Chapter 1
The day the SAT results came out, I scored 1500. But my brother, Ken Swinton, immediately turned grim and locked me in the basement.
Because our cousin Nadya Swinton scored 300 points lower, he ordered people to hammer 200 nails into my body.
I knelt on the ground, begging him. But he showed no mercy.
199 nails pierced deep into my flesh.
The last one was driven straight into my heart.
Covered in blood, I heard his cold voice.
“You deserve this! You had Mom, Dad, and my love. Nadya lost her parents young and grew up all alone. You’ve had enough happiness. Did you really have to humiliate her by scoring higher?!
“Your life’s been too easy. Today, I want you to feel what real pain is.”
I lay on the floor, barely breathing, completely broken.
To comfort Nadya, Ken booked her a luxury yacht for a month.
When Mom and Dad planned to return home to celebrate my success, Ken ordered me released.
But then the nanny called.
“The hospital… They just sent over Ms. Swinton’s death notice!”
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The nail in my chest missed my heart by two millimeters. I survived, but the pain was unbearable.
Just before the basement door shut again, I crawled out and grabbed Ken’s pant leg.
“Ken… it’s my fault. I shouldn’t have scored that high. Please don’t leave me like this.”
I begged him, my voice shaking.
He acted like he didn’t hear. Instead, he turned and gently pinched Nadya’s cheek.
“Oh, look at you–all cried out like a little mess. Alright, I’ll send you abroad. Your school will be a hundred times better than Brietta’s.
“You can bully her however you like, okay?”
He was about to leave with Nadya when Mom called./
She sounded thrilled.
“Ken! Brietta scored 1400! I’m so happy. Your dad and I can’t get back right now, but give her a little reward for us.”
He brushed it off with a few words and hung up.
Eyes closed, I forced myself to speak.
“Take me to the hospital. If I die, Mom and Dad will hate you forever!”
I was their late–in–life child. Everyone knew how much they doted on me.
Even a tiny cut on my hand made them tear up.
And Ken knew–nothing could happen to me.
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He froze, hesitating whether to let me go and send me to the hospital.
Nadya suddenly bent down, shot me a sinister glare, and poured the water from her cup all over me.
Instantly, it felt like my flesh was being sliced off inch by inch. I screamed in pain.
The water got into my mouth–it was saline!
Right then, Nadya dropped to her knees and started begging for mercy.
“I’m sorry! I’m sorry! Brietta, I just wanted to check on you! I didn’t mean to spill water on you! Please don’t hit me!”
She acted like she was used to being bullied by me.
Ken frowned, then pulled Nadya into his arms.
She sobbed uncontrollably. “Please, Brietta, let me go, okay? If you keep bullying me, I won’t be able to live anymore.”
Ken’s anger toward me deepened. He kicked me hard.
“So it’s true–you’ve been bullying Nadya at school! She accidentally spilled some water, and you go crazy like this? You’re overreacting much!
“I need to teach you a lesson today so you never dare to bully Nadya again!”
I stared at him, confused. “When have I ever bullied her?” I questioned myself.
He never even asked. One word from someone else was enough to convict
- me.
The nail seemed to sink even deeper from the impact. It hadn’t pierced my
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heart yet, but the pain inside was a thousand times worse than my body.
When we were little, Ken loved me so much he would’ve given his life for
- me.
Everyone envied me for having such a doting brother, and I was grateful
too.
But after our uncle and aunt died and left Nadya with us, Ken seemed to die overnight.
He was still the doting brother in everyone’s eyes—just not to me. Now, it was all for Nadya.
I gasped for breath, my chest aching. He ordered the bodyguards to lock
me back in the basement.
What I never expected was that, not long after, the basement started flooding with saline–already up to my calves!
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