Chapter 5 The Mother I Hate

Emily’s POV

“I hate you.” I glared at her, clenching my teeth so hard that they could break at any moment.

She stood up, walked towards the sink, turned on the tap, and washed her bloody hands.

The water in the tub was already red, but I could feel my open wounds beginning to close. She was so lucky that everything she did to me healed without leaving a scar. That was why she preferred torturing me by piercing my skin or cutting me open with sharp objects. She would never use fire on me because it left scars.

Of course, my dear mother had to be considerate enough to choose the methods that wouldn’t leave permanent marks. How thoughtful of her!

She turned off the tap and picked up a towel from the counter beside the sink to clean her hands.

“See, my dear foolish daughter,” she said, still holding the towel. “You can never hate me as much as I hate you.”

Why did I have to have such a selfish, evil, and brutal woman as my mother?

“I already know you hate me, Mother. You remind me every day by openly displaying your love and affection for Evelyn.” I snarled, clenching my fists so tightly that my nails pierced my palms and drew blood.

“True.” My mother nodded in agreement.

She dropped the towel on the counter before turning around to face me, resting her back against the sink.

“But do you know why I will always choose Evelyn over you?” she asked, pride dancing in her eyes as she mentioned my sister’s name.

“Evelyn has everything I could ever want in a daughter. You lack manners, etiquette, and a proper understanding of how a lady should behave, but your sister has all of that. I’ll admit that you’re more beautiful than she is, but that doesn’t mean you’ll ever reach her level.”

Was this woman seriously playing with me right now?

The fuck was she talking about?

“Evelyn went to fucking finishing school, Mother! You and Father never gave me a chance to become a proper lady. Not that I want to burden myself with such nonsense anyway.” I spat, my blood boiling as I continued staring into her eyes.

She gasped dramatically.

“You’re already growing wings if you think you can speak to me like that.” She let out a dark chuckle.

She looked me dead in the eyes and said something I had never imagined would come out of her mouth.

“You were a mistake, Emily. You were never meant to be born. If not for your pathetic and stupid father, Edmund, you wouldn’t even be here right now.” She spat the words at me, hatred flashing in her eyes.

“I never wanted another daughter. I always wanted a son as my second child, but your father wouldn’t let me terminate the pregnancy. I actually wanted to give you a chance. I showed you love as you grew up, but after that fucking stunt you pulled when you were sixteen, I wished you had died and never returned.”

Hurt filled my chest. It felt as though my heart was being stabbed repeatedly with a needle. Every emotion inside me was thrown into chaos as I listened to her.

I never asked to be born, and I certainly didn’t deserve to be treated this way for something that wasn’t my fault.

No wonder Father treated me better than Mother did. But he was a coward and a bitch because he knew what she did to me and still never intervened.

“Well, I never asked to be born!” I choked out, tears streaming down my face like a waterfall.

Her eyes remained fixed on me. There wasn’t even the slightest hint of remorse or pity in them.

“All we wanted was to introduce you to the supernatural world as our beloved daughter, but your stupid self wandered into the forest and got kidnapped by a witch coven. Then you think you can simply return a year later, with a different eye color, and expect everything to remain the way you left it?! Sometimes, I even wonder why those witches let you leave without killing you.”

Yes, it was true. I had been kidnapped six years ago, and Mother never missed an opportunity to remind me that it was my fault.

Flashback to six years ago,

I heard a lady calling my name, and I followed the voice until I found myself in the forest about a kilometer behind our house.

I never understood why the forest was connected to our property, but it stretched for thousands of miles across Blackthorn, even though the part closest to our house was only a short distance away.

I lost my way after that, but I felt a strange sensation creeping through my body. I was about to run back to the house when everything suddenly went black.

When I woke up, an entire year had already passed, even though it had felt like only a few hours to me.

I was lying on the same patch of ground where I’d blacked out, still wearing the same clothes.

I stood up and started walking. Then I heard my father shout my name.

He came running towards me, pointing a torchlight in my direction. He pulled me into a tight hug, but when he got a good look at me, his expression changed into a frown.

I later learned that Father had been visiting the forest repeatedly, hoping I would return.

He took me home and assigned a maid named Sarah to take care of me.

When I entered my bathroom and looked into the mirror, I was stunned to see that my eyes had turned blue.

Then I heard Mother’s voice coming from downstairs, yelling at Father.

“What do you mean she’s back?!” my mother shouted.

Father sighed. “I found her walking in the forest, Cordelia. I couldn’t just leave her there.”

“So you brought a stranger with blue eyes into my home?” she asked in disbelief.

“She’s still our daughter, Delia.” Father tried to reason with her.

“Edmund! She doesn’t remember a single thing that happened while she was away. I’m sure that’s an impostor you’ve brought back into our home!”

“I won’t accept this, Edmund. She isn’t my daughter, and that is final!”

Then I heard her footsteps moving away from where Father stood.

Flashback ended,

When I returned, she didn’t even act as though I existed. She would glare at me or hit me for no reason, but when Evelyn returned from finishing school, Mother shifted all her attention to her.

And honestly, I was happy when she did.

“It’s not my fault I got kidnapped! Maybe it was yours since you failed as a mother and left me to fend for myself instead of watching over me.” I glared at her and wiped my tears with the back of my hand.

She took several steady steps towards me before grabbing me by the throat and strangling me, lifting my naked body out of the tub.

I dug my nails into her hand, desperately trying to free myself, but her grip was far too strong.

“Next time you disrespect me, I’ll kill you and feed your body parts to the dogs,” she threatened before flinging me towards the other side of the bathroom.

My body slammed against the wall with unimaginable force, and I felt my shoulder dislocate.

Fucking hell!

“Arghhhh!” I groaned loudly in pain.

“Oh, and don’t ever lie to me again. Pick up your ball gown from wherever you hid it and give it to Sarah to have it cleaned.” She said this before walking out and slamming the door shut behind her.

What a smart but horrible bitch!