The Good Girl's Vengeance

I had always been obedient, doing exactly what I was told.

When my wealthy parents finally brought me home, my adopted sister whispered in my ear:

The position of the Sterling heiress is mine. If you know what's good for you, get lost.

I nodded obediently, turned around, and jumped into the traffic on the highway.

My parents were terrified, dragging me back into the car with shaking hands and pale faces.

My brother, face dark as thunder, warned me:

"If you dare pull another stunt for attention, believe me, I'll send you back to that hellhole."

I obeyed immediately. That night, I locked myself in the dog cage.

My brother was dumbfounded. He dragged me out, grinding his teeth, looking at me like hed seen a ghost.

Later, when my adopted sister faked an illness, my brother forced me to donate blood for her.

I obediently took the knife and sliced my wrist without hesitation.

When my parents arrived, blood was spraying everywhere.

They screamed, lunging to stem the flow. "Doctor! Call an ambulance!"

My brother's face was white. After a long while, he stammered:

"Mom, Dad, I just asked her for a few drops of blood for Chloe... I didn't tell her to slit her wrist..."

I blinked.

My brother wasn't lying. He didn't teach me that.

The "counselors" at the reform school they sent me to five years ago taught me that.

It took three hours of emergency surgery to stabilize my heartbeat, which had almost flatlined.

Seeing my parents' faces turn green with rage, Chloe Sterling couldn't keep up her act anymore.

"It really wasn't me... she just suddenly cut herself. I was scared too," she sobbed, desperate to clear her name.

My brother, Liam, immediately stepped in front of her, his tone firm.

"Mom, Dad, this has to be another one of Maya's tricks for sympathy!"

"If she really wanted to die, why not just stab her neck? She slit her wrist knowing she could be saved! She's manipulative!"

I opened my eyes from the dizzying darkness just in time to hear that.

I slowly crawled to a corner no one was watching and obediently picked up the knife that hadn't been taken away yet.

The sticky laughter and tearing pain from my memories swirled in my mind...

I tried to stop my body from trembling and forced a pleasing smile.

"Brother, sister, I'll listen to whatever you say."

Then I pressed the tip of the knife to my neck and stabbed down hard.

The family turned at the sound of my weak voice, and their souls nearly left their bodies.

The room exploded into chaosscreams, lunges...

My parents coaxed and pleaded until they pried the knife from my hand.

Liam wanted to say more, but my father slapped him across the face!

"Enough!" Dad threw the knife on the floor.

His trembling finger pointed at Chloe, then at Liam.

"Have you ever seen anyone seek attention like this?!"

"Look! Look at what you've done to Maya!"

Chloe and Liam's eyes widened in disbelief.

Chloe stomped her foot, tears welling up.

Liam glared at me, grinding his teeth.

"Maya, just you wait! If you make Chloe upset, I won't forgive you!"

I shrank behind my mother, eyes full of fear.

My body reacted faster than my mind.

I gently tugged Liam's sleeve, voice weak.

"Brother, I'm sorry. I was wrong. I shouldn't have upset sister... I'll apologize to her right now."

Before they could react, I slowly moved to the window, opened it, and under everyone's shocked gaze, jumped.

Silence for a second.

Then, a piercing scream tore through the room.

"Maya!!"

My parents stumbled to the window.

My mother looked down once and collapsed, fainting on the spot.

My father scrambled to find a doctor, tripping over himself.

Liam and Chloe stood frozen, completely dumbfounded.

Wind rushed past my ears.

A warm wetness spread beneath me, followed by shattering pain.

Consciousness faded, and I slowly closed my eyes.

That night, the fake medical records were slammed at Chloe's feet by my father.

Chloe's feigned illness and Liam forcing me to donate blood were exposed.

Chloe's tears fell instantly. She gasped for air between sobs.

"Mom, Dad, I'm sorry. I was just so scared."

"Maya treated me so badly before. I didn't know if she really changed, so I just wanted to test her. I didn't mean to fake being sick."

She grabbed clothes from her closet and stuffed them into a suitcase.

"I know I was wrong. I'll move out now so I don't annoy you..."

Liam rushed to stop her, raising his voice.

"Mom, Dad! You hear that? Chloe is just insecure!"

"You know how badly Maya bullied her back then!"

He glanced at my room, his tone getting agitated.

"Did you forget what Maya was like? Arrogant, spoiled, wild!"

"She went to 'learn manners' for five years and completely changed? Who believes that?"

"Does a normal person slit their wrist and jump out a window over a few words? She's ruthless to herself, which means she's scheming. I say her acting skills just leveled up..."

"Shut up!" Dad shouted him down.

My parents glared at him, but his words had planted a seed of doubt.

From that night on, everyone looked at me with scrutiny.

With my parents' tacit approval, Chloe's "tests" escalated.

But when she poured a bucket of ice water over my head, I stood still, even smiling up at her apologetically.

When she deliberately put seafood, which I'm allergic to, in my bowl, I whispered thanks and ate it all.

Watching the rash spread rapidly across my neck, Chloe lost patience.

She grabbed a handful of sleeping pills and shoved them into my mouth.

"Swallow it! Aren't you obedient?!"

"Let's see how long you can keep up the act!"

Dad paused, looking like he wanted to speak.

Mom hesitated, reaching out a hand, then looked away.

Liam stood by with his arms crossed, enjoying the show.

They were waiting.

Waiting for the old, spoiled Maya to smash plates and throw a tantrum.

Even Chloe tensed up.

But I didn't fight back. I opened my mouth obediently and swallowed the pills.

Chloe froze for a second. Then her face went white.

She lunged at me, fingers jamming into my throat.

"Are you crazy?! Spit it out! Spit it out!"

