Chapter 121
“Juliette, get your ass out here now,” slurred a drunken male voice, thick with violent rage.
The door to Juliette’s room rattled violently under heavy pounding. Inside, Juliette trembled uncontrollably, huddled in the corner with tears streaming
down her face.
“W–What do you want from me?” she cried out, her voice shaking with fear.
“Oh, you even locked the door? Do you have any idea how much money I’ve spent raising you, you ungrateful bitch? Open the damn door and let me in,* the man continued.
Juliette screamed hysterically, “Just get away. I don’t have any money. I swear I don’t.”
“You don’t have any money, huh? I heard the Clark family gave you a ton of cash to keep you quiet–at least 27 or 30 thousand dollars, right?
“My luck’s been shit lately. I can’t even afford a damn drink. If you don’t hand it over now, the whole family’s gonna starve,” he said.
“All gone, really,” Juliette screamed hysterically. “I’ve already given you so much.
“My aunt took tens of thousands from me too. The Clark family only gave me 30 thousand dollars in total. Do the math yourself. How much have you people taken from me?”
Juliette’s uncle shouted from outside, “Bullshit. Open the damn door or I’ll break it down.”
Juliette screamed hysterically, “No. If you keep pushing me, I’ll kill myself–just watch me.”
He cursed from the doorway, “Goddamn it, what fucking bad luck.”
But he was genuinely afraid of pushing Juliette to do something drastic, so he left soon after.
As the commotion finally subsided, Juliette remained curled up in the corner, hugging her knees tightly to her chest, sobbing her heart out.
‘Now that everyone knows what happened to me, all I want is to run away. But how can I? My uncle took my passport, even my phone, there’s no way for me to escape,‘ she wondered.
Her uncle was always out there in the living room, drinking. There was no way I could even try to make a run for it.
Luckily, Juliette had the foresight to stash all her bank cards away. At least she still had money. That was the only reason her uncle and his family wouldn’t dare cross the line with her.
They still needed her to cough up the cash.
Suddenly, the sound of the doorknob turning shattered the silence. Juliette jolted in terror, her heart leaping into her throat.
Sure enough, the door soon creaked open, and a head cautiously peeked through the gap.
Juliette let out a blood–curdling scream, “Ah.”
“It’s me,” the person at the door immediately said,
Juliette stared at him in shack. “Vernon?” It was Juliette’s elder cousin, her uncle’s biological son, was named Vernon Scott.
Vernon walked in, closed the door behind him and locked it. Looking at her with a mix of concern and pity, he said, “You’ve gotten so thin.”
In all the days Juliette had been trapped here, this was the first time someone had spoken to her with such heartfelt concern.
Her eyes stung as big tears streamed down her face. Struggling to her feet, Juliette sobbed desperately, “Vernon, please. I’m begging you. Convince your
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Chapter 121
dad to let me out, or at least get my phone back for me.
“I’m completely broke. They took every last cent from me. You know exactly how much your parents have been squeezing out of me all this time, don’t you?”
Vernon sighed, “I know. Stop crying. Look. I wish I could help you.” But you know how stubborn my dad is. Once he’s convinced you’ve got money left, he’ll never let you go. Are you really broke?
Juliette hesitated, then admitted to herself, “Actually, I do have one.” She fumbled under the bed and pulled out a bank card.
This was the compensation from Fisher. There was 40 thousand dollars in it. This was the last of it.
Vernon’s face lit up with feigned relief. “What’s the PIN?” he asked, barely containing his eagerness.
Juliette hesitated, suspicion flickering in her eyes, but ultimately answered truthfully, “There’s no PIN.”
Vernon was still a bit skeptical, but he snatched the card and hurried out. The door clicked locked once more, sealing her back into captivity.
The air was so still that even the dust motes seemed suspended, drifting with agonizing slowness.
Juliette sat there like a ghost, numb and hollow. Before she knew it, Valerie’s image surfaced in her mind.
‘That damn orphan had it way worse than I did growing up, and now look at her, living the high life.‘ Juliette let out a hollow, bitter laugh as she wondered, ‘Look at me now; this is all Valerie’s doing.
‘How dare that bitch live so well now? Back then, she was just a pitiful orphan who had to beg for my moldy bread scraps to survive.‘
Just because she bore a passing resemblance to the heiress, she was adopted and suddenly became the pampered princess of the Clark family, showered with endless affection.
After waiting so long for the real heiress to return, Juliette was sure Valerie would finally be worse off than her, poorer, more pathetic, outdone in every
way.
Watching Valerie disheveled, desperate struggle, scrambling around, taking on odd jobs and tutoring gigs just to scrape by and pay her tuition, filled Juliette with a perverse delight.
But Juliette hadn’t expected this to come. Valerie actually shot up to become the wife of a legendary billionaire. Just like that, they were suddenly worlds apart.
“Why the hell is she so damn lucky?” Juliette seethed, her heart burning with resentment.
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