she was not ugly, her appearance was too ordinary compared to the Johnsons.
That year, when she was 13, Dexter brought a skinny, dark-skinned girl—that ’wild girl’—to the Johnson family. The girl wore plain clothes, a white-washed denim skirt, and had neatly cut short hair. Sabrina wore Armani kids’ clothes and had her hair done by a famous hairdresser, yet she still felt that Sienna outshined her.
Sienna was so beautiful, already a budding beauty at the age of 13.
On their first day of school, Sienna’s beautiful face attracted the attention of the male students.
After school, Sienna’s bag was filled with love letters, including one from the school’s heartthrob, a boy Sabrina also admired. But Sienna threw his letter into the trash, which enraged Sabrina.
She was very angry, extrely furious!
So, she damaged Sienna’s school uniform and complained to Pauline, saying Sienna had ruined her own uniform and frad her. Pauline harshly scolded Sienna. Sienna lowered her head and remained silent, like a mute.
That ti, seeing Sienna’s humiliated face, Sabrina felt a sense of triumph. After the first ti, there ca the second and third...
Sienna knew nothing about life in high society. For example, she didn’t know how to eat Western food. When faced with rows of knives and forks, she didn’t dare move. She was afraid of Pauline and tried hard to win her approval...
Sabrina found Sienna’s clumsy and vulgar ways amusing.
Yet, in just a year, Sienna had transford. She beca first in her class, played the piano skillfully, and was praised by Piano Master Clarence for her talent and spirit. The Master even wanted to take her as a disciple, but Sabrina ruined it. Otherwise, Sienna might have been a world-renowned pianist by now.
Sabrina had to admit, Sienna was better and more hardworking than she was.
"...Actually, I’ve always been jealous of you..."
She slowly opened the small mirror, looking at her own face. Without the expensive makeup, her appearance was ordinary. She would blend into a crowd and be unrecognizable...
In the mirror, her own face gradually morphed into Sienna’s beautiful visage. Even in the hot sumr, with sweat pouring down, Sienna was still stunningly beautiful.
"Why wasn’t I the one born to her..."
She buried her face between her knees, vulnerable like a paper kite swaying in the wind. She was truly the pitiful one.
The door suddenly opened. She didn’t bother to look up, but the scent of expensive perfu told her who it was.
Yvette Harris, her birth mother.
"I heard Sienna ca to see you today?"
Yvette’s voice was high-pitched; if she didn’t intentionally lower it, its inherent harshness was unmistakable.
"Were you hurt by it?"
"..."
"Useless thing!"
Initially, she didn’t want to bother with this woman, but she knew that Yvette would never let matters rest until her goal was achieved.
Sabrina looked up, her eyes dull and lifeless, her voice cold, "What do you want to do for you this ti?"
Yvette glared at her nacingly. Yvette’s eyes were large, and when she deliberately widened them like this, her eyeballs seed to bulge, making her look terrifying.
"Master Leland has given up on you!"
Sabrina was unimpressed. "When has that useless old man ever cared if I lived or died? He kept saying he would get out of here, but I’ve been locked up for so long I can’t even get bail."
"Sabrina, you always fail to understand your own situation, always taking one wrong step after another..."
"Yes, how could I be as cunning as you? All that talk about doing things for my own good—you were just selling out for your own benefit." Sabrina’s ironic smile betrayed her devil-may-care attitude.
"You ungrateful girl, if it weren’t for , would you be living so comfortably in this police station?" Yvette responded angrily.
"Don’t make it sound so noble. What benefits did Old Man Lincoln promise you to make you so diligently pimp for him!"
Facing her unappreciative daughter, Yvette cut to the chase. "I ca to tell you that Master Leland is no longer involved in your case. Without pressure from above, your case will soon enter the prosecution phase, and once it does, a sentence won’t be far off.
You must think the conditions here are quite bad, right?
Your delicate skin can’t handle it, can it?"
Sabrina remained seated, indifferent, displaying an air of utter nonchalance.
"Let tell you, prison is far worse than this place. Several people are cramped in a tiny room, probably no more than ten square ters, and you have to work during the day."
She walked over and grabbed Sabrina’s hand. Sabrina tried to pull away, not wanting her touch, but failed to break free. Yvette clicked her tongue. "Tsk, tsk, look at your nails. They’re hideous..."
Sabrina’s manicure was chipped and peeling, her nails jagged and uneven.
Sabrina forcefully pulled her hand back, turning her head to the side, unwilling to look at her.
"I just ca to ask you one thing: are you really willing to go to jail?"
Sabrina looked at the small mirror in her palm. Its red backing was adorned with a lotus. Sienna loved lotuses; Dexter even joked that Sienna was like a lotus—"rising out of the mud unblemished, pure and untainted."
After a long silence with no response from Sabrina, Yvette lost her patience and snapped angrily, "Don’t think you’re so noble. There are plenty of girls of your age and looks. I’m only trying to help you because you’re my daughter. Since you’re so ungrateful, I won’t waste my ti being an annoyance here."
"..."
"If you can’t get over your stubbornness, then prepare to rot in jail for the rest of your life!"
Yvette finished speaking and turned to leave.
Yvette was a ruthless woman—to herself and even more so to others. Otherwise, she wouldn’t have clawed her way to where she was today.
Seeing Yvette about to leave, Sabrina finally voiced her underlying unwillingness and fear. "I don’t want to go to jail!" Her voice was low.
She couldn’t stand being confined here, let alone the thought of actual prison. If she were sent to prison, by the ti she was released ten or twenty years later, her life would be ruined.
"Sabrina, rember what Mom said. For a woman, her looks are important, but her ’face’—her dignity—isn’t! A woman should value her reputation, yet also be shaless when necessary!"
"What should I do now?" she asked.
She wasn’t as cunning or ruthless as Yvette; that was why she had fallen to this state.
"Although you’re not pretty, you do have a way with n. Those old codgers seem to be completely smitten with you..."
A chill ran down Sabrina’s spine, and her body trembled slightly.
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