After I Fell In Love With My Non-blood-related Brother

"You finally know how to apologize; it seems the training camp wasn't a waste of time!"

Seeing his attitude soften, I silently shrank back, remaining still as I watched the sunlight rush by outside.

He stared at me intently, his eyes filled with emotions I found hard to understand.

"Jade, how did you end up like this?"

What does "like this" even mean? The once proud and lively Jade Taylor has been shattered and destroyed by all of you; now, I'm just a walking corpse too afraid to die.

In the past, wherever I was, my chatter filled the air.

I often clung to Xander, claiming the passenger seat as if it were my throne.

But now, the Dean says I can't get close to Xander and must not speak to him first.

All my energy goes into holding myself back from jumping out of the car.

The car quickly pulls up outside the Shaw residence.

Just before getting out, Xander turns to look at me, his gaze dangerous and his tone heavy with pressure.

"My mom is back. When you see her, don't act like this anymore, or else..."

His demeanor starts to blend with that of the Dean in my mind, and I tremble as I straighten up, kneeling respectfully.

"Yes!"

The director always punishes me like this: first with a slap, then with punches and kicks, and finally with a stun baton.

Until I'm on my knees, barking like a dog and licking their shoes without any dignity, they won't stop.

I push through my discomfort, promising every word.

"I will definitely behave well!"

So please, spare me, I beg you—don't send me back to that training camp.

"So obedient! You've made quite a bit of progress; the money wasn't wasted!"

I nodded mechanically.

When we arrived at the Shaw residence, Xander had someone take me to get cleaned up.

I didn't want to interact with the staff for too long, so I made excuses to send the maids away.

But they didn't dare go far, lingering at the door and whispering to each other.

"Is this really the adopted daughter of the Shaw family? I heard she was supposed to be overbearing, but she doesn't look like that at all!"

"Yeah, she's worse off than the left-behind children in my hometown. Could she have been abused...?"

"Shh, you don't want to lose your job..."

I took off my clothes, and the reflection staring back at me in the mirror was terrifyingly unfamiliar.

I was skin and bones, my body covered in bruises, with scars crisscrossing everywhere. The bright colors of my tattoos looked like the gaping mouths of ferocious beasts, ready to swallow me whole at any moment.

My parents named me "Jade," hoping I would live a life as pure and carefree as the white clouds in the sky and the jade stones in the mountains. Instead, I found myself imprisoned in a cage, sullied and filthy.

I wondered if there is a soul after death; if there is, would my parents be ashamed of me?

I grabbed the most conservative hoodie I could find and put it on.

As I entered the living room, the lively chatter abruptly stopped, and everyone fell silent, all eyes turning to me.

Mrs. Shaw stood up from the sofa and walked over, taking my hands in hers and examining me closely from head to toe.

"Jade, it's only been a year. How did you get so thin?"

"I heard from Xander that you went to some kind of closed-door training. Was it really that harsh? If it was too tough, you don't have to go back!"

Mrs. Shaw's hands were warm, and it was clear she genuinely cared about me.

I stole a glance at Xander; his brows were furrowed, and his gaze was sharp as he looked at me.

I flinched in fear and quickly shook my head.

"It wasn't harsh at all..."

Mrs. Shaw was about to say more when she was interrupted by a voice like ringing bells.

"Mrs. Shaw, you can't say that! It was I who kept you company the entire time Jade was away for her studies. You can't just forget about me!"

At the sound of that voice, I instinctively shrank back.

Mia Moore smiled playfully, but her eyes were filled with disdain as she looked at me.

She was Xander's childhood friend and also my former best friend.

The year we graduated, I had a huge fight with her over Xander.

That same night, the villa caught fire, and when she was on the brink of death, I rushed in to save her, ignoring my own safety.

Yet she falsely accused me of starting the fire and insisted on sending me to prison.

Xander, believing her one-sided story, ultimately sent me to the finishing school she had recommended.

Now, in that training camp, I felt like I was barely alive, while in her eyes, I had become an ungrateful child who refused to accompany my foster mother out of selfishness.

I suddenly dropped to my knees before Mrs. Shaw, bowing my head three times in a show of respect.

"Mrs. Shaw, I was immature in the past, and I'm sorry for that! I promise I'll never be so overbearing again!"

These were the first words I had to say every morning when I woke up at the training camp, and the last ones before going to bed at night.

I had never done anything wrong, nor had I committed arson, so initially I refused to utter a single word.

However, the Dean and his people had their ways. They inserted silver needles into each of my ten fingers, eventually breaking my unyielding spirit.

"My dear, it's been a year. Why are you still so distant from me?"

Mrs. Shaw sounded a bit melancholic, her eyes glistening with unshed tears.

I vaguely recalled being brought to the Shaw family at age ten. Mrs. Shaw had tenderly dressed me in pretty dresses and braided my hair.

She had hugged me then and promised to treat me well for the rest of her life.

I tried to reminisce about the past, hoping to shake off this numb and gloomy feeling, but my head started throbbing in pain.

At the training camp, they would attach monitoring devices to me. Whenever I recalled the past and felt even slightly happy, they would remotely activate the electric shocks.

Over time, just thinking about the past gave me splitting headaches.

Xander gave me a cold look, as if blaming me for not performing well enough.

"Mrs. Shaw, let's have dinner!"

Mia timely interrupted Mrs. Shaw's concern for me, guiding her to sit down at the table.

They chatted and laughed as they settled in, while I stood there awkwardly, unsure of what to do.

At the training camp, I wasn't even allowed to eat from a bowl.

They locked me in a cage with dogs, forcing me to compete with them for scraps of food.

"My dear, come sit with us, don't just stand there!"

Mrs. Shaw kindly intervened, inviting me to sit beside her, directly across from Xander.

As soon as I picked up my fork, I noticed him watching me.

In my fright, I knocked over the bowl of rice in front of me.

Everyone turned to look at me, and I fearfully knelt down, shoving the fallen grains into my mouth. What I couldn't pick up with my hands, I licked directly from the floor.

"I'm so sorry, I was wrong! I'm sorry, I was wrong!"

"I'll definitely finish every last bit, I promise!"