Chapter 193: Low Born bastard child.

Lita got her way and she left the Kaelion estate loaded with gifts she had picked from the vault. When she left, she made sure that as many servants as possible noticed that she had made a trip to the vault.

It was not long before she reached her destination. The doors of a newly furnished mansion that belonged to her father slammed open with a loud sound, almost unseating a marble flower vase near the foyer.

Lita had not come to her father’s shiny new mansion to admire the high ceilings or the pretentious gold-trimmed curtains. She had come for blood. Or at least, an explanation for why her mother looked like a withered husk of a woman back at the old house while he was living like an emperor.

"Lita! My darling daughter!" Samuel’s face lit up as he stepped out of the parlor, arms wide open. He looked like a fat pig dressed in expensive clothes. "I was just telling Teddy about_ "

Slap! The sharp crack echoed through the wide hall. Teddy, a young woman wearing enough jade bangles to sink a small fishing boat, stumbled back into a side table, clutching her reddening cheek.

"You shameless whore!" Lita spat, her eyes burning with hatred. "Living off my mother’s suffering!"

Samuel’s cheery smile vanished so fast it was almost funny. His face twisted from fond father to a enraged beast in half a second. "You little witch!" he roared, shoving Lita backwards with enough force to send her flying.

Lita lost her footing, her arm scraping hard against the sharp, carved edge of a glass table as she fell to the cold floor. Pain shot up her arm, skin peeling back to reveal a nasty streak of red, but Samuel didn’t even glance her way.

"Teddy! Oh, my sweet plum, are you alright?" Samuel whimpered, rushing to his new wife’s side. He fanned her face desperately, looking like a panicked dog whose favorite chew toy had just been tossed in the mud. "Did she hurt you? Don’t cry, my sweet angel, don’t cry!"

Teddy squeezed out two tiny, theatrical tears. "Samuel_ she hit me_ my face burns_"

"Go to the inner chamber, my love. Let the servant put some ice on that," Samuel soothed, practically escorting her out with both hands supporting her elbow as if she were made of glass. "Go put some ice on that."

Once the door clicked shut behind Teddy, the cozy, pathetic husband act melted away. Samuel turned around, his eyes cold enough to freeze summer tea. The air in the room grew heavy, suffocating.

"If you ever lay a finger on your stepmother again," Samuel hissed, his voice dropping an octave, "I will break your legs myself. We are trying for a child; you will soon have a brother. You should be happy for me."

Lita sat up on the floor, cradling her bleeding arm. Despite the sharp pain, a cold, bitter laugh escaped her throat. She smirked, looking up at him through her messy hair. "Happy for you! I always knew you were a greedy monster, father. But look at you now. You’re actually the devil himself."

She pushed herself up to stand, her knees trembling slightly. "Why did you do it? Why did you use me as a pawn all these years? Selling me out just so you could climb higher in status just to get a mistress? Was I just a ladder for you?!"

"Ask your whore of a mother!" Samuel barked instantly.

Lita froze. "What?"

Samuel threw his head back and burst into a wild, maniacal laugh. The sound filled the room, loud and unhinged. "Hahaha! You stupid, arrogant girl! Did you really think I didn’t know? Did you think I was blind?!"

He stopped laughing abruptly, stepping close enough that Lita could smell the expensive liquor on his breath. "I knew from the day you were born that you aren’t my blood," Samuel spat, poking his greasy index finger right into her chest. "Not a single drop! I swallowed my pride, suffered the humiliation, and raised another man’s bastard for almost twenty two years! Do you have any idea how much face I lost inside my own heart? It was only fair that I got paid back for my trouble!"

The room seemed to spin. The color drained completely from Lita’s face. Not his daughter?

All the cold glares from her childhood, the way he always treated her like she was unworthy while praising the Scorpion children_ it all crashed down on her at once like a falling mountain. It wasn’t because she was disappointing. It was because he never saw her as his own.

"W-what are you talking about_ " Lita whispered, her voice barely audible. "My mother_ she wouldn’t_ "

"Oh, she did," Samuel sneered, leaning in close, his mouth curling into a sick grin. "And here is a little piece of advice, my dear ’daughter’. You better keep your mouth shut about this. Lock it in your chest and swallow the key." He leaned back, smoothing down the front of his expensive silk shirt with a satisfied sigh. "Because if this secret leaks out? Your precious mother will be dragged into the square and stoned to death for confusing our family’s bloodline. And you? The Kaelion family will toss you out into the gutter like a dead dog. You think they want a low-born bastard carrying their noble name?"

Samuel chuckled softly, dusting off his sleeves. "I just started enjoying the wealth and status that comes with being the Kaelion family’s in-law. Good wine, fine clothes, respect in the streets_ Ah, it feels wonderful. I’m not going to let a foolish girl ruin my sweet life."

Tears filled Lita’s eyes, blinding her vision. The sting on her arm was nothing compared to the suffocating weight pressing down on her ribs. She couldn’t breathe. The room felt like a cage, and Samuel was the beast holding the chain. She stumbled backwards, her heels slipping slightly on the polished floor.

"Get out," Samuel said casually, not even looking at her anymore as he picked up a glass of wine from the side table. "And wipe your face. You look pathetic. Do not come back to my house until you are ready to apologize to your stepmother."

Lita turned around and ran.

She slammed through the doors, running blindly past the stunned residents of the estate, out into the dusty street. The cold wind bit at her tear-stained face, but she couldn’t feel it. Her chest heaved, gasping for air that wouldn’t come.

She had gone there to get the mistress to leave. Instead, she had just discovered that Samuel had a thick iron collar clamped firmly around both her and Ursula’s necks_ and if she tried to pull away, it would strangle them both to death.