Chapter 38: Ask the questions you can get answers from

I bent my knees closer to my chest, leaning back against the trunk. I cried so much that I was still hiccuping while playing with my fingers that were on top of my knees. Hugo was still sitting beside me, keeping his silence.

"I wanted to tell Ashton he is lying." I broke the prolonged silence with a weak voice. "There is no way Mother and Father will do that to me. I wanted to believe that they did things because they loved me. After all, they pampered me and filled me with love although... there was a time I witness mother whip a maid until she can no longer get up."

My eyes softened, recalling that lost memory I locked away deep in my consciousness. "When Mother found out I was there, she rushed to me and embraced me in a panic. I was a young girl back then, so I believed she was simply disciplining the maid." I paused and smiled bitterly, rubbing the nail on my thumb against my index.