A Box Marked Only Trash

I stayed at the institute until evening, confirming sample data with Professor Davies and finalizing our departure time for the next morning.

Suddenly, my phone buzzed with news alerts.

I tapped one open.

Pop-ups flooded the screen, each one a nightmarish clip of my ordeal—of me, humiliated and violated.

The headline was bold and glaring: Downfall of a Tycoon's Adopted Daughter: Trapped in an Orgy.

My blood ran cold. A wave of dizziness hit me, and I stumbled, crashing into a glass sample cabinet.

How could this be? I had already promised to give up the spot. I had already backed down. Why wouldn't they just let me go?

The memories of those nights flooded back like a nightmare. The dark, damp basement, the masked men, the cold instruments...

"Aria!"

My arm was badly cut by the shattered glass, blood pouring from the wound, but I couldn't feel the pain. Just as my knees gave out, Professor Davies and Ryan rushed to my side.

Seeing my state, Professor Davies's eyes welled with tears.

She was an old friend of my parents, an elder who had watched me grow up.

She knew me. She knew I would never do something like that.

She held me tightly as I trembled, just like my mother used to. I could no longer hold back and sobbed uncontrollably in her arms, the whole story spilling out of me in broken pieces.

She patted my back, her voice firm with heartbreak. "My dear girl, don't be afraid. We won't stay in this filthy place another second. We'll leave tomorrow and get away from these devils forever."

After a quick patch-up, I returned to the Knight mansion in a daze.

I had to get something back.

Natalie opened the door. When she saw me, her voice dripped with a false concern that couldn't hide her glee.

"Aria, your videos are all over the internet. How pitiful. I truly feel for you."

As she spoke, she preened, showing off the gemstone pendant on her neck.

That was the heirloom my mother had left me, set with an impossibly rare raw stone.

I always kept it locked away in the vault. How did she get it?

Clark walked over.

"Who let your video get out? Natalie was worried sick about you all afternoon and in a terrible mood, so I gave her the pendant to cheer her up. Besides, a person like you doesn't deserve to wear it anyway."

He said it so casually, as if he were discarding a cheap trinket.

In that moment, the last shred of illusion I held for him, the illusion of "family," shattered completely.

I didn't waste my breath responding. I just held out my hand.

"Give it back."

Clark seemed surprised by my defiance.

He spoke with contempt.

"Your mom's dead, so it's useless to you. The institute is holding a welcome party tomorrow. Natalie can wear it and make a splash. That would be putting it to good use."

I no longer hesitated. I lunged at Natalie.

My hands wrapped tightly around her neck.

"Give it back!"

My expression must have frightened Clark.

He froze, stunned.

But Glen, who had just walked in on the scene, reacted instantly.

He kicked me hard in the ribs, sending me flying.