“Griffin, I haven’t forgotten anything.”
“You didn’t eat that meal, you threw it away.”
“That sofa is Cora Johnson’s favorite; you always did things with her on it.”
“The photo was of the three of us; you cut Cora Johnson out.”
Griffin looked like he was about to cry again.
“I was just… just stupid, not emotionless.”
Feeling helpless, I ignored him.
I stayed in the room afterward, vomiting everything I ate and refusing to go out. If Griffin came near, I would cry.
This place made me physically sick.
Until one night, not fully conscious, I sneaked out of the house.
I didn’t know where to go, just wandered aimlessly.
But I knew someone was following me, and it wasn’t Griffin.
“Go to hell!”
A dagger flashed past.
“Nora!”
Griffin found me–he shielded me.
Holding his stomach, he quickly subdued the attacker before collapsing.
I was too shocked to care that Nora’s Father hated me so much; I focused on supporting Griffin, trembling as I searched him for a phone.
-There wasn’t one; he was too eager to find me and hadn’t brought it.
“Where’s your phone?! Why didn’t you bring it?! How am I supposed to save you?!”
I yelled at him as I searched Nora’s Father’s phone, quickly dialing 911 and 120.
“It’s okay, Nora, this life was saved by you.”
“Thank goodness I made it….. cough… can’t even takesare at youraskiewks
#w☀éém gone…..”
<
And Nora’s Father would spend the rest of his life in prison.
After this incident, Griffin finally compromised.
Once discharged, we signed the divorce papers, and Griffin gave me most of his shares and assets.
On the first day of the divorce, he took me to the Johnsons‘.
Griffin said, the villa that had trapped me for over a decade was now mine.
“What about Cora Johnson?” I asked.
The next day, Griffin took me to see Cora Johnson.
After realizing the Johnsons had been deceiving him, Griffin used some means to make them bankrupt.
Cora Johnson, without an education and no longer an heiress, only had her looks and ended up working as a bartender.
When I arrived, she was just coming out to vomit.
“Nora Johnson?” She lunged at me, reeking of alcohol.
“Impossible, you must be dead, no way. It’s a dream! It must be a dream!” She waved her hands wildly, trying to leave.
“Cora Johnson, why do you hate me so much?”
“Hate? No, Nora.”
The following day, Griffin took me to meet Cora Johnson.
After discovering that the Johnsons had been deceiving him, Griffin used his influence to bankrupt them.
Cora Johnson, having lost her status as an heiress and without any formal education, was left with nothing but her appearance. So, she turned to bartending.
When I arrived, she was just coming out to induce vomiting.
“Nora Johnson?” she exclaimed, lunging at me with the smell of alcohol on her.
“Impossible, you must be dead. How could this be? It must be a dream!” she said, waving her hands frantically as she attempted to leave.
“Cora Johnson, why do you dislike me so much?”
“Dislike? No, Nora.”
“It’s not dislike; it’s hatred.”
“I hate you for getting the chance to save Griffin, hate you for being better than me at everything, hate you… I hate you so much, yet you were always so kind to me…”
I suddenly found it somewhat ironic.
The nightmares of my childhood, which I thought were burdens, were actually envied by someone, and that envy turned into hatred.
It was during a winter when I was building a snowman on the ground that a van pulled up not far away.
The van shook continuously, and I faintly heard someone inside crying for help.
I was about to be sent off to marry someone, with no say in the matter.
This seemed like a perfect opportunity to escape.
I don’t know where twelve–year–old me found the courage, but I quietly approached the van and asked, “Is anyone in there?”
The van shook more vigorously and the cries for hela became cleaver
8:47 AM
<
“I’m going to get you out!”
I had never been in a car, so naturally, I didn’t know how to open the trunk. Just as I picked up a large rock to smash the window, a large shadow loomed over me from behind.
Then I lost consciousness.
When I woke up, I found myself tied up with two boys.
The kidnappers were outside the van, drinking and discussing how they would exchange the two boys for money and then sell me off.
The younger boy, whose eyes were red from crying, looked at me while I leaned on his older brother’s shoulder.
The brother said the kidnappers only wanted to ask their family for money and that I shouldn’t have been dragged into this.
“Apologize,” the brother urged.
“I’m sorry…” the crying boy said.
“It’s not your fault.” After all, anyone would try any means to seek help.
When the kidnappers returned to the van and fell asleep, the three of us opened our eyes as planned.
“How’s your rest? Do you have enough energy?” the older boy asked me.
“Yeah, I can run.”
I didn’t know when the ropes on our hands had been untied. He removed the car keys, and we took turns jumping out of the van, deflating the tires, and then started running for our lives.
Of course, it didn’t take long for the kidnappers to notice we were gone.
They shouted for us to come out not far away. Luckily, I frequented this mountain and knew it well, allowing us to evade them several times, but we never dared to stop.
My mouth tasted metallic, and our stamina was dwindling. We clung to each other as we ran forward.
Someone must have slipped because we all fell hard to the ground. I wasn’t hurt because the brother protected me.
However, his leg seemed broken, and his head was bleeding.