"Maya! Those are sleeping pills! You could die! Are you trying to frame me for murder?!"

By the time the family doctor arrived, the corners of my mouth were bleeding.

The induced vomiting was long and humiliating. I curled up on the sofa, shivering uncontrollably.

Dad draped his jacket over me with shaking hands, his red eyes glaring at Liam and Chloe.

"This is your brilliant idea! Are you satisfied now?!"

Mom hugged me, wailing.

"Maya, my Maya! What happened to you!"

I just stared blankly at the ceiling light, unresponsive.

After fainting that day, I had a long nightmare.

In the dream, Chloe would scratch her own arm when my parents walked by, then cry into their chests, "Maya hit me again..."

She would jump down the stairs when she saw Liam coming, then point at me tearfully, "Maya pushed me."

Whenever my family hesitated, she would choke up, "Since Maya still can't accept me, let me leave. I'll survive on my own."

In the dream, I was still the old Maya who couldn't stand being wronged.

Every time I was framed, I would scream and defend myself.

Over time, I looked like the crazy one.

Until the final straw. Chloe locked herself in her room and set it on fire to frame me.

After being rescued, she insisted I started the fire.

I went mad with rage and attacked her.

And my family finally ran out of patience.

They wouldn't listen to a word of my explanation. They personally handed me over to the traffickers posing as a "wilderness therapy camp."

Brainwashed by the smooth talkers, they quickly bought the pitch about "learning discipline."

They signed a five-year contract to "straighten me out."

When I woke from the nightmare, a psychiatrist's face filled my vision.

I was surprisingly cooperative.

"Maya," she asked softly, "can you tell me why you don't fight back, or even hurt yourself, when others do things to you?"

I blinked. My voice was natural. "Because only if I'm obedient enough, I won't get beaten."

The sticks, the torn clothes, the dark cellar...

I had tasted the price of disobedience enough.

The doctor stared at me, speechless.

After a while, she tried again.

"But you're home now, Maya."

"There are people who love you here. No one will hit or bully you."

I tilted my head curiously.

"No one bullies me?"

"Does sister pouring water on me and shoving pills down my throat count as bullying?"

"Does brother forcing me to give blood count as bullying?"

"Or like Mom and Dad..."

I leaned closer and whispered:

"One second they're hugging me crying, but the next, even seeing everything Chloe did, they just watched because they thought I was acting. They even think I'm sick and hired you..."

"Does that count as bullying?"

I stared at her, enunciating every word.

"Doctor, disobedience leads to death."

"I used to have friends like me."

"But they're gone now."

"Because they weren't obedient enough... and were beaten to death."

The doctor's hand froze in mid-air. Her face went pale.

She repeated every word I said to my parents.

The final diagnosis: Severe PTSD with extreme submissive behavior and emotional dissociation.

After the doctor left, my parents locked themselves in the study for a whole day.

Until Liam kicked the door open.

After Liam kicked the door in, a massive argument erupted.

From then on, my parents treated me with terrifying caution.

At dinner, I always ate first.

Mom would blow on the soup to cool it before feeding me.

Dad dug out old photo albums, showing me page by page.

"Look, Maya, your third birthday... your first dance recital... you were so cute."

Liam walked by, sneered, and stopped.

"Great acting."

"Just playing the victim to push Chloe out, right?"

"This act... makes me sick."

My gaze fell on a photo of me and Liam.

He used to be so good to me that I dared not recall when it changed.

What brought me back was the sound of a slap across Liam's face.

My parents finally snapped.

Chloe rushed over, clinging to my parents' arms, voice soft.

"Mom, Dad, don't be mad. Liam just has a temper. He didn't mean it."

"We'll get along with Maya, I promise."

She paused, as if remembering something.

"By the way, isn't there a gala next week? I remember Maya loved dancing!"

"I'll take her. Maybe... it'll cheer her up."

My parents looked at the smiling little girl in the photo album. After a long silence, they nodded.

At the gala, Chloe grabbed my hand the moment we arrived.

"Come on, let's pick the prettiest dress in the back."

I followed obediently, letting her drag me away from the crowd.

By the pool, she stopped and whispered viciously in my ear.

"You think playing the obedient pet will steal everything from me? Dream on!"

"Mom, Dad, and Liam love me. Only me."

She smirked cruelly.

"Wanna bet? If I win, you leave the Sterling family and never come back."

Before she finished, a force shoved me from behind!

Splash! I was swallowed by the cold water.

Chloe watched for a while, then jumped in herself.

She screamed, "Liam! Help me!!"

When Liam rushed over, he froze.

He hesitated for only a second before diving in and swimming toward Chloe.

Only after he dragged Chloe to the shore did he hear the guests gasping.

"There's another one!"

"That one isn't moving! She's sinking!"

He whipped his head around, face going white, and dove back in to fish me out.

I curled up on the cold ground, coughing up water.

Liam pressed his lips together, worry flashing in his eyes.

The next second, Chloe's tearful sobbing cut his concern short.

He looked at Chloe's red eyes, seemingly remembering something, and his face darkened again.

"Kneel and apologize to Chloe! Look how scared she is!"

I wanted to nod, but my body shook uncontrollably.

Seeing this, his eyes went cold.

"Maya Sterling! Everyone knows you're a good swimmer! You won the city championship in elementary school!"

"You're addicted to acting, aren't you?!"

He shouted, grabbing me roughly to force me to my knees in front of Chloe.

In that violent tug...

I lost my balance and fell forward.

That's when the prosthetic leg detached.

The flesh-colored prosthetic with its metal screws rolled across the ground.

The air went dead silent.

Then, screams of horror erupted from the crowd.

Staring at my empty pant leg, Liam's face went sheet white.

He stumbled back, eyes wide with horror, and fell onto his butt.