My stepsister sent me to a mental hospital and I became everyone’s favorite
Chapter 1
My stepsister, the backstabbing witch, tricked
me into going to her eighteenth birthday bash,
only to drug me and have me committed.
The fake sweetness she’d been sporting for
eighteen years melted away, replaced by pure,
unadulterated malice. “Jenna, once you’re out
of the picture, I’m Mom and Dad’s only girl,”
she hissed. “So, do us all a favor and
disappear!”
I was beaten black and blue, strapped to a bed
in some creepy padded cell. Every time I tried
to fight back, they jammed a needle full of
tranquilizers into me.
Then, in a moment of panic, I noticed
<
something familiar etched into the headboard.
It was the logo for Blackwood Sanitarium, a
place I knew all too well. My real parents owned
this place!
Dad was the director, Mom was head
psychiatrist, and my brother, Ethan, the biggest
nutcase of us all, was the lead researcher
—
and pretty much ruled the roost around here.
Yeah, surprise, surprise. Turns out I was
adopted too. This place used to be my
childhood home. My bio parents just wanted me
to have a normal life, so they sent me away.
Now, by some twisted fate, I was right back
where I started.
1
“Well, well, well, look who it is,” snickered Amy,
my stepsister. “Never thought you’d end up
here, huh, Jennifer? Guess you’re not so
<
8:17
perfect now are you, and not a Thompson
anymore. You’re no one!”
Her hand traced the line of my jaw, pressing
hard enough to leave a stinging red mark.
604
“Amy, what the hell are you doing? Mom and
Dad find out you threw me in this place, they’ll
skin you alive!” I struggled against the
restraints, the leather biting into my wrists and
ankles.
A smug grin stretched across her face. “Honey,
once you’re locked up in a loony bin like this,
you’re as good as gone. Mom and Dad aren’t
going to think to look for you in a place like
this.”
“They’ll just assume you ran off. Eventually,
they’ll forget all about you.”
The way Amy reveled in the fantasy of my
disappearing act was sickening.
く
The room was a minimalist nightmare: a single,
barred window offering only a sliver of daylight,
a bed covered in stark white sheets that felt
suffocating.
That’s when I saw it. A small, understated logo
in the corner of the blanket. But it was
unmistakable. Memories flooded back.
Blackwood Sanitarium. My bio parents‘
institution.
Amy was six years younger than me, the second
adopted daughter my parents had taken in. I
was the first.
What she didn’t know was that I knew. And she
thought I was the biological daughter. That’s
why she was so hell–bent on getting rid of me,
solidifying her spot in the family.
A knot of tension in my stomach finally started
to unravel. Thank God I’d been dumped at my
Г
own family’s mental hospital. If not, I didn’t
want to think about what might happen.
Up until now, Amy had always been sneaky and
underhanded. I never paid much attention to her
antics, chalking it up to childish jealousy.
Today was her eighteenth birthday, and she’d
so sweetly invited me to her party. After I drank
the water she gave me, I woke up here.
Blackwood Sanitarium was buried in the
boonies, far from prying eyes. Even if people
knew about it, nobody in their right mind would
come to this place.
People always steered clear of anything to do
with mental illness.
“Amy, you better get me out of here, right now,
or I swear…”
Her eyes flashed, suddenly hard and vicious.
<
“You think you’re still Jennifer Thompson, the
golden girl? Get a grip! This is my time!”
Amy’s fingers tightened around my throat. “You
don’t get to talk.”
I thrashed against the restraints, gasping for
air. She released me just before I blacked out,
tapping my cheek with a perfectly manicured
nail. “Seeing you like this is so satisfying.”
“You chose this place specifically, didn’t you?
Somewhere completely cut off from the world,
so Mom and Dad wouldn’t find me?” I choked
out, my voice raspy.
“Hey, don’t blame me for your gullibility. All it
took was a little something in your drink,
sweetie. You brought this on yourself… Sis.”
“All these years, I’ve lived in your shadow. Why?
I’m the one who deserves to be loved, not you.
Mom and Dad should only see me!”
