Three Years Stolen — Basement Prison

I had spent those three years abroad expanding the Bennett Group.

To say I was neglectful or unfilial—that was the cruelest slander imaginable.

Seeing that I didn’t react, Sophie grew irritated. Just as she was about to say something to provoke me further, her gaze suddenly flicked to the vase on the vanity.

She abruptly stood, grabbed the vase, and smashed it against her own forehead.

Bang!

With her scream, blood immediately began to stream down from the wound.

The incident happened so suddenly that I had no time to react. Instinctively, I reached out to support her.

Unexpectedly, she clutched my hand and flung herself to the ground, dragging me down with her.

Then, using every ounce of strength, she screamed:

“Help! Sister, why are you doing this? What did I do wrong? You were trying to hit me with the vase!”

“I was wrong, sister, don’t hit me! I’ll leave, I’ll leave right now!”

Hearing her shrieks, my parents rushed in immediately.

What they saw was this: the vase shattered on the floor, Sophie lying there with blood streaming from her forehead, and me on top of her—my hands positioned as if I were trying to strangle her.

Meanwhile, Sophie clutched my hands, feigning desperate resistance.

“Sophie!” My mother’s horrified scream tore through the room.

She shoved me violently aside and threw herself down beside Sophie.

“My daughter, my precious girl, are you alright? Don’t scare your mom!”

My father shook with rage, his eyes bloodshot as though he wanted to devour me alive.

“You’re insane! How dare you lay hands on her?”

He roared, ripping off his belt without hesitation.

Without giving me a chance to explain, he swung it down hard.

Snap!

The belt lashed across my arm, the searing pain splitting my skin into a red welt.

“I’ll beat you to death, you wretched child!”

Snap!

Another strike across my back.

The pain drove me stumbling forward, nearly collapsing to my knees.

I clenched my teeth, enduring in silence.

I knew—explaining now was useless. They wouldn’t believe me. They didn’t want to believe me.

All they trusted was Sophie.

My silence seemed only to enrage him further.

“How could the Bennett family produce such a vicious creature—someone who would even harm her own sister?”

He brought the belt down again and again, each strike raising bloody welts across my body.

My mother clutched Sophie protectively, shouting through the chaos:

“Harder, darling! Teach her a real lesson! If you don’t beat some sense into her, who knows what she’ll do next!”

“Look at Sophie—she’s bleeding so much! If she dies, I won’t live either!”

Fueled by her cries, my father’s strikes grew even heavier.

My body was battered, my lips bleeding from how tightly I’d bitten them, but still I refused to fall.

Nestled in my mother’s arms, Sophie weakly murmured:

“Please, stop… I know my sister didn’t mean it.”

Her pitiful plea only stoked my father’s fury further.

He hurled the belt aside and pointed his finger at me, cursing:

“Look at Sophie—hurt like this, yet she’s still pleading for you. And you? You heartless beast, do you even have a shred of conscience left?”

Panting heavily, his chest heaved with rage.

“She can’t stay in this house any longer. She’ll be the death of Sophie.”

As if making a grave decision, he pulled out his phone and dialed.

“Hello? Mr. Dawson?”

“Yes, it’s me.”

“About the marriage we discussed—my daughter’s marriage. I agree.”