The force of the blow snapped Serena Sinclair’s head to the side. Her cheek was already red and swollen, and blood slowly began to seep from the corner of her mouth.
She clutched her cheek, her head bowed. Her disheveled hair cascaded over her shoulders, hiding her face.
No one could see her expression. Her mother stood before her, finger pointed, screaming insults.
Everyone present listened to the tirade, filled with disgust.
"You worthless girl! It was a blessing I didn’t marry you off, and what do you do? You turn around and offend your uncle’s family."
"If I’d known you’d turn out like this, I should have strangled you at birth! It would’ve saved me from this humiliation."
"Apologize, now! If our company loses the Sinclair Group’s support because of a piece of trash like you, I’ll skin you alive!"
"Useless thing. All you do all day is dress up in flashy clothes, but you haven’t managed to reel in a single rich and powerful man."
"Ungrateful wretch, cheap slut, good-for-nothing, fucking bitch!"
Fiona Chambers’s shrill voice grated on everyone’s ears, loud and loathsome.
The moment Fiona Chambers had uttered her first curse, Leon Sterling had already raised his hands to cover Hazel’s ears, trying to shield her from the filth.
Hazel Sinclair looked up at him, her wide, dark eyes filled with confusion.
"It’s vile language. Don’t listen," Leon Sterling told her earnestly.
Hearing his explanation, Hazel Sinclair scoffed internally. ’I’ve seen this kind of thing so many times. I’ve long been immune to such language.’
Listening to the words, Serena Sinclair didn’t even try to hide the hatred in her eyes. ’It’s always like this.’
The moment something went wrong, she would be beaten and cursed, no matter where or when.
Mr. Sinclair watched his sister-in-law, realizing for the first time just how deeply she favored her son over her daughter.
He glanced at his younger brother, who stood by like a useless coward, not saying a single word. Meanwhile, his nephew was standing there playing on his phone, looking as if this were a common occurrence.
Neither of them made a move to stop it, nor did they seem to think there was anything wrong with the behavior.
Fiona Chambers continued her tirade. "How can you be so selfish? Do you only think of yourself and not your brother?"
"If the company goes bankrupt, what’s your brother supposed to do?"
Finally, Mr. Sinclair couldn’t take it anymore and cut in, "That’s enough!"
His shout stopped Fiona Chambers’s verbal assault. She, however, turned her gaze to Mrs. Sinclair and said fawningly, "Sister-in-law... I’ve taught her a lesson. About the matter of withdrawing the investment..."
Mrs. Sinclair had always disapproved of Fiona Chambers’s ways, and now she found them even more contemptible.
’They are her own children. I’ve never seen such blatant favoritism.’
Mrs. Sinclair didn’t even look at her, completely ignoring her.
Seeing this, Fiona Chambers grew even more panicked. The look she gave Serena Sinclair changed.
She walked over, grabbed a fistful of Serena Sinclair’s hair, and dragged her toward Hazel Sinclair.
Fiona Chambers’s grip was tight and vicious. Serena Sinclair couldn’t help but cry out in pain.
She threw her down in front of Hazel Sinclair, then kicked her. "Apologize!"
"If you don’t apologize, I’ll kill you today!" Fiona Chambers’s threat was vicious. She would never spare anyone who threatened her precious son’s future.
Watching this, Hazel Sinclair trembled slightly.
Memories buried deep in her mind slowly began to surface. The year she was thirteen, her brother had stolen money from the family to spend on games. When he was caught, he framed her for it.
Without asking any questions, her parents had taken a fire poker and beaten her with it, over and over, refusing to listen to her explanations.
Their eyes had held the same look as Fiona Chambers’s now—as if they wanted to skin her alive.
Leon Sterling felt her tremble and, thinking she was afraid, quickly pulled her into his arms, gently patting her back to comfort her.
Serena Sinclair was stubborn. Even as the kicks continued to land, she refused to apologize to Hazel Sinclair.
The scene was so shocking it shattered many people’s understanding of the world.
Even Simon Sinclair was shocked by the scene. It seemed her own adoptive parents had been quite good; at least they would never hit or curse her.
When she wanted to go to school, they would complain about her wasting money, but they would still scrape together the tuition for her by the next day.
"Are you going to apologize or not!"
"Hurry up and apologize!"
Fiona Chambers kicked and slapped her repeatedly, her voice vicious and shrill. She looked as if she was trying to beat her to death.
Finally, Hazel Sinclair couldn’t take it anymore and screamed, "Enough!"
"She’s your own daughter!"
Fiona Chambers snorted heavily. "I’d rather I never gave birth to this worthless girl."
Hearing this, Hazel Sinclair stood frozen. Tears like pearls rolled down her cheeks. Her own biological mother had once said the same thing to her.
"You’re both women, and she’s your own flesh and blood. You don’t protect her; instead, you’re the one hurting her. You’re not fit to be a mother at all."
As Hazel Sinclair spoke, she looked toward the two men trying to fade into the background. As a father, he should have stopped his wife from bullying their daughter, but he didn’t.
As a brother, he acted as if this was all perfectly normal.
’The investment from those two companies is more important than a daughter’s life.’
Hazel Sinclair wiped away her tears and looked at her father, Mr. Sinclair, who was sitting on the sofa.
Her voice choked with sobs as she cried out, "Dad, take back my uncle’s companies."
"A girl is being beaten half to death over something so trivial. Just take them back."
Hazel Sinclair’s voice was thick with emotion as she spoke. Serena Sinclair’s ordeal was a mirror image of her own past.
Seeing her crying even harder, Leon Sterling quickly took out a tissue to wipe her tears, comforting her, "Don’t be afraid. I’m here."
"Please don’t cry."
Lying motionless on the floor, Serena Sinclair heard this and turned her head slightly to look at her.
’She’s still the same,’ Serena thought. ’Still cries so easily, still as kind as she always was.’
’Even after I did something so horrible to her, she sees me getting beaten and this soft-hearted woman still steps in to help.’
Hearing Hazel Sinclair call him "Dad" made Mr. Sinclair’s heart leap. ’His daughter wasn’t angry with him anymore. She called him Dad!’
’A small request like this? Of course, I have to agree.’
’Besides, that family has made my daughter this upset. They deserve to be punished.’
"Alright. Dad promises," Mr. Sinclair agreed.
At his words, the two men who had been ignoring everything suddenly snapped to attention, their eyes wide and the phone forgotten.
"Uncle, just punish her for what she did. What’s this about taking back the companies?" Evan Sinclair said, pocketing his phone and fixing his gaze on Mr. Sinclair.
"That’s right, big brother. If you’re still not satisfied, I’ll teach her another lesson myself," Serena’s father said, rubbing his hands together.
Listening to them, Hazel Sinclair could only feel how pathetic it all was.
Just then, a quiet voice reached her ears. "Thank you."
"I’m sorry."
Serena Sinclair, her face bruised and swollen, looked up at her, her voice exceptionally weak.
"I won’t forgive you," Hazel Sinclair said, sniffling. She looked at her with red, swollen eyes and spoke with grave seriousness. "What you did was vile. It’s not something a simple ’I’m sorry’ can fix."