Chapter 30 Like a Stray Dog
“You’re just a freeloader, stop clinging to my cousin, Vince taunted. We were classmates during our freshman university, though not in the same department, both of us were freshmen.
yearat
I was meek, and I ignored his taunts.
Vince persisted. “Madeline, why are you always so arrogant? The Flynns have taken you in as an orphan. Marcus keeps you around as his personal slt, but do you really think of yourself as a lady?
Vince’s friends were laughing at me along with them. “She’s indeed a lady, but a lady of the night, not a noble lady.
At that moment, my face flushed with embarrassment, and
and I was s on the verge of crying
Vince and his friends surrounded me and hurled harsh insults at me.
I panicked and wanted to flee. When I turned around, I saw Marcus standing nearby with a dark expression. Desperately, I looked at him and asked for his help.
It was the first time he had been so indifferent towards me. Marcus merely cast me a disdainful glance before walking away.
Because
of
his indifference, Vince became even more audacious towards me.
Finally, on my twentieth birthday in autumn, during Bernice’s birthday banquet, Vince took his chance and pinned me down in the backyard bushes.
He pressed against me. His voice was dripping with disgust and menace as he asked, “Madeline, so many men can touch you. Why don’t you let me have a go too?
“You can’t let Marcus be the only one who gets to sleep with you. Let me have a turn, hmm?”
I struggled to push him away, but he wouldn’t budge.
He covered my mouth before I could scream. Vince warned. “If you dare to scream, I’ll kill you.”
I wasn’t afraid of dying, but he was too strong.
“Madeline, everyone can tell. You like Marcus. His family kindly took you in, but you’re repaying their kindness with betrayal. Still thinking of forcing him to marry you with some engagement contract?” Vince sneered coldly as he watched me struggle. He spoke again, I’ll tell you the truth; it’s Marcus who sent me here to teach you a lesson. He wanted you to remember your place. You’re just a dog raised by the Flynns.”
I slowly gave up struggling. My eyes were filled with despair.
Thinking I had surrendered, he slowly loosened his grip on me and began to eagerly tear at my clothes.
Seizing the opportunity, I grabbed a stone from the ground and smashed it against his head.
Vince winced in pain as he looked at me while I fled in a panic.
That day, I curled up in the backyard and hid for a long time until nightfall.
The autumn rain soaked me through
It was at that moment that I resolved to escape from the Flynns.
1 needed to flee.
It was a n
a must for me to leave.
Otherwise, I would end up dead at this house.
And probably dead by Marcus’s hand.
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Chapter 30 Like a Stray Dog
I studied desperately, striving to earn various honours and scholarships, but no matter how hard I tried, I couldn’t overcome
their slander.
Rumours circulated at school that Marcus had became an item with ell
They were a perfect match.
They depicted me as the one who defamed Bella, the malevolent individual who orchestrated schemes against her.
Vince led the accusations. He accused me of being promiscuous, claiming that I flirted with various men and seduced him.
I couldn’t explain myself, and I knew it was a trap.
The more desperately I tried to explain and clear my name, the deeper I fell into their trap.
They mercilessly mocked me, trampled on my dignity, and gradually pushed me to my death.
In the third year of university, there was an opportunity for a student exchange program at school. They required excellent academic performance and other outstanding qualities,
I looked at that opportunity with hope, thinking that as long as I could fight for it. Everything will be fine when I leave.
But I watched helplessly as Marcus took away the opportunity I fought so hard for and gave it to Bella’s cousin, Lillian White.
I cried out hysterically, asking him why,
Why did he loathe me so much yet refuse to let me go?
Marcus said. “You’ll have many more opportunities in the future; there’s no need to study abroad, Lillian has been in poor health since she was a child, and she values this opportunity greatly. Can’t you just let her have it?”
Let her have it
Bella always had to have everything.
Why?
I had asked Marcus why. What right did she have?
He claimed, “Because my family supports you! We provide you with a place to stay and food. My family has been kind to you, and you’ll never be able to repay it in this lifetime! It’s just a student exchange opportunity; what right do you have to make a fuss with me?”
That day, I sat despondently on the ground like an abandoned stray dog.
